Academy to ROTC help

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BabyAnnaRe

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May 25, 2019
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Hello all,

My daughter is currently getting ready to disenroll from USAFA. She could not pass the platform jump in the water survival class. She will be getting a favorable to apply ROTC and do that route. She never had any demerits, had high GPA, group leader etc, just couldn’t jump off that platform.

She has done 3 full years there and they offered her to leave now without repaying it so I advised her to leave as she has taken the class 4 times and didn’t seem to be any closer.

So, she going to apply at ASU here at home to finish her degree which we estimate to be another two years which is ASU’s minimum. What are her chances of getting commissioned through ROTC? She loves the military life and wants to continue to pursue it as it really is in our family history. Is there other choices? Will she miss out on the field training that was to happen between sophomore and junior year? Will they waive it if she already passed BCT? Will they want her??

Anybody been through this already and have any wise words of wisdom?
 
Mods - recommend merging with same subject thread in other location.
 
BabyAnnaRe said:
Hello all,

My daughter is currently getting ready to disenroll from USAFA. She could not pass the platform jump in the water survival class. She will be getting a favorable to apply ROTC and do that route. She never had any demerits, had high GPA, group leader etc, just couldn’t jump off that platform.

She has done 3 full years there and they offered her to leave now without repaying it so I advised her to leave as she has taken the class 4 times and didn’t seem to be any closer.

So, she going to apply at ASU here at home to finish her degree which we estimate to be another two years which is ASU’s minimum. What are her chances of getting commissioned through ROTC? She loves the military life and wants to continue to pursue it as it really is in our family history. Is there other choices? Will she miss out on the field training that was to happen between sophomore and junior year? Will they waive it if she already passed BCT? Will they want her??

Anybody been through this already and have any wise words of wisdom?
Click to expand...

So sorry to hear this, but clearly she earned a good reputation if they are letting her separate without repayment.

I took a quick look at Combat Water Survival articles on AFROTC and AROTC sites for various schools that came up in a quick Google search. It looks like the platform jump is part of the curriculum there as well, but I am no expert on that requirement for Army and Air Force officer programs. If that proves to be true, the same obstacle exists in that path to a commission.

Your daughter may have to adjust her career goals to avoid this obstacle if she decides that for her, it is an impossibility.

I always suggest that for those who want to serve, but uniformed service isn’t their oath, Federal civil service is a decent path. The big “ABC” agencies are looking for bright minds and offer various college programs and summer internships.
 
BabyAnnaRe said:
I don’t know how to delete this to have just one post ....
Click to expand...

You’re probably out of the editorial delete window that you control. Mods can merge it. No need to dupe threads on here; people are generally responsive. Hope you get some helpful replies.
 
Seeing as your daughter has already done three years at a military academy I would assume that she would be able to commission out of ROTC and if not she would probably able to go through OCS. This would be a better question for someone at the academy or an advisor at the unit she is attempting to join seeing as it is so specific and not common. One of the midshipman in the NROTC unit I am joining, who I spoke to beforehand, said she did a year of ROTC and then got into the Naval Academy, went there for a year and then dropped out and went back into ROTC as a junior. Personally I haven’t seen any instances where a cadet drops out after three full years, usually it is cadets or midshipman who don’t enjoy the experience after a year and then do ROTC.

Good luck to your daughter on her journey to a commission. I am assuming there is no way she can retake the class or train for the platform jump because she sounds like a solid cadet and it might be good for her to stay and commission next year.
 
HB2019... thank you for your kind words. She has had hundreds of attempts under her belt and wasn’t any closer. If someone could have pushed her off just once I know she would have gotten over the fear of the heights. Or me standing behind her yelling in her ear

It’s not worth the chance of trying and failing again and then being majorly in debt over it. When she first applied to Embry Riddle she was granted a level 1 scholarship but since she turned it down I am not sure they will offer another.

We tried calling the ROTC detachment at ASU but haven’t heard anything back yet. Just trying to get all our ducks in a row and get the future ball rolling.
 
Thank you for your reply.

Her sister commissioned through ROTC and she stated that there wasn’t a water survival class she had to attend. So I feel that is a saving grace.

She doesn’t want to be a pilot, just wants to be her usual computer nerd self and can’t fathom why she would ever need to jump off anything. Even though for her high school graduation I got her a tandem skydive and she had a blast.

I don’t know enough about OTS to even know if that’s an option.
 
No SA experience, but enough military experience to offer the following: the biggest factor is how the “discharge” is handled. Paperwork, codes, and files are critical.
 
@BabyAnnaRe Sorry to hear about that, your daughter will still make a fine officer one day with the accomplishments she has had so far. I think her best effort would be to go to ASU with the credits she has accumulated and work on commissioning into the Air Force. I’m by no means an expert on the topic I am just going off of what I have seen other people do.
 
Having done the USAFA to ROTC route, there are some things mentioned here that are key. Coding matters as to what kind of discharge you get like already mentioned. The other factor is time. ASU may have a 2 year minimum, but ROTC may force more due to having to go to summer field training in order to commission. You need at least a year in the unit before you can go. Usually they don't shorten the POC timeframe less than the 2 years, which would put you 3 years out. The cadre at ASU may be able to advise otherwise, but I know some Prior enlisted and other USAFA to ROTC cadets that were in the unit when I was in and none of them were able to get POC timeframe shortened due to prior military experience.

OCS may be the preferable route at this point depending on what your daughter wants to do in the Air Force. I would get in touch with an OCS recruiter ASAP as they can help advise about that route.

Best of luck!
 
You mentiined your daughter is a "computer nerd," if she wants to serve there are civilian DOD and Homeland Security agencies in dire need of smart dedicated young people to serve in cyber security. A student with your daughter's credentials would likely be very competitive for scholarships from these government agencies.
https://www.intelligencecareers.gov/icstudents.html
 
I am sure the ROO at ASU can clear up any questions for Army in one phone call, I know it is frustrating to not hear back right away, have her keep trying email and phone. I know there is a water survival component to AROTC, but my daughter is not around this summer for me to ask what the specifics are. As far as the ROO, it is summer break so might take longer. Good luck to her and keep us posted please!

Edit: I just thought of something. She might want to also try the ROO at UA, even if she is set on ASU being closer to home, she might get to them faster and get some general questions answered.
 
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