AFROTC or OTS? Honest questions...

[jtkkn8]

Hello,
I am fairly new here.
A little background, I am 25 with three small children and I have completed half of the required credits for my bachelor's degree.
I am attending AFROTC orientation this Saturday to begin the Fresh/Soph year(I will take both classes). I am a little worried about the time requirements as I am not a live on campus traditional college student (no offense meant by that statement). My children and wife take alot of my time and I wonder if they will be neglected due to my time commitments. We have already been through this when I was a firefighter (24hr shifts). My father has mentioned to my that I should just finish school and get into OTS.
One question is what are my chances of getting into OTS? Is this highly competitive?
Also what is life in the AFROTC like? daily PT, studying, memorizing, etc...
Any help if greatly appreciated?
I forgot to mention that I will be finished with my degree before my senior year in ROTC so I will be taking my senior ROTC courses without any other needed courses.
Thank you,
CJ

 

[VMINROTChopeful]

Hello,
I am fairly new here.
A little background, I am 25 with three small children and I have completed half of the required credits for my bachelor's degree.
I am attending AFROTC orientation this Saturday to begin the Fresh/Soph year(I will take both classes). I am a little worried about the time requirements as I am not a live on campus traditional college student (no offense meant by that statement). My children and wife take alot of my time and I wonder if they will be neglected due to my time commitments. We have already been through this when I was a firefighter (24hr shifts). My father has mentioned to my that I should just finish school and get into OTS.
One question is what are my chances of getting into OTS? Is this highly competitive?
Also what is life in the AFROTC like? daily PT, studying, memorizing, etc...
Any help if greatly appreciated?
I forgot to mention that I will be finished with my degree before my senior year in ROTC so I will be taking my senior ROTC courses without any other needed courses.
Thank you,
CJ

you might also want to ask on this forum here: http://www.flyingsquadron.com/forums/index.php?showforum=10

 

[justawife]

The time that my son spends at ROTC is 4-5 hours a week most weeks. PT twice a week, they will have it 6am or 5pm- It is held 4 times a week go to 2. As a 200, they have an extra hour of FT prep held at 6 am also.

Son has to twice work the football games, parking cars or taking tickets. His school pays ROTC and they use the money to paintball and canoe. Since he didn't make the ticket lottery he may work a few more game, his choice to do so they get a free ticket in to a SEC team.

They have a formal at the end of each semster.

FT training will be at Maxwell AFB in the summer either 4/6 weeks. If your spouse can handle the small time apart, then you may need to rethink the military completely. I often have had spent 5 months apart and twice have had a year apart. Yes the time apart is hard and the kids grab other guys in uniform and scream dad, only to realize it not him. The military is not a 9 to 5 job there many 12 hour plus days and a lot of weekend work too. High maintaince spouse don't do well with this life. But living all over the world in a protected community (gated..hee hee) has it's perks.

The AF is force shaping (shrinking) there will be fewer officers brought on AD. OTS will be good if you have engineering degree-something that they are short of, if you are a poli sci/english/history major forget OTS unless you carry a 4.0.

 

[jtkkn8]

Thank you for the advice.
My wife is extremely independent. I on the other hand tend to get so into my other activities I neglect her and the kids and then that weighs on me. ROTC sounds like the way I need to go. I am also thinking about the legacy I leave for my children. Thanks for the advice.
CJ

 

[packermatt7]

As a senior in high school, I've been looking at AFROTC and the Air Force Academy. I was very suprised about the time commitment for AFROTC in college. I was expecting that you met a few hours a day, but really, you only have one or two classes and PT twice a week. If you're in college, you might as well. A few hours a week will go a long way with the ROTC program.

 

[kwickham82]

Hello, good luck on your upcoming year, its going to be crazy! My husband is graduating field training tomorrow, he was a 250 also (did the first two years together). It is a bigger time commitment than you might think. Not only do you have regular classes and PT, but you also have a position within your flight which takes time as well. When my hubby was flight commander he spent about an hour every night answering and sending emails (just an example) I can tell you from personal experience it is hard to go through field training prep, hubby spent an average of 3 extra hours a week at the detachment. Plus having him gone for this whole month for field training, not being able to speak, except through letters (which you won't have time to write). I don't want to discourage you, but definitely be prepared, from my experience this year will be the hardest, most time consuming. As far as I know, you must be a full time student to be in AFROTC, so regardless of whether you finish your degree early, you will still be taking a full load your senior year (thats how it works here anyway). The reason we chose to go the rotc route is because they commission twice as many officers as ots does, and it is almost impossible (from what I hear) to get commissioned through ots with a non-tech degree. Any more questions, we would be glad to help

 

[elite marksman]

As a senior in high school, I've been looking at AFROTC and the Air Force Academy. I was very suprised about the time commitment for AFROTC in college. I was expecting that you met a few hours a day, but really, you only have one or two classes and PT twice a week. If you're in college, you might as well. A few hours a week will go a long way with the ROTC program.

Packer, ROTC does get considerably more time-consuming as you get further into the program. As a freshman, you are correct, Cadre are limited to 5 hours of interaction per week per AFOATS regulations.

However, 200s to some extent, and POC (300/400 and 7/800 if your det has them) do considerably more work. After each Leadlab, they must be debreifed by the Cadre. Also, the POC who hold high positions, mainly the 400s, are responsible for determining the week's activities.

All training is done by the POC, and in a few cases 200s (our PT Officer is a C/3C, but I think he's the only GMC that has a leadership position). Cadre are there only to supervise and evaluate the cadets.