As we look into plan C and plan D, does anyone have any experience or helpful information about doing Air National Guard in college at the same time as AFROTC if they have a simultaneous program as the army does or doing it instead of AFROTC since ds did not receive an AFROTC scholarship and the AFROTC crosstown is far from his campus. I know talking to a recruiter would probably be best way to get information, but just wanted to get some basic info to start with and any personal experience with it that anyone would want to share. Thank you!
Air National Guard- any experience?
- Thread starter sparks46
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My oldest son is in ANG, going to college for free...if you are wanting to talk with someone doing that, PM me and I could connect you with him.
My biggest piece of advice is to make sure y’all know the details of what you are signing up for. He worked with a recruiter, who was enthusiastic about him signing up. And that’s their job!
it’s a PERFECT fit for this child of mine. He is really loving it!
Adding this: check into it from both the recruiter side AND the college side. IOW, have a talk with admissions (to understand the nuances of how it all works if he leaves for training, for example), and the financial aid office (to understand how the money part works).
I don’t have any idea about doing AFROTC and ANG simultaneously.
My biggest piece of advice is to make sure y’all know the details of what you are signing up for. He worked with a recruiter, who was enthusiastic about him signing up. And that’s their job!
it’s a PERFECT fit for this child of mine. He is really loving it!
Adding this: check into it from both the recruiter side AND the college side. IOW, have a talk with admissions (to understand the nuances of how it all works if he leaves for training, for example), and the financial aid office (to understand how the money part works).
I don’t have any idea about doing AFROTC and ANG simultaneously.
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Thunderbolt462
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You can do it simultaneously, but it isn't like the Army where there's a special program for it. The cadets I know that did both essentially had to balance two different lives, missing AFROTC training for deployments, etc., whereas the Army won't deploy you as a dual-role cadet if you're in the simultaneous membership program. The Army also integrates your ROTC training into your role at your unit, where the Air Force doesn't.
My personal recommendation is to do one or the other, especially if the cross town school is far away from your son's campus. The cadets at my detachment who did cross-town and were in the Air Guard tended to have lower commanders rankings, not because they were bad cadets, but because they missed out on a lot of ROTC activities or were deployed for a whole semester and it was pretty hard to evaluate them as a result. This year for EA selections commander's ranking looked to be the make or break factor for a lot of cadets.
With that being said, I'd talk to a recruiter for info as well. The Guard and Reserve are an awesome opportunity especially for someone looking to fly, and many cadets do both AFROTC and the Guard at the same time and make it work. However, the two programs exist separately and don't integrate like the Army.
Very good points! I think he will be doing a different university (he has two he is picking from this week) with an AFROTC on site instead this first year, and see how it goes. After the first year is under his belt, he can then decide if Air Guard would be a better route or if he can handle both his second year. I am concerned of him taking on too much at one time when starting college. I also agree to be able to go above and beyond in your ROTC and get great commander's ranking, you got to be present as much as you can, which is what he has a lot of interest in doing anyways!