Any truth to the rumor?

[NJROTC-CC]

I appreciate them trying to help a kid make plans but them sharing the idea that one person in a country with a stable democracy can defund the military before the scholarship info is what makes them sound off the wall. Even without knowledge about how the AF staffs officers or budget info they shouldn't be saying that.

Agree. They should just tell them that campus scholarships are difficult to earn and no one can predict how many will be available each year. Not that some politician wants to eliminate the Military. Sounds like he was projecting his own political bias.

 

[obaad5]

Agree. They should just tell them that campus scholarships are difficult to earn and no one can predict how many will be available each year. Not that some politician wants to eliminate the Military. Sounds like he was projecting his own political bias.

for the record, during the zoom meeting my DS ROO did not mention nor insinuate that the cutback in AROTC campus scholarship funds was coming from orders by the current administration.

 

[lipton_hot_tea]

I've always read on this forum "don't pick a school you can't afford" because there are no guarantees .. great advice. my son is moving forward with his plan since it's his #1 college choice with a major he wants to study. if he doesn't get a campus scholarship for years 2,3,4 we will re- evaluate the numbers and have a backup plan to transfer to a school that offers his major and where we can benefit from the academic common market in-state tuition. gotta always have a plan

It is hard to do in some areas! If we had stayed in our old state then tuition at a school with AF ROTC could be covered by a summer job and a pell grant. In our current state it seems like most of the schools are private colleges or they don't accept transfers from a community college. Ds doesn't have a scholarship but even just funding one semester at a private school or out of state tuition in hopes of getting one would leave him with crazy high loans.

 

[airborne1030]

The person who said this was a ROO at my DD friends College. He wanted to put it out there b/c he (her friend) is/was planning on getting a 3 year Campus based. Now the ROO is letting him know that may not happen....b/c of cuts or whatever...

As a former officer who commissioned through AROTC in the early 1990’s, I witnessed force management at the tail end of careers. Several promotable captains with great experience and training were forced to leave active duty. There is no easy way to manager budgets. Careers are impacted regardless of whether force management budgets are managed at the front end or tail end.

Ultimately, no one can promise to what extent defense budgets will fund from year to year since DoD budgets are part of our discretionary budget. Administration policies and congressional approval are how they are shaped and funded. Our advice to our DD during her scholarship application process was to pick a school that was a good fit for her and our family, do her best, and get the most out of ROTC.

All the budget stuff and what the DoD does or does not do is out of our control.

 

[OldRetSWO]

but them sharing the idea that one person in a country with a stable democracy can defund the military

First, let me repeat that the PRESBUD (President's proposed budget) has not been finalized yet so the idea that the budget is already decided to be cut is not true at this time.

***BUT***
Your comment about "one person" is not accurate either. That one person (the President) is the direct senior/boss of the Secretary of Defense as well as the Service Secretaries. The PRESBUD is created and fleshed out by the services UNDER GUIDANCE from the aforementioned Secretaries who are directed by that one person.
I will give an example from history. From 05 to 10, I headed up a Market Intelligence organization for a major corporation in the Aerospace & Defense market. In Nov 2008 after President Obama won the election I did a quick scan of the Obama campaign's detailed platform documents which were available on the web to look for any inklings of impact to our organization and to our competitors. Pretty soon, I saw that there were three major DoD Programs that were not favored by the incoming administration. They were the Future Combat System (FCS) which was a major Army program, the Airborne Laser (anti-ballistic missile) which was a key Air Force program and I don't remember the third at this time. At the time, all three were pretty well supported by Congress and the services certainly backed them. My company had a major subcontract role on one of them and a key competitor/partner was heavily involved with all three.
From a technical perspective, the FCS was technically challenging but doable while the Airborne Laser had some inherent challenges that made a full production decision more risky although it had already been demonstrated and worked.

By the next spring when the PRESBUD was sent to congress, it had all three programs out and the money reallocated to other existing things that the services also wanted. There were some moves in Congress to reauthorize them but Congress ended up going with their party line and approved the budget without those programs.

 

[franknd]

It is hard to do in some areas! If we had stayed in our old state then tuition at a school with AF ROTC could be covered by a summer job and a pell grant. In our current state it seems like most of the schools are private colleges or they don't accept transfers from a community college. Ds doesn't have a scholarship but even just funding one semester at a private school or out of state tuition in hopes of getting one would leave him with crazy high loans.

FYI, the University of Oklahoma and Oklahoma State both have all ROTC services on campus (except no NROTC at Oklahoma State) AND offer in-state tuition to anyone enrolled in ROTC, regardless of year, contract status, scholarship, etc.

 

[Soldiergriz]

Is he closing Leidos and Northrop Grumman too? Seriously any adult saying this to you isn't being honest. People say all kinds of crazy things. I've been hearing since I was 10 that the next president is the anti-Christ.

In 29 + years of service, I have never NOT gotten a raise...some years more than others...under Presidents of both parties.

 

[123456]

So important to decide on a college that will work financially regardless of ROTC. So many things can change a student's course - from simply deciding military isn't what they want, to becoming medically unqualified, or a big manpower change directed by budgets.

 

[Reapplicantagain2025]

I know at my Army ROTC program we can several highly competitive cadets get told that there was no scholarship in house that they would be able to give out. I'm pretty sure no one got offered scholarship if they were not already offered it in previous years/ in senior year of high school

 

[Soldiergriz]

Yes, and the "current administration" also wants to prohibit Christianity...and force our pure white virginal daughters to get gay marriages to illegal immigrants...who want to become transgenders.....and join Antifa or BLM......and tear down those holy Confederate war hero statues.......when not manipulating Venezuelan-manufactured voting machines......or becoming radical Islamics-ists....or mandating abortions...or prevent the heartland from embracing Q-Anon......not to mention Hillary Clinton and her pizza-gate child molesting cult.......

Sigh.

If true, this ROO (whom certainly must have a "Stop the Steal" bumper sticker & attends Proud Boy rallies) should resign and move to Somalia, where he (or she) can have all the AR-15s and ammo they want, never pay taxes, and live in a society totally without a liberty-crushing government - or, in fact, any government at all. What a paradise, living in Somalia must be.

No offence, Carol F, but posts like yours are what makes Western Civilization wretch with disgust at the path the United States of America has taken.

Sheesh...ha ha.

 

[Soldiergriz]

@daytripper...Whaddya want from me? I asked a question. Stop drinking the kool aide the Clown in the white house if feeding you and go put your 2 masks on and drive around alone in your car. No offense day tripper but your response is indicative of what's wrong with the 12 percent of the population of US who may have attended a sparsely attended Biden rally.... Upset about a Ballot recount are ya?? It's going to be a hot summer...

Sheeeeesh...go take a walk. Everything is going to be alright. Ha ha.

 

[lipton_hot_tea]

FYI, the University of Oklahoma and Oklahoma State both have all ROTC services on campus (except no NROTC at Oklahoma State) AND offer in-state tuition to anyone enrolled in ROTC, regardless of year, contract status, scholarship, etc.

Thank you very much that is extremely helpful!!

 

[MohawkArmyROTC]

We are expected less campus based scholarships for MS25 dues to the expectation of a smaller scholarship budget, and the fact that the commission mission is decreasing over the next few years. Whether or not there will be zero campus based scholarships, remains to be seen.

 

[obaad5]

We are expected less campus based scholarships for MS25 dues to the expectation of a smaller scholarship budget, and the fact that the commission mission is decreasing over the next few years. Whether or not there will be zero campus based scholarships, remains to be seen.

So every school is being affected by the shrinking scholarship budget and decreasing commissions? What happens if DS doesn't get a campus scholarship by junior year? Will he have to quit ROTC?

 

[tgtl]

So every school is being affected by the shrinking scholarship budget and decreasing commissions? What happens if DS doesn't get a campus scholarship by junior year? Will he have to quit ROTC?

You don’t need a scholarship to contract.

 

[franknd]

We are expected less campus based scholarships for MS25 dues to the expectation of a smaller scholarship budget, and the fact that the commission mission is decreasing over the next few years. Whether or not there will be zero campus based scholarships, remains to be seen.

Can you clarify this? Does this refer only to MS25 and beyond, or does it also include classes who are already enrolled, i.e. rising MS-II (MS22), MS-III (MS23) and MS-IV (MS24)?

 

[franknd]

@MohawkArmyROTC, just correcting what I wrote above. I reversed a couple of my numbers:

Can you clarify this? Does this refer only to MS25 and beyond, or does it also include classes who are already enrolled, i.e. rising MS-II (MS24), MS-III (MS23) and MS-IV (MS22)?

 

[USMCGrunt]

In 29 + years of service, I have never NOT gotten a raise...some years more than others...under Presidents of both parties.

The benefit of the years served? I recall pay freezes in 1985/6 under President Reagan and possibly some under other administrations before that.

Of course, I reserve the right to be incorrect - it was a long time ago!

 

[Soldiergriz]

The benefit of the years served? I recall pay freezes in 1985/6 under President Reagan and possibly some under other administrations before that.

Of course, I reserve the right to be incorrect - it was a long time ago!

85/86 was a bit before my time...started in 92. I have gotten an annual pay raise in addition to time served bumps without exception...

 

[MohawkArmyROTC]

@MohawkArmyROTC, just correcting what I wrote above. I reversed a couple of my numbers:

Can you clarify this? Does this refer only to MS25 and beyond, or does it also include classes who are already enrolled, i.e. rising MS-II (MS24), MS-III (MS23) and MS-IV (MS22)?

I don't have the drawdown per year, however we have recently decreased to 5900 commissions from 6000. The expectation is that we will drop down to 5300 - 5800 commission per year, over the next few years. Scholarship budget has already been decreased for FY22.