Army ROTC March 2013 Board

[kcdale99]

My son received a 3yr AD scholarship. He was also nominated congressionally for USMA (his SAT isn't competitive enough for USMA). USMA sent him to DODMERB though in January.

A week before his DODMERB he had a bad ear infection (first time ever) and we took him to the doctor... which turned out to be a bigger issue than we thought. Fortunately the issue is in the canal and not the middle/inner ear which is pretty much a DQ. He is scheduled for surgery next week to fix a 'divot' in his ear canal. He is expected to make a full recovery with no hearing loss etc. The DODMERB is waiting on the surgery to complete and they want all of the records etc before their final decision.

The question I have is.. since his scholarship doesn't start for over a year.. do we have all that time to work through the DODMERB problem? Does that give us more time to let his ear heal, and pass the board... or in the case of not passing the board time to work through the waiver process? Or does he still have to be DODMERB qualified before this fall's semester starts even though he won't receive the scholarship for another year?

 

[xtrememvp101]

Another side question for anyone who can help. Is there some sort of "awarding process" for my 3yr AD scholarship. I've heard of kids getting them presented to them by an officer or recruiter at a high school awards night or something of the sorts. No biggie, just curious

 

[Jcleppe]

My son received a 3yr AD scholarship. He was also nominated congressionally for USMA (his SAT isn't competitive enough for USMA). USMA sent him to DODMERB though in January.

A week before his DODMERB he had a bad ear infection (first time ever) and we took him to the doctor... which turned out to be a bigger issue than we thought. Fortunately the issue is in the canal and not the middle/inner ear which is pretty much a DQ. He is scheduled for surgery next week to fix a 'divot' in his ear canal. He is expected to make a full recovery with no hearing loss etc. The DODMERB is waiting on the surgery to complete and they want all of the records etc before their final decision.

The question I have is.. since his scholarship doesn't start for over a year.. do we have all that time to work through the DODMERB problem? Does that give us more time to let his ear heal, and pass the board... or in the case of not passing the board time to work through the waiver process? Or does he still have to be DODMERB qualified before this fall's semester starts even though he won't receive the scholarship for another year?

That is actually one of the plus sides to a 3 year scholarship.

Your son will have the first year to get all this straightened out, in fact, once school starts his sophomore year he will have until the end of the first semester if it should take that long. If it does run into the first semester the only thing he will lose is the stipend for the time he is not contracted, once everything is complete and he is able to sign the contract, the tuition and book money will be paid.

One other thing, if the waiver process does take part of his freshman year he would not be able to get an upgrade to his scholarship until everything is taken care of.

Hope everything works out, he has plenty of time.

 

[Jcleppe]

Another side question for anyone who can help. Is there some sort of "awarding process" for my 3yr AD scholarship. I've heard of kids getting them presented to them by an officer or recruiter at a high school awards night or something of the sorts. No biggie, just curious

it is mainly up to your school if they will allow a presentation at their awards night, if they do you can contact the ROO at the school he will be attending, if it is too far away for them to come they may be able to make other arrangements for a presenter.

 

[kcdale99]

That is actually one of the plus sides to a 3 year scholarship.

Your son will have the first year to get all this straightened out, in fact, once school starts his sophomore year he will have until the end of the first semester if it should take that long. If it does run into the first semester the only thing he will lose is the stipend for the time he is not contracted, once everything is complete and he is able to sign the contract, the tuition and book money will be paid.

One other thing, if the waiver process does take part of his freshman year he would not be able to get an upgrade to his scholarship until everything is taken care of.

Hope everything works out, he has plenty of time.

Thanks for the quick reply (and of course taking the time to reply to so many people with questions around here). He really, really wants to contract his freshman year so being offered a 3.5 year scholarship would be awesome for him. He is working out/running every day, and has been in contact with company so they will already know him come August. He is hoping his JROTC experience will help him be a squared away cadet on day one.

 

[Jcleppe]

Thanks for the quick reply (and of course taking the time to reply to so many people with questions around here). He really, really wants to contract his freshman year so being offered a 3.5 year scholarship would be awesome for him. He is working out/running every day, and has been in contact with company so they will already know him come August. He is hoping his JROTC experience will help him be a squared away cadet on day one.

Sounds like he's working hard and doing all the right things.

Just remember he won't actually contract until the scholarship starts, if he is able to get upgraded then he will contract when that scholarship starts.

Working out and running is the best thing he can do to prepare, a great 1st APFT will go a long way in keeping him at the top of the list, that and a good GPA the first semester. One of the freshman cadets at my son's school who started as a non scholarship cadet was given a 4 year scholarship after the first month, his stats before coming to school were very good but he just missed getting a scholarship, within 1 month he was getting above a 300 on his APFT, a scholarship was available and he received it, this happened this past Fall. So tell your son to keep up the hard work so he is ready for any opportunity that may be available. Best of luck to him.

Just one tip, tell your son to use the experience of JROTC as a way to help him get into the swing of things, just tell him to never say the phrase.."This is the way we did it in JROTC" That goes over the same as when some cadets say "This is how we did it at BCT". Funny thing is that it's not just in ROTC, my son is at Flight School at Ft. Rucker, one of the Warrant Officers instructors asked a new LT to do something, the LT told him "Than't not the way we did it at West Point" the poor LT had Base Beautification duty the next day.

 

[Deltademon7]

I just received a letter in the mail about my DODMERB and my updated status, but I haven't received anything else (such as an email or letter of offer in the mail). Is this a troubling sign? Also, I would like to transfer my scholarship... how would I need to go about doing this?

 

[cajuncarrier]

Another side question for anyone who can help. Is there some sort of "awarding process" for my 3yr AD scholarship. I've heard of kids getting them presented to them by an officer or recruiter at a high school awards night or something of the sorts. No biggie, just curious

Just received an email this week. My DS received the 4 yr AROTC scholarship to LSU. The Lieutenant Colonel and Major will present my son his award at the high school's senior banquet. I'm so excited. We are trying to keep it a surprise for him and are so honored to have these gentlemen with us. That's impressive....

Originally, I contacted the dept to see if there was anything that could be presented. A teacher at the high school whose husband is a recruiter offered to present it to him. But LSU said no. They will do it... WOW!!! totally awe struck... I already started crying.. What will it be like that night?

 

[EDelahanty]

Just received an email this week. My DS received the 4 yr AROTC scholarship to LSU. The Lieutenant Colonel and Major will present my son his award at the high school's senior banquet. I'm so excited. We are trying to keep it a surprise for him and are so honored to have these gentlemen with us. That's impressive....

Originally, I contacted the dept to see if there was anything that could be presented. A teacher at the high school whose husband is a recruiter offered to present it to him. But LSU said no. They will do it... WOW!!! totally awe struck... I already started crying.. What will it be like that night?

Congratulations on the scholarship. I predict the presentation at the awards banquet will be great for you and embarrassing for your son.

(has he been qualified by DODMERB as medically sound yet?)

 

[cjs]

Congratulations on the scholarship. I predict the presentation at the awards banquet will be great for you and embarrassing for your son.

(has he been qualified by DODMERB as medically sound yet?)

Why would it be embarrassing for the son?!!

My son got presented with his scholarahip and the "big check" 3 years ago at his school's awards ceremony. He was anything but embarrassed. It was quite a night.

 

[cajuncarrier]

Yes, He qualified with DoDMERB in March. That was such a relief.. Now it is too keep him safe from injuries.. I'm sure awards night will be awesome.. So excited..

BTW, quick question for everyone. My DS will have his wisdom teeth pulled at the end of May. Does he need to report this? if so, to whom?