Army ROTC Scholarship kids more scholarly than athletic

[tjb1975]

We just made a quick trip to visit DS at his University (2000 miles round trip!) and to watch a football game. As we talked about ROTC, DS mentioned on several instances that the scholarship cadets were all more academically inclined that athletically inclined. He commented that at least 2 of them that came to campus still haven't passed their APFT, including a 4-year cadet from Texas. Of course, DS is the opposite...more athletic than scholarly, so he may be biased. He says he's heard that new leadership at Cadet Command isn't as interested in desk jockeys (boy, he's picking up the lingo quickly!). Has anyone else heard anything similar? Is DS just being a bit of a jerk in his opinion of others' physical capacity? I was so pleased to see that he has made friends with guys. They go camping up in the mountains nearly every weekend. He's leading a group of cadets that have found donated horses, tack, and boarding so that they can start a mounted color guard. He told me he loves his school choice. He misses playing football, but doesn't regret walking away from sports to focus on his career. Anyhow, proud mom here. It was so cool to see him interacting with the other cadets.

 

[nofodad]

I don't think he's a jerk, he's speaking from his own experience (and it's very limited). All I can say is that my DS' view of AROTC changed dramatically through the four year journey. Enjoy the ride!

 

[cb7893]

DS (Commissioned May 2015) was one of those more "scholarly than athletic" types. Like his father, he was a classic late bloomer. He failed his first AFPT when upperclassman tester did not count enough of his push-ups to hit the minimum. He played hockey through middle school but would never have survived it in HS. His athletic resume included one year of Varsity Tennis. it would have been two had he not spent his Junior year on a Rotary Exchange in Brazil. His calling card was his violin and his "sick math skillz". I never even saw his ROTC application. I always assumed that he got the scholarship because he showed a passion for something and successfully operated outside of what might be considered a comfort zone.

No one would have ever guessed he would go the Army route. People who knew him growing up are still shaking their heads. My concern was that this kid, whose ego would make Donald Trump look like Pope Francis, would run headlong into a bunch of equally confident equally knuckle-headed young males who struggled for B's and had a much different calling card.

I don't know what they put in the water, but all of these guys/gals gelled and gelled quickly. There was a common perception that the MS3's and 4's were a******s, so the 1's put together a common front. It was classic "All for one and one for all." Everyone had his/her strengths. Some loved Color Guard. Some loved Ranger Challenge. Some loved organizing. Some had heavy academic loads, but there was the common goal of being the best class ever with the highest number of 300 APFT scores. The politics of the individuals was as varied as that of the country at large, without any of the manifestations we are seeing before our eyes in the country at large. I could see the results of it at the post commissioning party my DS held. Anyone of them would have taken a bullet for the other.

tjb, I am sure that your DS will soon discover what mine discovered. Henry David Thoreau summed it up with something like "I've never met a person who wasn't my better at something." DS's fellow cadets understood that and took advantage of it to better the unit and themselves individually.

 

[raimius]

War is a thinking person's game. We need both brains and brawn.