FY budgets run from Oct to Sept. Graduating in Dec. would put him in the next fiscal yr budget. He would not be FY 14, but instead FY15. The moving commissioning back reference is tied to the question of why he is not graduating in 14, but now 15. His command may have known this last yr when he was eligible for SFT., thus why they felt confident into pushing him back. They already knew he was not a 14, whereas others would be a 14. In essence, the question is was he slated for Dec when the board met LY, or is this a new turn of events due to academic reasons...i.e. switching majors or re-taking a few courses because of grades. Just like SFT the cgpa matters for rated boards.
He must attend SFT to commission, no SFT = dis-enrollment. He can't go to a board unless he attends SFT. The reason why is how they rank out of SFT is part of their OML score. Rank = DG, top 1%, 5, 10, 20, 30, 50 and below 50. I believe it accounts for 20% of their OML, won't swear by it. Even if they allowed it, 0 points on 20% of the OML would equal no rated option, and bottom of the barrel non-rated choices.
He will apply with everyone else that will graduate FY15. In Nov after SFT, he will take his TBAS, if he has any flight hrs he needs to bring that log with him for the test. This portion of the OML is 40%. (if I recall correctly). They submit their packets in Dec.. The board announces their decisions @Feb. Mar. their 300 yr. If not selected, they will than submit their non-rated choices in the spring and find out @ this time their fall 400 yr. In his case about 2 months before commissioning. For Dec. grads, the turn around time for base assignments are quick, and they find out a few weeks later, @ Nov.
You need to realize that for AFROTC there usually is a long wait time between commissioning and reporting for both rated and non-rated. Nick4060 is going non-rated, commissioned in May, and has a report date somewhere in Oct. Our DS is going UPT. He leaves a week from today, and was also a May commission. The earliest one out of his Det left Aug. 2nd. The bulk are leaving this week like our DS. The reason why is they are coming out of the FY13 budget since the report date is not 9/30, it is 10/1. It's all about the budget. DS only got his official orders the 1st of Sept. He knew the tentative report date, but anyone in the military will tell you that things change and until orders are in hand don't assume it won't change. Even at that point it is not a lock.
The way it works is they are in a queue regarding their commissioning date. AFA always goes 1st, than AFROTC and OTS is dispersed in there too. He would be behind all of the May grads with a rated slot. That being said, our DS will report for casual status, he does not go to IFS for several more months. So, again, it doesn't really impact the AF as far as scheduling because Dec grads are one of their smallest commissioning groups. They can squeeze them in easier compared to May. He may or may not go directly to IFS with no casual status time period like DS.
He needs to expect that he won't report for at least 2 or 3 months after commissioning. That means for him to figure out what he will do for money during those months.
Finally, what will also happen the summer of his SR yr after being picked up is they will send him to Wright Pat for a 3 day rated physical. At the same time he will also apply for his TS clearance. These are 2 critical things because without them he can't go rated. They also both take time to clear. It is about a 6 week process from start to finish. The govt will send people out to speak to the references he lists, and they will literally make sure every yr of his life is accounted for from birth, i.e. lived where from when to when. I assume you are not military, so it might not be a problem, but if you did move during these yrs., they want them to list it, and you must list a certain amount of ref. for each place you lived during this time.
One last thing about the rated board, has he started to process the fact that they don't just give out pilot slots, but CSO, ABM and UAVs? One of our friends DS applied this past July for OTS, he did not get pilot he got CSO. He is having a hard time deciding if he wants to go and be a CSO. There is no best 2 out of 3 option. You take the hand they dealt you. In the past few yrs AFROTC has been giving out about 90% pilot, thus why this OTS board gave out about 90% CSO. However, AFROTC gets the left overs from the AFA. If the numbers change from the AF and AFA side for manning issues, i.e. slowing the UPT pipeline down, they will also impact AFROTC and OTS. He needs to be sure now that he will be happy with a UAV or ABM or CSO because nobody here, and nobody at ROTC can tell him right now what the FY15 numbers will look like for UPT. They can only tell them what it has historically looked like over the past few yrs.
OOPS one last thing. The hardest part for him will be studying for his AFOQT/TBAS because many cadets do that over the summer, but for him he will be at SFT. The same may be true for IFS. The May grads had the summer off to recharge their batteries, and than many went to their base, but are going casual, not directly to IFS. This gives them more time to study for IFS. I am not saying or implying he will leave immediately for IFS and not casual status, just saying that on top of his academics for school, he will need to study for the AF world too if he wants to be in front of the ball. AFOQT is easy it is like the SAT. TBAS is more geared toward flying aspects, hence why they accept flight hours for extra points.