Freshman's Opinion on Service Academy vs ROTC

[Jcleppe]

I think ROTC from the perspective of my school takes a lot more discipline. Most things you need to figure out for yourself often. ROTC is great, but without any military background such as basic training or being from a military family it can be extremely stressful. Many schools focus solely on the advanced course cadets which leaves the MS1's and MS2's kicking dirt unless they go above and beyond doing extra curricular ROTC functions such as Pershing rifles and Ranger challenge. The point I'm trying to get across is if you plan on going Active Duty your life outside ROTC will be limited a lot more then most programs let on when selling their program. I am a GRFD cadet/SMP so I've been able to have a more balanced college experience. If you have the ability to go to a service academy and aren't familiar with the military like I was that be the best route to instill discipline and foster the needed abilities to be an active duty officer. I'm writing this as a warning to those who want a somewhat normal college experience and want to be an Active duty officer through ROTC. I say that also because there is also a big push towards expanding the reserves/guard. My program has been pushing GRFD contracts through fairly easily.

I agree with BAMA on this one, don't present one battalion's experience with the entire system.

Son went to a traditional university with AROTC, was very active in ROTC, Ranger Challenge, Color Guard (Commander one year), Winter Mountain Warfare School (During the school year), CDQC, CULP, CTLT, and most other activities offered.

As far as College involvement, he joined a Fraternity his freshman year, very active in the house, elected a student body Senator one year, was President of the Intrafraternal Council one year, participated in multiple Intramural Sports, Received School awards for Outstanding Sophomore, and Senior and was awarded Top Sophomore in the Greek System as well as Greek Man of the Year his senior year. Throw in Superior Cadet one year.

Not trying to play the bragging parent, just trying to show that a cadet can have a very fulfilling and successful experience in both ROTC and College, of course it requires a bit of time management and becoming very rusty at any game on XBox.

Son did just fine keeping very busy, he commissioned and graduated on time and branched AD Aviation.

I would advise any young person that goes to either a traditional university, a SMC, or a SA, take advantage of every opportunity offered. This is a time when you should try as much as possible and experience as much as you can. Get involved, be a leader when and where you can, soak it all in. This is when you should all have a huge thirst for knowledge and be curious about everything, take every advantage no matter where you go to school.

MomWPgirl, Loved your last post.

 

[zanlew]

I agree with BAMA on this one, don't present one battalion's experience with the entire system.

Son went to a traditional university with AROTC, was very active in ROTC, Ranger Challenge, Color Guard (Commander one year), Winter Mountain Warfare School (During the school year), CDQC, CULP, CTLT, and most other activities offered.

As far as College involvement, he joined a Fraternity his freshman year, very active in the house, elected a student body Senator one year, was President of the Intrafraternal Council one year, participated in multiple Intramural Sports, Received School awards for Outstanding Sophomore, and Senior and was awarded Top Sophomore in the Greek System as well as Greek Man of the Year his senior year. Throw in Superior Cadet one year.

Not trying to play the bragging parent, just trying to show that a cadet can have a very fulfilling and successful experience in both ROTC and College, of course it requires a bit of time management and becoming very rusty at any game on XBox.

Son did just fine keeping very busy, he commissioned and graduated on time and branched AD Aviation.

I would advise any young person that goes to either a traditional university, a SMC, or a SA, take advantage of every opportunity offered. This is a time when you should try as much as possible and experience as much as you can. Get involved, be a leader when and where you can, soak it all in. This is when you should all have a huge thirst for knowledge and be curious about everything, take every advantage no matter where you go to school.

MomWPgirl, Loved your last post.

I'm not trying to say it is impossible by any means. I'm sure your son was an outstanding cadet. I just want other people who are coming in to understand that as standards are raised for AD that tackling the full college experience is going to be more challenging than ever in conjunction with ROTC. To get what you want you're going to need an extremely high GPA/ APFT/ PMS eval (which is usually based on being involved with ROTC at extracurricular functions). I'm not saying this as a sob story since I always wanted to be a reservist/guardsman. If you're going the guard/reserve route for many people that may mean prioritizing civilian networking for a career versus doing supplemental training. I'm just making these statements so future cadets don't put there eggs in one basket doing all this training to be disappointed when they are slotted guard/reserve with no plans. Hats off to those who can tackle all of it, but the reality is most people will suffer substantially in one area( APFT, GPA, extracurricular ROTC activities,Social life, community involvement) while trying to maximize other areas of the spectrum. Regardless all those who choose this path to serve will make sacrifices of course.

 

[Jcleppe]

I'm not trying to say it is impossible by any means. I'm sure your son was an outstanding cadet. I just want other people who are coming in to understand that as standards are raised for AD that tackling the full college experience is going to be more challenging than ever in conjunction with ROTC. To get what you want you're going to need an extremely high GPA/ APFT/ PMS eval (which is usually based on being involved with ROTC at extracurricular functions). I'm not saying this as a sob story since I always wanted to be a reservist/guardsman. If you're going the guard/reserve route for many people that may mean prioritizing civilian networking for a career versus doing supplemental training. I'm just making these statements so future cadets don't put there eggs in one basket doing all this training to be disappointed when they are slotted guard/reserve with no plans. Hats off to those who can tackle all of it, but the reality is most people will suffer substantially in one area( APFT, GPA, extracurricular ROTC activities,Social life, community involvement) while trying to maximize other areas of the spectrum. Regardless all those who choose this path to serve will make sacrifices of course.

Again I'm not sure where this is coming from, very possible that your experience is different then most.

As far as the difficulty in getting AD, realize that the number and percentage for those selected to AD this year was greater then last year and according to Cadet Commands estimates it will remain at these levels for at least the next few years. In other words it should not be any more difficult to get AD now then it has been in the past. The idea that cadets will have to work much harder just isn't there. The standards have not been raised as much as they have been changed around.

Most cadets should find that they are still able to have a balance between ROTC and college.