Packer,
Please don't take this wrong, I am not caught up on 10 or 11 yrs. I am the very 1st to say, okay it is 10, but realistically it is closer to 12 yrs for AFROTC.
The fact is at the end of the day on a good day they will be close to 34, and 50% of their life will be tied to the AF. 10,11, 12, 13, does it matter? What does matter is even at the low end you are still going to be @ 34. 34 to a 17 yo, is OMG, OLD! Life has suddenly passed by their eyes, they now own a mini-van, a mtg., pre-school, and worse yet...their 20th HS reunion! Remember being 17, that is how we saw it.
I just know 4 things right now, that the link you posted doesn't tell 17 yo HS srs. wanting to go rated the factors in their future.
1. They need to go to SFT and scholarships are masked.
2. They want rated they need to take the TBAS and get selected by the rated board.
3. They are not AD upon commissioning, they may wait up to a yr for UPT.
4. They bust IFS or UPT the AF can release/separate you, they are under no obligation to change your career field and keep you for 4 yrs. AD
~~~ This is a financial issue for many. USAA offers a 25K loan at a very low rate, AF releases you that rate jumps up to high teens %.
10, or 11 hit me with a wet Lomein noodle. Does it really matter? Class of 16 can owe 10 yrs, class of 18 can owe 8. It changes, what doesn't change is how many hoops you must jump through to get a rated slot, and keep jumping through once you get rated.
Tell a 17 yo you owe 10 yrs, tell a 17 yo you will be close to 34 when you walk, 2 different things. They typically forget to add in the silly stuff like college yrs, and UPT, all they here is 10 yrs.
We already diverted the OP's question, and now even more so since he doesn't want to go rated.
Nothing wrong with diverting a thread, except for the fact anyone looking for info would have to read through 8 pages of comments and still not find an answer.
Plus, JMPO we still have failed the OP, because we allowed him to say:
I'm going to a SMC in the fall of 2013
Never once addressing this issue, how does he know he will be at an SMC next fall? It is Aug 2nd, I don't know if Norwich has recruited athletes, do any of you? VT, TAMU, Citadel, etc. SA's have yet to send out LOA's, but we accepted as fact he will be at Norwich 2013.
As stated before we all bit off on the political career aspiration issue, jmpo, our responses still are not about
Is Deshawn medically cleared
Does Deshawn want to live on a boat
Does he want to live in Minot, ND
Does he have a flipping clue what SMC life is like compared to traditional ROTC life
I am not trying to force anything here, I am trying to say this thread has gone through the gamut to the point of FF life 20 yrs. Not once has anyone said Deshawn, each branch is unique, and there is no political edge, especially as a non-rated officer. No offense to non-rated, but let's be real when a flier takes out a target, you don't hear about the part the INTEL officers played, sad, but true. You hear X type of jet, from Y base. Chuck Yeager, Doolittle, Pardo, Olds, are known from a military flying perspective. Name me an Intel officer.
Again, wrong that they don't get the limelight too, but that is the way it is.
He wants to spend 10 yrs in either AF or Navy. Shouldn't we just talk about which branch is more fitted to him, leave politics and commitment time out of it.
Shouldn't we address ROTC and commissioning, not can he become the president in 2036, or a Congressman in 2022?