Move from ROTC SMP to USCGA?

S

SoccerGeek

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My son's dream is to fly rotary aircraft. He's an Eagle Scout and really wants to serve. He applied EA to USCGA for Fall 2018 and got denied. He moved on and decided to join the Corps of Cadets (and ROTC) at Texas A&M. While there, he got excited about the Army and its path to rotary aircraft.

Many ROTC members at A&M chose to join the National Guard and use the SMP program to help pay for college. He went with the herd, and is now in the Guard and will complete Basic & AIT this summer.

He's learned that he much prefers the mission of the USCG and the people he interacted with at his visits to USCGA. He is considering re-applying to USCGA for 2020.

If he is accepted to USCGA, then does that active duty commitment void his Guard commitment, just like a commission as a 2nd Lt? What are other impediments to this path, other than not signing any other Army commitments, :) ?
 
Uhhhh... commissioning as a 2nd Lt does not void his commitment to the Guard, at least in cases where one is taking Guard monies for college. Can't speak to acceptance to USCGA.
 
Perhaps I misspoke, but my understanding is from the SMP description at https://www.thebalancecareers.com/simultaneous-membership-program-rotc-4139867 "Upon commissioning, any enlistment contract is nullified, and you may start your career as an Army officer and serve either full-time on Active Duty, or part-time as an officer in the Army Reserves or National Guard. " So one can essentially swap commitments upon commissioning.
 
SoccerGeek said:
Perhaps I misspoke, but my understanding is from the SMP description at https://www.thebalancecareers.com/simultaneous-membership-program-rotc-4139867 "Upon commissioning, any enlistment contract is nullified, and you may start your career as an Army officer and serve either full-time on Active Duty, or part-time as an officer in the Army Reserves or National Guard. " So one can essentially swap commitments upon commissioning.
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That's true that an enlistment contract is nullified, but I'm pretty sure there are further restrictions if you take their money. One can be in SMP and just take the pay without accepting money for college. Your statement implied to me, and perhaps it's a misreading on my part, that your son was accepting scholarship (GRFD?) money from the program. Of course my wife tells me I'm wrong from time to time, but you might want to investigate further. There are several folks on here who are quite familiar with SMP so perhaps they will chime in.

EDIT: You might get more responses to this over in the ROTC forum. I'd move it there for you but I don't have the authority.
 
SoccerGeek said:
If he is accepted to USCGA, then does that active duty commitment void his Guard commitment, just like a commission as a 2nd Lt? What are other impediments to this path, other than not signing any other Army commitments, :) ?
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If your son is in AROTC, even with a scholarship, and he is able to get an appointment to the USCGA then he would be released from AROTC and would then attend the USCGA. The kicker is that he has enlisted in the National Guard and along with that they may have restrictions depending on what he has signed. Did your son accept a GRFD scholarship? I'm not sure how this would effect him in regard to an application to the USCGA but I would highly recommend that he talks with the Cadre at his AROTC Battalion very soon to see what options there are before heading to BCT.
 
Thanks. No he has not yet accepted any scholarships so I'm crossing my fingers. SMP benefits for tuition would begin this September as he starts his sophomore year.
 
Generally speaking, an enlisted contract will always be released for an officer accession.
 
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