NROTC - Info please

I

informe

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Jun 16, 2015
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My DS registered to his college and accepted the NROTC scholarship. He said that he has to report to school several days before the other students. A few questions:

1) He said the parents have to be there for the first two days? Any idea what we are supposed to be doing?
2) He also said some thing about he may have to go to Virginia for something this summer?

Any information is appreciated.
Thanks.
 
DS is finishing up his first year of NROTC at RPI. Parents weren't required to be there for two days, but there was an opportunity after the week of getting acclimated to NROTC for parents to go to the "pass in review" (may not be the phraseology that they use).

With regards to Virginia, during the summer between their 1st and 2nd years there is an opportunity to go to CORTRAMID. It is a 4 week program where the midshipmen spend a week in several different areas of the Navy, getting exposure to each field. It is optional, to the best of my knowledge, because my DS has chosen not to go this summer, and is going to be taking a few classes over the summer in order to lighten what would have been back to back 20 hour semesters.

Hope that helps a bit.
 
Parents should not have to be at orientation except perhaps to sign paperwork for participants under 18. At my son's orientation we were there for a portion of the first day and the last day (when they had a bit of a graduation ceremony). However, we only lived a 3.5 hour drive away so it was easy for us to be there, and our attendance was entirely optional.

There should be no need to go to anything in Virginia this summer unless it is something special the school itself is doing. His rising sophomore summer he will have CORTRAMID as explained earlier. So far as I know CORTRAMID is not optional (at least I have never heard of that). However, only contracted midshipmen (those on scholarship) are allowed attend. There are usually two sessions so there may be some flexibility on when he attends during that summer. The Navy will cover travel expenses and arrange airline tickets if needed. CORTRAMID sessions are held on each coast and your location relative to the Mississippi determines which coast. I won't swear to it but I think East coast folks go to Norfolk and West coast to San Diego. Midshipmen receive active duty pay (as E5 I think) while there, which is taxable income.
 
No although he briefly considered it. If you look at my avatar you might guess which college he attended. He's a 2nd Lt in the Marines now.
 
kinnem said:
No although he briefly considered it. If you look at my avatar you might guess which college he attended. He's a 2nd Lt in the Marines now.
Click to expand...
I will.. Was it VMI? BTW, my DS recently found out that NROTC juniors on scholarship are able to select marine option for commissioning as 2Lt. That put a smile on my husband's face after coming home from a long workday.
(I can't believe I said VMI. Clemson was the school I had in mind.)
 
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kinnem said:
No although he briefly considered it. If you look at my avatar you might guess which college he attended. He's a 2nd Lt in the Marines now.
Click to expand...

My niece played softball there, she loved it! Go Gamecocks!
 
DS went to South Carolina. Typically one makes the selection of Marine or Navy upon entry to the program. One can apply to change to the other option during the program, but there is no guarantee, and there is a point of no return. You must complete the program in 4 years, but only about 4 of the (up to) 8 Naval Science classes are common between Marine and Navy Options. At some point you run out of time to make the switch, and this ignores the other academic requirement differences between the two programs (which would only apply when switching from Marine option to Navy option)
 
Fantastic info, thanks! I will pass this on to proud marine dad and his motivated son.
Son is going do well no matter what he chooses, I'm sure.
 
@informe Call the NROTC Battalion your son is going to. In my experience of speaking with 3 different NROTC units they are very easy to talk to. I doubt your attendance is mandatory, especially if your DS is over 18. There are probably some activities over those 2 days that a parent would not want to miss.
 
5Day
Thank you. You are right, I am sure it is something that the parents should not miss, will figure it out, when my DS has more time to sit down and talk to us :).
 
Ok, I kinda figured out what he was talking about, atleast for the Virginia trip. He is in GW - NROTC unit. The GW kids do go to Virginia for an "intro to the Navy" [ :) ] week. I guess that is what he was referring to. This is how one article described it..

......."It is not boot camp," said Fred Stein, executive officer of GW's NROTC program of the six-day orientation that takes place at the Marine Corps base in Quantico, Va. "It's a little mayhem, a little yelling and screaming, but overall it's a bonding experience for incoming freshmen."....

I am sure he is looking forward to this. I am not sure if all NROTC units do this 6 day intro program.
 
informe said:
Ok, I kinda figured out what he was talking about, atleast for the Virginia trip. He is in GW - NROTC unit. The GW kids do go to Virginia for an "intro to the Navy" [ :) ] week. I guess that is what he was referring to. This is how one article described it..

......."It is not boot camp," said Fred Stein, executive officer of GW's NROTC program of the six-day orientation that takes place at the Marine Corps base in Quantico, Va. "It's a little mayhem, a little yelling and screaming, but overall it's a bonding experience for incoming freshmen."....

I am sure he is looking forward to this. I am not sure if all NROTC units do this 6 day intro program.
Click to expand...
No, all units do not do that program.
Quantico! Impressive. I'm sure there is a bit of yelling. :D
I imagine they'll get to use some of the excellent training facilities there, like the Leadership Reaction Course, etc. Pretty good deal. No Quigley yet though!!!! :)
 
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