My DS just received an NROTC-MO side load scholarship offer (3 yr). The contract was for 'Reserve'. While he is honored to receive this offer, his heart is set on starting his career as an active duty Marine. Does anyone have any insights into whether he could transfer over to active duty, or does acceptance of this offer lock him into the reserves after TBS and MOS training? Would he be better off declining and reapplying next year? Thanks for any help.
nrotc mo scholarship - reserves contract
- Thread starter Vaboiler
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Torero_dad
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Congratulations! Not sure, should ask his MOI. There is a question at the top of the first page of the Sideload application which specifically asks:
"If not selected for an active duty commission, I want to be considered for the Reserve Board." "Yes or No".
USMCGrunt
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@Vaboiler - I have never heard of what you are describing. Not to say it isn't true but I wonder if your DS is mixing terms. Things change all the time but a quick search of Google came up empty. There is the Reserve Officer Commissioning Program (ROCP) but that seemed linked to the Officer Candidate Course (OCC-R) which is post college and not linked to a scholarship. The majority of officers in the Select Marine Corps Reserve SMCR are prior active duty officers who have completed their first tours.
Your DS should get clarity from his MOI. Once he does, it would be great if you could educate us on the program for future candidates.
Your DS should get clarity from his MOI. Once he does, it would be great if you could educate us on the program for future candidates.
TomB
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Like everyone stated, your son's MOI would know better than anyone. My MOI informed me that if you receive a reserve scholarship, you can essentially switch contracts once you head to TBS with someone who wants to go reserve or something to that effect. I'm not exactly sure how the process works, but all I know is that you can switch from a reserve contract to active duty based on what I was told.
Torero_dad
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I second @USMCGrunt, would love to know the details @Vaboiler . DS received news he was not selected in this board. And the advice his MOI gave was that by indicating he was not open to Reserves he limited himself. Also, that he should at least test for Air, even if not his bag. He will be learning more about this and I'll bring what he reports back here.
CatDog99
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I think it's definitely best to get MOI advice. If your DS received a Reserve side-load scholarship -- that means he checked "Yes" on the sideload application, per @Torero_dad response. The 2 and 3 year Reserve sideload scholarships are quite new and don't seem widely understood. I wrote a little about my own DS decision process about Reserves in a previous post in this ROTC forum:
NROTC-MO -- No National Scholarships for College Programmers
That makes sense @Impulsive -- and that has been my son's experience as a "walk on" college program NROTC-MO. My DS was not selected for National Scholarship as a HS senior -- and he joined Marines at SMC. Your explanation seems to provide best fit for what we've heard regarding the National and...
www.serviceacademyforums.com
I surmise that the majority of NROTC-MO scholarship aspirants want to serve active duty. It's tricky for these young men and women to know if they should check "Yes" to Reserve Option when applying for sideload. Until we get some insight from an MOI or Selection Board Member, I don't think we'll know if checking "Yes" or "No" has any bearing on applicant's chances of getting Active Duty scholarship. The only thing we do know is that you are limiting overall chances for scholarship / commission if you select "No" since you are eliminating the Reserve option. As an aside, I believe all the Reserve scholarships are for Ground (no Aviation / Law).
My DS said he purposely DID NOT check the "reserve" box on the application. The info he received from his MOI was that he would be locked-into reserves (SMCR). DS also sent email to contact person on memo announcing scholarships and she didn't say anything about being able to swap with anyone after TBS. I will have him reach out to MOI again with this possibility. Thank for all of the insights!
CatDog99
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It does seem unusual that your DS checked “No” to Reserve and was then selected for Reserve Scholarship. Just for a data point, after much deliberation, my DS checked “Yes” to Reserves but he was selected for Active Duty (his strong preference). I only mention this so that others don’t think that by checking “Yes” you can only receive Reserve Scholarship.
As for SMCR (Selected Marine Corps Reserve), I believe a MO with Reserve Scholarship will go full time SMCR for one year after TBS / MOS schools. After that year, it is more likely that the Marine officer will then be a drilling reservist unless they find full time Active duty opportunities (that’s a whole ‘nother topic — you can research MARFORRES Global Billets for more info / these can be pretty limited for O1/O2, however, as these units are looking for more experienced officers and NCOs).
Good luck to your DS and I hope you will share more info after he talks to MOI.