ROTC Cadet Summer Training Oppourtunities

andreb72

andreb72

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Aug 7, 2017
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DS is a Freshman ECP ROTC Cadet at Vallet Forge. I was wondering where I could locate information about summer training opportunities that may be available at the end if this school year. Thanks
 
Your son will be attending advanced camp. He should ask his cadre about other summer opportunities. Not sure how many ECP Cadets go on CULP or internships. Also not sure how many Airborne and Air Assault slots they get.
 
When DS went thru ECP they were treated like any other MS3, same summer opportunities. The allotted slots depend on how many they are issued thru their battalion. He did Air Assault and had classmates that did CULP, Airborne, and CLDT (does that still exist)
 
QA1517 said:
When DS went thru ECP they were treated like any other MS3, same summer opportunities. The allotted slots depend on how many they are issued thru their battalion. He did Air Assault and had classmates that did CULP, Airborne, and CLDT (does that still exist)
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Hello- My daughter was offered ECP for 2024 and I'm looking for families who have done this. Tips, pros, cons, regrets? Did your son go Active Duty?
 
andreb72 said:
DS is a Freshman ECP ROTC Cadet at Vallet Forge. I was wondering where I could locate information about summer training opportunities that may be available at the end if this school year. Thanks
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I'm looking on past boards for ECP guidance. My daughter is considering her ECP award and at VFMC. Any advice? Pros, cons, regrets?
 
SandmanSurfer said:
Hello- My daughter was offered ECP for 2024 and I'm looking for families who have done this. Tips, pros, cons, regrets? Did your son go Active Duty?
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This program has changed a lot since DS went thru it. It changed while he was going thru it. So I can only address his situation.
Pro: If you are wanted a junior college degree paid for it is fine. Some schools are much more military school based than others. A lot of it is what you make of it.
Cons: You will drill one weekend a month which could take away from other things college kids like to do or homework you need to do. Your follow up education is entirely on you and Guards tuition assistance program. At this point you are a non-deployable member of the national guard. You can be activated for state emergencies but not deployed oversees. You are expected to conduct all the duties of a 2nd Lt. in your guard unit. His unit had a 3 week wintertime AT one year so he was going to miss the first 2 weeks of the school year. His unit would not let him miss AT and the school would not let him miss the first 2 weeks of the semester. So he had to enroll in mid-term classes.

My DS commissioned in the down-sizing stage of the US army and the re-structuring of cadet command when they moved to Fort Knox and when they wanted to send more officers into the guard and reserves. I would guess at least 2/3 or more of his class was designated for guard/reserve. This is the part that changed while he was in the program. THE NEEDS OF THE ARMY.
I remember a phone call from him when he said "I don't know who thought that putting a 19yr old in charge of a bunch of middle-aged men was a good idea." Having to juggle guard duties and complete your degree can be very challenging.

Pros: He learned a lot of valuable leadership lessons at a younger age in the guard that helped him excel in the civilian job world. He has acknowledged that without this experience he would not be where he is at right now.
Cons: Eventually he had to make a decision of advancing his guard career or his civilian career (and family).
He chose his civilian life.

Regrets.....I think we all have would of, should of, could have moments. Thats life and the gamble you take. The ECP path got him started, after that it was up to him.
 
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