ROTC hosted at a different school

smokey%

smokey%

USNA '28 ⚓
Joined
Mar 30, 2023
Messages
564
If you do ROTC in college but ROTC for that college is hosted at a different college, how much of a hassle is that? Does that mean you do drill, PT, and take your ROTC classes at that separate host school? Is transportation usually provided for ROTC cadets to go back and forth between the college they are attending and the college that hosts ROTC?
 
It will help focus the discussion a bit if you can select a particular ROTC program. Each has different ways of handling cross-town and consortium colleges.
 
GWU PNS said:
It will help focus the discussion a bit if you can select a particular ROTC program. Each has different ways of handling cross-town and consortium colleges.
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For instance, one of my top choices for civilian college is UC San Diego. However, UCSD's Army ROTC is hosted by San Diego State.
 
Capt MJ said:

This is where you organize your questions, call the host unit, introduce yourself and ask your questions. They won’t be surprised.
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As Capt MJ suggested, reach out to the host detachment by email or phone. You may also have to take the initiative and pay them an in person visit, travel permitted of course. My DS and I have contacted an AFROTC detachment with a cross town agreement to a large university with email and voicemail. No response as of yet. Probably going to make a road trip this August.
 
@smokey% - You just had a busy AD Navy captain PNS at a large NROTC consortium and a retired Navy captain act as your Siri for you by simply going to the primary sources and doing a little research (likely a minimum of 50–55 years of service between us). Your takeaway is to dive deeply into the unit websites of your target and host school and find these answers yourself! These are some of the self-starting, solution-finding, critical thinking traits desired in future junior officers.
 
Capt MJ said:
@smokey% - You just had a busy AD Navy captain PNS at a large NROTC consortium and a retired Navy captain act as your Siri for you by simply going to the primary sources and doing a little research (likely a minimum of 50–55 years of service between us). Your takeaway is to dive deeply into the unit websites of your target and host school and find these answers yourself! These are some of the self-starting, solution-finding, critical thinking traits desired in future junior officers.
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On a ship that I will not name our new division officer, an Ensign, had an encounter with the Electrical Division LPO that went like this:

Ensign: “EM1, do you have a status on the SSTG part we need?”
EM1: who is in the shower with the curtain closed “Are we under attack by the Soviets sir? I’m kind of busy at the moment.”
Ensign: ”EM1, I need a status now!”
EM1: “Sir, do you not know the Supply Officer, SKC, or SK1? Have you forgotten where GSK is on the ship?”

As the Ensign steps out of the enlisted water closet the Chief Engineer, a LCDR, says “Can’t you see the man is busy? You have a lot to learn son!”
 
The first major problem is distance. How far are the schools? But more than that, what's the traffic situation . I live in Los Angeles, Distance between UCLA and USC is 14 miles. On a normal day, drive time can be anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour or more. I think transportation is on you. Typically PT is done is done at the host school. That means you have to travel there for early in the morning. I would also assume the classes are there, so you are going to travel there during the day and deal with traffic.

Many people complain that they treat the cadets from the host college better than those who travel there. I would assume that is true of some but not all.

It can be done but it will be a pain. The closer the schools with the least amount of traffic, the better. The distance between your two schools is 14 miles so that isn't too bad. What is the traffic situation there
 
Every situation is different, but Army has so many colleges with ROTC that finding a host school is pretty easy. I am very glad I attended a host school. Air Force and Navy don't have as many host schools so cross-town schools and training consortiums are more common. My son is class of 2025, so he has time to research and maybe change his mind, but he is only considering Navy ROTC - MO host schools (with strong engineering and power 5 sports programs).

Part of the reason for attending a host school is for the unit spirit and morale. I don't want him getting anywhere near the greek system in today's litigious environment, so a large ROTC detachment might be able to fill that social void.
 
BJD16 said:
Every situation is different, but Army has so many colleges with ROTC that finding a host school is pretty easy. I am very glad I attended a host school. Air Force and Navy don't have as many host schools so cross-town schools and training consortiums are more common. My son is class of 2025, so he has time to research and maybe change his mind, but he is only considering Navy ROTC - MO host schools (with strong engineering and power 5 sports programs).

Part of the reason for attending a host school is for the unit spirit and morale. I don't want him getting anywhere near the greek system in today's litigious environment, so a large ROTC detachment might be able to fill that social void.
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Thankfully, we've been blessed with this process, my older DS is attending Northeastern for engineering (the cross-town) and travels to Boston University (the host) for AFROTC, he carpools with other NU cadets, but luckily NU is a stone throw away from BU, so it's not a drag to commute, he loves the cadre, atmosphere and camaraderie at BU, I believe other cross-towns that feed into BU are further away, but these students are dedicated and resilient, they do what they have to do to get there and perform. My younger DS looking at NROTC, which is not as prevalent at the host level as AROTC and AFROTC, so his list of colleges he wants to attend are also the NROTC host.
 
Humey said:
The first major problem is distance. How far are the schools? But more than that, what's the traffic situation . I live in Los Angeles, Distance between UCLA and USC is 14 miles. On a normal day, drive time can be anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour or more. I think transportation is on you. Typically PT is done is done at the host school. That means you have to travel there for early in the morning. I would also assume the classes are there, so you are going to travel there during the day and deal with traffic.

Many people complain that they treat the cadets from the host college better than those who travel there. I would assume that is true of some but not all.

It can be done but it will be a pain. The closer the schools with the least amount of traffic, the better. The distance between your two schools is 14 miles so that isn't too bad. What is the traffic situation there
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Thank you so much this really helps! I would imagine the traffic situation in southern California is terrible. I guess that's one school I can cross off my list.
 
Humey said:
The first major problem is distance. How far are the schools? But more than that, what's the traffic situation . I live in Los Angeles, Distance between UCLA and USC is 14 miles. On a normal day, drive time can be anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour or more. I think transportation is on you. Typically PT is done is done at the host school. That means you have to travel there for early in the morning. I would also assume the classes are there, so you are going to travel there during the day and deal with traffic.

Many people complain that they treat the cadets from the host college better than those who travel there. I would assume that is true of some but not all.

It can be done but it will be a pain. The closer the schools with the least amount of traffic, the better. The distance between your two schools is 14 miles so that isn't too bad. What is the traffic situation there
Click to expand...
Similar situation in Southeast Florida. The University of Miami AFROTC has a cross town with Florida International University with a campus in North Miami Beach and Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton. Traffic is a mess in Southeast Florida.😒
 
smokey% said:
Thank you so much this really helps! I would imagine the traffic situation in southern California is terrible. I guess that's one school I can cross off my list.
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Actually, I believe both USC and UCLA have their own units. They are in a consortium together and most likely only gather together during large events. PT and classes are done individually at the schools.
 
aspiringaviator23 said:
Actually, I believe both USC and UCLA have their own units. They are in a consortium together and most likely only gather together during large events. PT and classes are done individually at the schools.
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Yes they both have their own units. UC San Diego does not, their unit is hosted by San Diego State. UCLA is one of my top choices though.
 
Gearhead5 said:
Similar situation in Southeast Florida. The University of Miami AFROTC has a cross town with Florida International University with a campus in North Miami Beach and Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton. Traffic is a mess in Southeast Florida.😒
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Not to thread drift too much, but you are so correct about the traffic here. The other day I had to go from Homestead up to MIA which should be a 30 minute trip. It took me over two hours and every highway and side street was a parking lot. Fortunately, I am only temporarily here to cat sit while my son is TDY for a few weeks. Lesson learned to only make trips here between 1000 and 1400.

Stealth_81
 
smokey% said:
Yes they both have their own units. UC San Diego does not, their unit is hosted by San Diego State. UCLA is one of my top choices though.
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My daughter is headed to UCLA in the fall as an ROTC scholarship winner. She only applied to schools where ROTC is hosted at the school because on top of studies, she felt it would be an unnecessary added stress to have to travel back and forth. They have another unit they host and seems like those cadets enjoy the experience and seem to very much be part of the battalion. We visited and she really liked the cadets from UCLA that we met.
 
rotcmom2022 said:
My daughter is headed to UCLA in the fall as an ROTC scholarship winner. She only applied to schools where ROTC is hosted at the school because on top of studies, she felt it would be an unnecessary added stress to have to travel back and forth. They have another unit they host and seems like those cadets enjoy the experience and seem to very much be part of the battalion. We visited and she really liked the cadets from UCLA that we met.
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I agree I think it would be an unnecessary added stress. Congratulations on the scholarship!
 
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