My son is applying for nominations to reapply to West Point. He is currently a 3 year US Army ROTC scholarship awardee and has passed the APFT and DoDMERB qualified. My question is should he try to get nomination through ROTC as well? He is nervous that if he does ask for a nomination through ROTC that it will hurt him with the cadre at ROTC. Is it normal for rotc leadership to freon upon cadets re-applying to West Point? Thank you in advance for your responses.
ROTC to West Point
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Totally anecdotal but I've heard of units that support re-applicants and others that do not. I do not know the reasons for non-support, but obviously one might be that they don't think the student is West Point material. That being said, my personal thought is that he should pursue every nomination available to him, including ROTC. I might be concerned if he didn't already have a 3 year scholarship in hand, but since he does have it I think any negative attitude from the cadre (if any) would be short lived. Just my 2 cents...
Thank you. He has a very good relationship with the older cadets and leadership as he has gone in, worked hard and listened. He doesn't want to "hurt his standing" among the ROTC guys should he not get appointment. Again, thank you for your advice.
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Hopefully our resident ROO's, Clarkson and Mohawk will chime in on this, but here is my two cents as an Army dad:
Your DS should do the following.
Most PMS's understand that the best AROTC cadets will often reapply to WP and some will be accepted. I believe that the majority of Cadre members will be understanding and consider it a feather in their cap to assist a cadet in receiving an appointment.
In my DS's MS-I year two years ago, I asked him if he wanted to reapply to the academies. His answer was, "why? If I get accepted, I will be one year behind my goal of commissioning in 2019!"
I didn't ever bring it up again.
Good luck to your DS in which ever path he chooses.
Your DS should do the following.
- Clarify his priority: Is the primary goal to serve as an officer or graduate from USMA? (Nothing wrong with either answer, just know which comes first!)
- If USMA means everything to him, then he should be assertive enough to explain himself to the Cadre. I agree with Kinnem that the attitudes may vary by battalion, but my DS says his is very supportive of those who reapply. Plus it allows for another nomination source!
- If his priority is to serve as an officer, then I would point out that the fastest route to commissioning is to stay put! Your DS would receive his bars a year later if he is accepted to USMA. It sounds like he is thriving at his battalion.
Most PMS's understand that the best AROTC cadets will often reapply to WP and some will be accepted. I believe that the majority of Cadre members will be understanding and consider it a feather in their cap to assist a cadet in receiving an appointment.
In my DS's MS-I year two years ago, I asked him if he wanted to reapply to the academies. His answer was, "why? If I get accepted, I will be one year behind my goal of commissioning in 2019!"
I didn't ever bring it up again.
Good luck to your DS in which ever path he chooses.
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This is great advice to a non-military dad, so thank you. He had a two star General tell him to stay put also. I will show him this advice as well in hopes he stays put.
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If he really wants to go to USMA, then he should go through his ROTC BN for a nomination as well. In the 4 yrs that I have been a ROO, I have lost 3 cadets to USMA through reapplies, and one of them I helped with the ROTC nomination. Yes, I don't like losing some that could commission from my program, however the cadet should be the one that decides how he commissions. Most cadre will be supported of the decision to go to USMA. All of ours were to the 3 cadets we lost.
The biggest thing to determine is in which environment would he best thrive in. Going to a service academy will be a significantly different lifestyle than what he is currently accustomed to at a regular college.
The biggest thing to determine is in which environment would he best thrive in. Going to a service academy will be a significantly different lifestyle than what he is currently accustomed to at a regular college.
Thank you sir for your reply. As parents, we obviously love having him nearby and the ability to see him on a fairly regular basis. We also believe that he needs to chart his own course in life. We had a good sit down with him and he is going to apply also through ROTC for the nomination. He also said if he doesn't get nomination this time to West Point he will continue working hard and work his way throughout he ROTC process to commission. He's really enjoying ROTC but wants to give West Point another try. We admire his persistence and drive. In the end, he knows he wants to be a US Army officer.
Thank you again for your reply. We appreciate your insight.