1) I graduated from HS yesterday, and get accepted from UCF.
2) I did apply for national guard 4 years scholarship, and my guard recruiter just told me this afternoon that I got 3 years scholarship, but not 4 years one.
3) I didn't apply AROTC scholarship, because my guard recruiter keeps telling me that ARMY scholarship does not pay 100% tuition.
4) My guard recruiter told me once I received guard ROTC scholarship and want to accepted I have to sign the contract with guard for 6 years. He said:"you can complete 4 years of contract during college time, when you get out of college you only have to do the two years left on your contract. When you complete your contract you can sign contract with active duty, OR you can ask the guard during my senior year if they can let you transfer to active duty or not."
5) I don't know if the guard recruiter says right or wrong, because when I lookup the nation guard website, it's said: Following graduation, cadets begin a new Military Service Obligation (MSO) contract and serve eight years in the Guard, which includes training.
Thank you for your helping!
If your intent is to be active duty upon graduation, I highly recommend you talk to the ROTC Officer at the college you plan on attending. They are highly motivated to help you find your fit and will lead you to people who can make your desire for active duty after graduation happen. This is where I started, at the ROTC office at my college. Do not sign anything til you are confident on ALL your obligations.
Thought I would share my short journey-
I was awarded the 3-year GRFD/Minuteman Scholarship and just completed my freshman year at college in the ROTC program and could not be happier with my decision. It was a long process with lots of paperwork, physicals, exams, and interviews.
My scholarship funds start this fall and will
NOT cover 100% of my tuition. It will cover my tuition or my room and board, but not both. I also will be given a monthly stipend and yearly book allowance. I have already started getting monthly pay from my Guard drills that I do. I do have institutional scholarships so with those and my Guard scholarship combined, my college will be covered the next 3 years.
First, I went to my ROTC Officer at my college the summer before my freshman year. After talking with them, they told me of scholarships that were available. One was through the Army National Guard. This was something that interested me so I went and meet with the recruiters that my ROTC Officer sent me to.
I was made very clear about my obligation BEFORE I even applied for the scholarship by the Guard recruiters. Matter-of-fact, they repeated things several times to make sure I fully understood my obligation. It was also made clear to me that switching to active duty after college will not happen til my obligation to the Guard is completed. Again they were very clear with this with me. They said in the past there had been cadets who decided they wanted active duty so now they make that a very difficult if not impossible to do.
What I was told was that I will drill once a month with my Guard unit and attend a 2-week AT each summer for my 4 years of college to which I will be paid. I have been doing this.
When I graduate and get commissioned, I will be obligated to serve 8 years in the Army National Guard.
So, all in all it is a 12 year commitment!
Now, I will be credited with 4 years of service, but my obligation service of 8 years does not start til I have graduated and am commissioned.
I strongly recommend talking to an ROTC Officer at your college.
Good luck!
