MerchantmarinerDot
Member
- Joined
- May 9, 2020
- Messages
- 24
Okay, so I'm currently serving in the New York National Guard as an enlisted infantryman, I have a 3 year contract. I've already completed OSUT and I am at my unit. This is my first semester of ROTC and I hope to commission active duty, alongside some of my peers after graduation. It is my understanding that cadets that are in the National Guard cannot compete for a National Scholarship for active duty.
Now my problem here is my battalion is pretty competitive from what I heard and contracting won't really be attainable until at least my 2nd academic year. My National Guard unit is pretty active and it's training and unit activity will definitely mess up my academic timeline (graduation date) by at least a year. Normally the NG works for ROTC/College students because summer semester really isn't a thing but at SUNY Maritime, the 3 summer cruises (during 3 separate summer semesters) is a mandatory part of obtaining your degree and license, even missing just 1 cruise will put me behind a year. And that's just the summer training, who knows if the unit could get mobilized overseas, setting me back even further.
Commissioning active duty is my number one goal. I understand that I jumped the gun enlisting in the National Guard during High School it was a pretty dumb idea, but I didn't want to wait to wear the uniform. I didn't take into consideration what problems enlisting in the Guard would cause in regards to my degree progression and obtaining my commission. With that being said I have no problem serving as a SMP cadet within the New York National Guard until I complete my degree (4 years) which would mean I fulfill more than my original service obligation. ROTC/commissioning needs to be my priority but I do want to give to my state the service that I did sign for.
Should I try waiting for a contract active duty to come my way? Do I request a conditional release now? Is there another loop whole that exists? There's some information I've got that prompted the issue of messing up my graduation time line but OPSEC is a thing ...
Now my problem here is my battalion is pretty competitive from what I heard and contracting won't really be attainable until at least my 2nd academic year. My National Guard unit is pretty active and it's training and unit activity will definitely mess up my academic timeline (graduation date) by at least a year. Normally the NG works for ROTC/College students because summer semester really isn't a thing but at SUNY Maritime, the 3 summer cruises (during 3 separate summer semesters) is a mandatory part of obtaining your degree and license, even missing just 1 cruise will put me behind a year. And that's just the summer training, who knows if the unit could get mobilized overseas, setting me back even further.
Commissioning active duty is my number one goal. I understand that I jumped the gun enlisting in the National Guard during High School it was a pretty dumb idea, but I didn't want to wait to wear the uniform. I didn't take into consideration what problems enlisting in the Guard would cause in regards to my degree progression and obtaining my commission. With that being said I have no problem serving as a SMP cadet within the New York National Guard until I complete my degree (4 years) which would mean I fulfill more than my original service obligation. ROTC/commissioning needs to be my priority but I do want to give to my state the service that I did sign for.
Should I try waiting for a contract active duty to come my way? Do I request a conditional release now? Is there another loop whole that exists? There's some information I've got that prompted the issue of messing up my graduation time line but OPSEC is a thing ...
