Should incoming College Programmers be "recognized" as committed to ROTC?

Ihavenoidea

Ihavenoidea

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I have a interesting situation in the public school my DS is about to graduate from. The county has a Salutes Program where they recognize and honor graduates that have either enlisted, accepted to a SA, or received a ROTC scholership. They have a dinner, speakers, and then provide a Certificate of Appreciation to the graduates. The wording of the announcement is “County Salutes is an evening to recognize students making a commitment to serve in the United States Armed Forces after graduation.” My DS was not awarded a NROTC scholarship, but he has already applied, and was accepted into his college's NROTC program. They have decided that a College Programmer is not committed to join the armed forces; therefore, they are not eligible to be saluted in this county wide event.

I feel that College Programmers are just as "committed" as incoming SA members and scholarship ROTC members as they do almost all of the same requirements. Yes they can DOR with no penalty, but so do SA and scholarshop ROTC members their freshman year. Has anyone else come across this type of thinking at your local level? Am I wrong in my thinking about College Programmers being just as "committed" to the armed forces at this point as SA'ers and scholarship ROTC recipients? I'm just making sure I don't have blinders on since this is affecting my DS.
 
Ihavenoidea said:
I have a interesting situation in the public school my DS is about to graduate from. The county has a Salutes Program where they recognize and honor graduates that have either enlisted, accepted to a SA, or received a ROTC scholership. They have a dinner, speakers, and then provide a Certificate of Appreciation to the graduates. The wording of the announcement is “County Salutes is an evening to recognize students making a commitment to serve in the United States Armed Forces after graduation.” My DS was not awarded a NROTC scholarship, but he has already applied, and was accepted into his college's NROTC program. They have decided that a College Programmer is not committed to join the armed forces; therefore, they are not eligible to be saluted in this county wide event.

I feel that College Programmers are just as "committed" as incoming SA members and scholarship ROTC members as they do almost all of the same requirements. Yes they can DOR with no penalty, but so do SA and scholarshop ROTC members their freshman year. Has anyone else come across this type of thinking at your local level? Am I wrong in my thinking about College Programmers being just as "committed" to the armed forces at this point as SA'ers and scholarship ROTC recipients? I'm just making sure I don't have blinders on since this is affecting my DS.
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I am a little confused about your reference to the "College Programmer", due to a lack of knowledge on my part.
When you refer to your son being a College Programmer, does that also include someone who is on an ROTC scholarship but their major is Computer Science, or are you specifically talking about people who aren't on a scholarship.
I will be on an Army ROTC scholarship majoring in Computer Science, would I fit into that category?
 
aetosArmy said:
I am a little confused about your reference to the "College Programmer", due to a lack of knowledge on my part.
When you refer to your son being a College Programmer, does that also include someone who is on an ROTC scholarship but their major is Computer Science, or are you specifically talking about people who aren't on a scholarship.
I will be on an Army ROTC scholarship majoring in Computer Science, would I fit into that category?
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College programmer is a member of the ROTC that is not on a scholarship. It might be more of NROTC verbage, but nothing related to computers
 
Ihavenoidea said:
I have a interesting situation in the public school my DS is about to graduate from. The county has a Salutes Program where they recognize and honor graduates that have either enlisted, accepted to a SA, or received a ROTC scholership. They have a dinner, speakers, and then provide a Certificate of Appreciation to the graduates. The wording of the announcement is “County Salutes is an evening to recognize students making a commitment to serve in the United States Armed Forces after graduation.” My DS was not awarded a NROTC scholarship, but he has already applied, and was accepted into his college's NROTC program. They have decided that a College Programmer is not committed to join the armed forces; therefore, they are not eligible to be saluted in this county wide event.

I feel that College Programmers are just as "committed" as incoming SA members and scholarship ROTC members as they do almost all of the same requirements. Yes they can DOR with no penalty, but so do SA and scholarshop ROTC members their freshman year. Has anyone else come across this type of thinking at your local level? Am I wrong in my thinking about College Programmers being just as "committed" to the armed forces at this point as SA'ers and scholarship ROTC recipients? I'm just making sure I don't have blinders on since this is affecting my DS.
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I agree with your logic but expect it's a losing battle. I'm also confident they don't understand how these programs work.
 
kinnem said:
I agree with your logic but expect it's a losing battle. I'm also confident they don't understand how these programs work.
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I agree its a loosing battle. Its too late for my DS to do it anyway. I was really just trying to get the minds thinking about the future events. It seems to be more about showing how the school system got SA appointments and ROTC scholarships rather than "saluting" those who have chosen to serve.
 
At least your school honors them.

Ours doesn’t even acknowledge our military 😞
 
justdoit19 said:
At least your school honors them.

Ours doesn’t even acknowledge our military 😞
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Nothing at our son's school either but they did have SA appointments and all scholarships listed in the graduation program.
 
A "college programmer" is equivalent to a "walk-on" to a sports team. There is no commitment and the student or the university can end the relationship at any time. So, I agree with the county in the above situation, that a college programmer is not committed to military service.
 
If it's specifically "enlisted, accepted to a SA, or received a ROTC scholership [sic]", then no, college programmer wouldn't count. College programmers eventually have to apply to a board in order to commission, so I would count them as "committed" after they have been accepted by that board, but until then, they haven't been picked up for a planned commission or anything.
 
I'd respectfully disagree with the poster;
NROTC scholarship recipients are in the Navy reserves, have military IDs, are "activated" for active duty trainings, etc. This is not the case for college programmers.
 
Ihavenoidea said:
I agree its a loosing battle. Its too late for my DS to do it anyway. I was really just trying to get the minds thinking about the future events. It seems to be more about showing how the school system got SA appointments and ROTC scholarships rather than "saluting" those who have chosen to serve.
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My DS HS honors SA, ROTC and enlisted students. All together. I was very nice and great to see them announced and their looks of pride when they got a standing ovation from the crowd. I just watched the video from last year which I posted on this forum last May and chokes me up each time I watch it. I would agree it is nice to honor all who choose to serve.
 
BJD16 said:
A "college programmer" is equivalent to a "walk-on" to a sports team. There is no commitment and the student or the university can end the relationship at any time. So, I agree with the county in the above situation, that a college programmer is not committed to military service.
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I actually considered this analogy and have to provide alittle push back. We are talking about commitment, and not results. A walk on does the same as a scholarship player and is just as committed to the team. Does he deserve a starting spot or a "letter" for just being on the team...no. Is he just as committed to the team and helping the team to complete their goals...I think so. But as I said in the beginning, the event is celebrating the choice of commitment, and not the end results.

A scholarship player and the university can be separated just as fast as a walk on. Just as the case with a scholarship MIDN versus a college programmer. We see scholarship MIDN's not even make it past the 1st semester all the time. It is why ROTC has 3 and 2 year scholarships for college programmers.

I guess I just have a problem with questioning someone's commitment level for some, but not doing it for others. Seems to subjective and unfair.
 
First, I have empathy for how you are feeling, and I think it stinks that this program wouldn't take a moment to be inclusive of all who are signed up to train to serve in the military, regarless. What would it cost them? But, I agree with above posts that this might not be a battle to dig into a trench in to fight. (Doesn't pass the in 25 years, who will care litmus test).

However, I have stated several times in prior posts, they might have done you a favor. Not everyone who signs up to serve - enlisting, OCS/OTS, ROTC, SA ends up making it to commission and serve. So these young adults in these types of ceremonies get a lot of attention with a huge 200k check and article in the paper, even covered in the news etc. and *if it doesn't work out, they run into people from their community and it can be awkward. To anyone who enjoyed such a moment, that's great - no disrespect. I'm just pointing out there is a flipside to not taking the laudations as a HS Senior when you have done not yet a single day of training to prepare to serve in 4 years.

You should be proud of your son for his interest and commitment to serve. He should be quietly proud too. I am proud of all young adults on this path - full respect. I would say this - when he makes it to commission and to become an officer or enlists in 2027, then pop the champagne, alert the media, etc. Take a picture at the Salutes event your son is excluded from and take pride in 4 years when he makes it and perhaps others on that podium do not.

With regards to putting energy into convincing those who are excluding your son and others like him to include him, I'll share a saying my buddy who grew up on a farm shared with me years ago " when you lie down with a pig, 2 things happen... You get dirty, and the pig enjoys it". I wouldn't bother getting into that mud - pray for their enlightenment and trust in your son's sincerity and commitment to serve (Smile).

Good luck to your son - hope that is received constructively. Hang in there.
 
Herman_Snerd said:
First, I have empathy for how you are feeling, and I think it stinks that this program wouldn't take a moment to be inclusive of all who are signed up to train to serve in the military, regarless. What would it cost them? But, I agree with above posts that this might not be a battle to dig into a trench in to fight. (Doesn't pass the in 25 years, who will care litmus test).

However, I have stated several times in prior posts, they might have done you a favor. Not everyone who signs up to serve - enlisting, OCS/OTS, ROTC, SA ends up making it to commission and serve. So these young adults in these types of ceremonies get a lot of attention with a huge 200k check and article in the paper, even covered in the news etc. and *if it doesn't work out, they run into people from their community and it can be awkward. To anyone who enjoyed such a moment, that's great - no disrespect. I'm just pointing out there is a flipside to not taking the laudations as a HS Senior when you have done not yet a single day of training to prepare to serve in 4 years.

You should be proud of your son for his interest and commitment to serve. He should be quietly proud too. I am proud of all young adults on this path - full respect. I would say this - when he makes it to commission and to become an officer or enlists in 2027, then pop the champagne, alert the media, etc. Take a picture at the Salutes event your son is excluded from and take pride in 4 years when he makes it and perhaps others on that podium do not.

With regards to putting energy into convincing those who are excluding your son and others like him to include him, I'll share a saying my buddy who grew up on a farm shared with me years ago " when you lie down with a pig, 2 things happen... You get dirty, and the pig enjoys it". I wouldn't bother getting into that mud - pray for their enlightenment and trust in your son's sincerity and commitment to serve (Smile).

Good luck to your son - hope that is received constructively. Hang in there.
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Thank you for the kind words and thoughts. I can't agree more with what you said. Trust me, I've let it go and now it is more of a thought exercise.

My DS didn't even know about what I've been emailing to the powers at be about this. He had no interest in going even if he could. The ceremony is just over a week away, I knew that he was not going to be apart of it, but I still felt I needed to bring it up for later classes. If only to get the powers at be to think alittle more about how they are wording the ceremony. If the ceremony said "this is to congratulate SA attendees, scholarship winners, and enlisted" I would have no problem with it at all. Those graduates deserve congrats, but it doesn't say that.
 
You think that is something, at my son's high school graduation they recognized all the young men and women who committed to serve (enlisted), but they didn't specifically recognize acceptance to West Point or any service academy as equating to service. His graduating class had one going to West Point (my son) and another going to USNA. They also didn't specifically recognize those who received ROTC scholarships. It was a little upsetting at the time, but in the end it didn't matter. He is excelling at West Point and that is more important than some passing recognition by his school or county.
 
I think most people on here know this already, but just in case. For each high school, their leadership makes their own individual decision as to whom they will recognize and for what reasons. Some schools are very proactive and very patriotic, while others have differing areas of focus.

And the schools will reach out to the various recruiters and ask if they wish to be present to offer congratulations, or the big check, or some other form of recognition. I have one high school that reaches out months in advance, sends me the list of names, asks if I want to or will be attending, and clarifies the uniform I will be wearing.

And while it hasn't happened yet, there will be at least one school that waits until the last minute and expects me to jump through hoops of fire to make something happen within 24 hours. And I will on most occasions, do it, more for the student than the school.

At the end of the day, it's important for the students/future military members to know that potential sacrifices made on behalf of their country may not be recognized often, if at all. And that should not be why they are doing it. Our society has become entrapped in the social media spotlight, too often seeking laudation and pats on the back. As seen on Facebook, literally begging for a "like" and a "share" and hoping for smileys (spelling?) and thumbs-up emojis.

Go with your inner voice as your compass or your faith directs......if you are so inclined. Do what you believe to be right for you, and for your family, and be content with that.

When I started the gig at GWU and attended the faculty orientation, they had a quote up on the "Whiteboard" which I have since placed onto a placard in my office.....

“Sir Thomas More: Why not be a teacher? You'd be a fine teacher; perhaps a great one.
Richard Rich: If I was, who would know it?
Sir Thomas More: You; your pupils; your friends; God. Not a bad public, that.”

And with all that said, I am hoping I will get at least a dozen or so "likes" and "happy emojis" ;)
 
I say this a bit tongue in cheek - "Let's give them all a trophy."

Seriously, for a parent, it is fun to see your kid recognized for achievements or commitments. But, I'm not surprised to hear your DS could really care less about this issue. He probably has it right. Then again, our military can use all the good publicity it can get right now given the recruitment problems.
 
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