Ballsy,
Ok here goes.
First, your probably used to posting on boards that are filled with high school kids that dispense advice as if they know everything. That is not the case here, this board has a mix of Active Duty Officers, Prior Service, Current Cadets, Current ROTC Cadre members, and parents of cadets that have gone through the process. There is a lot you can learn from this site, the best advice I can give you is take it all in. You get a Pass for the Bull**** comment because your new and have no idea who you are talking to, but you only get one. For the record Scoutpilot is a current Army Aviator/Officer, a Captain I believe. Point is you have no idea who may be answering your questions so be respectful of everyone.
This FBI agent, who has been in for about 7-8 years, says that about 50% of the intelligence fielded agents had army intelligence experience. I am not JUST doing it to get into the FBI, but that is my main reason. It could also pay for college, and teach many skills such as discipline and leadership you can't find anywhere else.
This comment will raise a few eyebrows. While you explain why you would like to do ROTC, you leave out the main issue, 4 years of Active Duty (AD) or 8 years of Reserves. I would have to agree with Scout on this one, if your main reason is what you stated above then you should really think hard before applying for the scholarship.
There are several things you need to consider, one of the most important is that you need to do some more research about the Army, ROTC, and Military Intelligence (MI).
Just for an overview;
Even if you get a scholarship there is no guarantee that you will commission or get AD. You will need to maintain certain minimums during ROTC to keep your scholarship and continue through ROTC and commission. AD is not guaranteed.
In ROTC there is something called the OML (Order of Merit List) Your position on this list will determine what Branch you get. An Army Officer does not have a MOS, they have branches, there are 16 branches you can commission into from ROTC, MI is one of them. MI is also one of the harder branches to get.
I'm not going to go into great detail of how the OML works but here is an overview.
Your position on the OML is based on several things:
GPA
Physical Fitness APFT score
Performance at LDAC
PMS Review
These are things you may not be familiar with which is why you need to do a lot more research into ROTC.
At the beginning of your senior year in college and ROTC you will be ranked on the National OML that includes every cadet in the country. From that list many will ask for Reserves, the remaining will now go onto the AD OML. There will be more cadets on that list then there is AD slots available. Cadet Command will decide how may cadets will get AD and they will start the count at the top of the list and work down. When they get to the last AD slot available, every cadet below that line will be forced Reserves. This will leave the final AD OML, this is when branching starts.
Branching in ROTC is confusing and too detailed to explain fully right now, again here is an overview.
You make a wish list, first your top 3 choices, then the remaining 13. If you are in the top 10% on the AD OML you are guaranteed your #1 choice. Being in the top 10% is not easy, it means you have to be in the top 5% at least on the National ROTC OML, and that’s out of around 5600 cadets, again not easy to do. Being in the top 10% take a lot of hard work and even a little luck.
If you are not in the top 10% then it becomes the needs of the Army. The higher you are the better your chances but again no guarantees. You can also be in the bottom 50% and have a chance but that’s another complicated story for another time.
The point is you could complete College and ROTC and not get MI, it is a very real possibility you could branch Transportation, Chem Corps, Signal Corps, Ordinance, and so on. Now your in the Army for either 4 years AD/4 years IRR, or 8 years Reserves in a branch you did not want. If your only goal is to be in MI so you can pad your resume for the FBI, you’re taking an enormous risk, for yourself and the soldiers you would be leading. That’s what Scoutpilot was talking about.
Have you even researched what the MI branch is like. Don’t select MI because you think you’ll be Jason Bourne or James Bond, it’s not like that at all. As a junior officer you will become very good at Power Point Presentations. The job of a MI Officer is a lot different then you might think.
Another thing about the MI Branch. MI is often a control branch, meaning you may Branch MI but you would branch detailed to another branch, usually infantry, for 3 years. After the 3 years you would then go to MI Branch school, which means unless you extend your time you really won’t have any time in the MI Branch before you get out if getting out in 4 years is what you want to do., This won’t do much for you FBI Application.
You need to join the Army because you want to join the Army. It’s fine to have goals for after you get out, not everyone wants to make the Army a career, but you need to want the Army for what it is first or you will be miserable.
The best advice I can give you is to go to a university and make contact with the Cadre at the Army ROTC, talk to them, get as much information as you can on the program and how it works. You should also keep posting questions on this board, and read other posts, you will get a great deal of information by just reading related threads on this board. You have plenty of time to learn as much as you can so you can make a decision that’s right for you, and more important that would be right for any soldiers you might be leading in the future.
One more thing, FORGET the ASVAB, you don’t need it, they don’t look at it, and your wasting time you could spend studying for the tests that do count, ACT/SAT. If you want to enlist take the ASVAB, if you want to become an officer then don’t.
Hope you stick around and ask questions, there’s a lot you can learn here.