What are my options?

[ShadowMist21]

That is horrible advice, especially to someone that has a 3AD scholarship. If you enlist, you will have to leave the USAR/ARNG in order to contract your sophomore year for the 3AD scholarship. The USAR/ARNG needs to release in order to do so, and they are not obligated to release you. You will need to get a conditional release which takes a very long time to get approved, if it even gets approve. Don't ever enlist to SMP if you have a national scholarship prior to ROTC contracting. You may enlist after contracting with ROTC and having the scholarship converted to GRFD. You are only an SMP cadet once you have contracted with ROTC. If you enlist as 09R, and if they don't release you, then you have lost your scholarship. They will also schedule you for basic training after your freshman year of college.

You don't have to tell me your school/ROTC program, but what was the position of the cadre member who told you that?

Really? That sucks. Is there any way to guarantee to be released?

 

[Montana State Army ROTC]

This shouldn't be so complicated and cryptic.
How is an 18 year old year supposed to figure this out?

Because there is no longer an Officer and enlisted national recruiting strategy. Its Active, NG and reserve. Then add on the marketing people at Knox are old foggies who fall back on “regulations” when any PMS dares provide feedback on how to recruit.

thats why this forum is better than the AROTC website.

 

[MohawkArmyROTC]

Really? That sucks. Is there any way to guarantee to be released?

No, as the decision authority is a General, and your request to be released (DD368) has to be endorsed by all of the CDRs in the chain until its hits your General.

I would ask your cadre what current (or in the recent past) 3AD scholarship winner in your BN had enlisted into the USAR/ARNG as a Freshman and was released from the USAR/ARNG sophomore year in time to contract for his/her 3AD scholarship. I am willing to bet it is zero.

Why the push to enlist as a Freshman? There is no gain other than a few hundred bucks a month for drill pay. You would not be MOSQ, so you do not have access to tuition assistance, and MGIB. It is also a huge risk to take with your scholarship which is probably worth six figures.

In the end it's your decision, I am just trying to give you the most accurate information to make the best decision.

It's disheartening to see how much bad advice is actually given to cadets.

 

[MohawkArmyROTC]

Because there is no longer an Officer and enlisted national recruiting strategy. Its Active, NG and reserve. Then add on the marketing people at Knox are old foggies who fall back on “regulations” when any PMS dares provide feedback on how to recruit.

thats why this forum is better than the AROTC website.

The Army marketing team rarely listens to what the field says. Were you still a PMS during Army National Hiring Days last Spring? It ran from last May to Jun. We were tasked to provide how many new enrollments and basic camp slots we filled from it as part of their ROI tracking. That's easy as the answer is zero as the semester had just ended, and it was too late to slot someone for CST. How can they be that out of touch, when you SMEs to tell you the reality on the ground?

 

[ShadowMist21]

No, as the decision authority is a General, and your request to be released (DD368) has to be endorsed by all of the CDRs in the chain until its hits your General.

I would ask your cadre what current (or in the recent past) 3AD scholarship winner in your BN had enlisted into the USAR/ARNG as a Freshman and was released from the USAR/ARNG sophomore year in time to contract for his/her 3AD scholarship. I am willing to bet it is zero.

Why the push to enlist as a Freshman? There is no gain other than a few hundred bucks a month for drill pay. You would not be MOSQ, so you do not have access to tuition assistance, and MGIB. It is also a huge risk to take with your scholarship which is probably worth six figures.

In the end it's your decision, I am just trying to give you the most accurate information to make the best decision.

It's disheartening to see how much bad advice is actually given to cadets.

Thank you for the advice! Apparently, there were 3 cadets that did it and were recently released, now contracted on their 3AD scholarship, but after talking to them it seems there was definitely a hassle to get released.

 

[airborne1030]

Alright...


I'll keep this simple...

What other options do I have, other than Army SMP, that will basically help me pay for tuition at a public institution (e.g. Citadel), whilst nearly guaranteeing me a spot for Active Duty once I graduate?

I've looked more and more into SMP, and I'm continuously finding new information that seems to sway me on sides.

If anyone has any information, I'd really be interested in Army or Navy, no true preference.

Like most have shared with you, you can be accessed for active duty as an SMP contracted cadet. You will compete for active duty along with all other contracted cadets.

As long as you don’t accept a GRFD scholarship, you will be able to compete for active duty.

Ultimately, graduating from service academy is the only guarantee for an active duty commission.