<p>1sokkermom, Congrats to your S. ROTC is nothing if not "motivating",lol.
I have seen my S develop a real sense of purpose during the course of his first 2 years in ROTC.</p>
<p>Thanks for the kind words hvcgolf and PackMom.</p>
<p>My H is still having a hard time with this. As I mentioned in another thread, he is a "liberal hippy" according to my son. This is the first time they have ever had any tension, as they have always had a great relationship. As a Mom, I am worried sick about the danger implications, particularly with a war going on...:o</p>
<p>This was from an email S sent to H when he told us he had joined ROTC :</p>
<p>"...I'm too proud to sit back and let others defend freedom and fight terrorism. If I didn't use my intelligence and athleticism to at least serve during a few years of my youth, I could never be proud of myself. Regardless of what you might think, service as an officer not only greatly enhances a resume, but makes you a better and stronger person...."</p>
<p>Wow...I got goosebumps reading your son's email. You must be so proud!!</p>
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My H is still having a hard time with this. As I mentioned in another thread, he is a "liberal hippy" according to my son. This is the first time they have ever had any tension,
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<p>It's supposed to be the mom who doesn't want junior to go into the military. My congratulations to your son.</p>
<p>^ Mom wasn't thrilled at first, but Mom FINALLY realizes that it is not her life. ;)</p>
<p>...Mom still has a chance to live vicariously through little sis... :D</p>
<p>1sokkermom, Our S has been planning his military career for years so we've had awhile to get used to it. I hope your H will come around. Since you said they always had a good relationship before, he surely won't jeapordize that over your S's decision to serve in the Army. Maybe it will take him awhile. Be sure and let S know that you support his him and his father still loves him even though he's having a hard time with S's choice. Seeing your S put on that uniform will put a lump in your throat every time.</p>
<p>Congratulations, Your sons will make fine officers. It is men and women like your sons who bring a very important balance to the officer corps of each service. Officers from ROTC and OCS provide the broad perspective that Academy grads don't always have -- and this is from an Academy parent. The military is best served by the mix of officers who come from different commissioning sources because each one brings a special perspectve to their leadership and understanding of the purpose for which they are serving.</p>
<p>Thank you for raising such fine young men and thank them for their service and commitment to our country.</p>
<p>Ginger40 -- I am an Army ROTC graduate myself - but it was about 27 years ago. Many things have changed, but many are still the same. Schools differ a great deal on how they go about things, some do not require much of students during their first couple years, while others have the cadets out doing PT at 6am. Quite honestly, the first couple years for me consisted primarily of a couple very easy classes (map reading & some military history if I recall correctly) along with an occasional weekend drill. While the last 2 years took more time, it still was not overwhelming. As I said, every school goes about things differently.</p>
<p>wow Tutition Dad, My S's first 2 years in NROTC have been radically different from your experience. But like you say, all schools units are run differently.</p>
<p>Thanks everyone for all your replies and help! Just hearing my D talk with excitement about being in the Air Force and reading all your posts have helped me get more comfortable with the idea. Thank you! :)</p>
<p>Ginger40, Glad you're feeling better about it. Before our S's freshman year started, they had an Orientation week for ROTC. The Officer who was in charge of all the NROTC units in our state spoke to the parents and gave us a chance to ask a million questions. It was very informative and made you feel good about the choice they were making. Don't know what school your D will be attending but if you look on the schools webpage and do a search for AFROTC, you might find a little more info (and maybe pictures) about the unit.<br>
If she goes into it with the right mindset (the will to succeed), she will be fine. There might be lots of yelling at first and lots of stuff to memorize. It's all just a mental thing. Tell her not to worry about it, just get through it. You will see her confidence in herself and her abilities go way up. It's sort of a brainwash process but in a good way. She will come home telling you why the Air Force is the best of them all and have many examples to back it up. There is pride in ownership and feeling that she is a part of something so much bigger than herself. My S was just home this weekend and talking excitedly about the specialty he hopes to get into after graduation.</p>
<p>Thanks PackMom! So glad to hear your S is enjoying his experience. Congratulations!</p>
<p>Yes, we looked at to AFROTC detachment and the pictures were really helpful. My D is most excited about the leadership skills ROTC will offer her. She's already a somewhat Type-A person already. </p>
<p>What I'm finding interesting are the reactions I get when I tell people that she will be joining the Air Force. Those with military experience are ecstatic and those with no military experience seem surprised that we are letting her do this. Fortunately, I just feed off of my daughter's enthusiam and tell them how very proud I am.</p>
<p>I guess I'll need to find other ROTC moms like you to hang out with :)</p>
<p>Our S is a sophomore attending college on an AFROTC scholarship. He wishes in some ways that he'd gone Army instead. He called one day to tell me that week for military science, the Army guys were doing obstacle courses while the AF cadets were studying proper grooming. :-)</p>
<p>He's starting to look at it differently as he entertains hopes for being selected for a pilot slot, though. Last week he went for a run to the airfield near campus. There was a navy trainer jet there and he stopped to look at it. The pilots came out of the hangar and he started talking to them. He found out they had flown across several states that day, stopping in one town for breakfast and another for lunch. They were about to head back home. Our S's reaction was....."sweet....that sounds like the job for me".</p>
<p>Congrats to all you ROTC parents....your kids are going to have the experience of a lifetime. </p>
<p>I'm in Air Force ROTC @ UCLA... I was on the edge about whether or not to join, but I'll never look back. The skills gained and qualities developed through the program will follow for the rest of my life, I can't imagine my future without it.</p>
<p>My S is pretty excited about the branch of the Navy he hopes to be selected for when he graduates in a couple of years. It's great to see a program like ROTC instill so much pride and excitement about the future in our kids.</p>