<p>This doesn't exactly belong here, but how is active duty defined for graduates from the academies, Ivy Leagues or Stanford (ROTC)? Are they actually sent into combat? I'm assuming they are sent overseas likely, but as typically officers what would their roles be?</p>
<p>[Will</a> Ivy League embrace R.O.T.C again? | csmonitor.com](<a href=“http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0919/p02s02-usmi.html]Will”>Will Ivy League embrace R.O.T.C again? - CSMonitor.com) , though it doesn’t mention the rate of which ROTC students go onto serve overseas. </p>
<p>Stanford does not have an ROTC program. Like Harvard and Columbia, students must go to nearby schools to fulfill their obligations. Brown has no program, apparently.</p>
<p>Stanford University students can take ROTC at Santa Clara University.</p>
<p>All ROTC students compete for their branch assignments. It is done by merit - a factor of your military performance (namely at LDAC) and your GPA.
Once you are a Commissioned Officer it doesn’t matter from where you graduated, if your unit is deployed then you go too. A 2nd Lt from Harvard serves the same role as a 2nd Lt from any other school.</p>
<p>There are a couple of good books out their by Ivy Leage grads who served recently. You might want to check out “This Man’s Army” by Andrew Exum and “One Bullet Away” by Nate Fick. Exum is a Penn Grad, while Fick is a Dartmouth grad.</p>
<p>As I understand it, “active duty” for West Point cadets begins on day 1 at the academy. (not sure about ROTC) or other service academies. The cadets are assigned to West Point and are not sent anywhere else except in the course of normal training. Should the Army decide to send them into “combat” they could do so at anytime during the 4 years of West Point but that occurance while it has happened once or twice in the last couple of hundred years, isnt likely. In times of national crisis (WW!, WW2, Civil War) West Point has accelerated the training and graduated classes early (in some cases after only 2 or 3 years) in order to meet the urgent needs of the Army. As far as being sent into combat after graduation, in a time of war, EXPECT it and you wont be surprised.</p>
<p>ROTC cadets are not on Active Duty. Branch assignements are a little different between WP and ROTC.
West Point is required by law to commission 80% of male grads into Combat Arms branches. While your branch of choice is not guaranteed over 90% of grads will get their first or second choice.</p>
<p>ROTC cadets - may not get an AD commission. they may end up with a commission in the Reserves and there is a reserve option if one desires to fulfill their commitment in the Army Reserve. </p>
<p>For information on Army careers this is an excellent website:
[url=<a href=“http://www.branchorientation.com%5DHome%5B/url”>http://www.branchorientation.com]Home[/url</a>]</p>