ROTC and Engineering

Hi, this probably may not be the ideal place to post this, but I am a junior in high school and I plan on studying some form of engineering (Mechanical, Electrical, Chemical, and Aero/Astro seem the most interesting to me), and I was just recently told of the ROTC program and how it may be beneficial, but I had a couple of questions I hope someone could answer. First off, how physically tough is the program? I am an athlete and I try to constantly work out a couple of times a week, but would this be something way harder and more frequent than what I am used to, or is it easier than one might think? Secondly, I probably would lean towards the Air-Force, but what interests me isn’t necessarily a combat role, I’m more interested in an Reasearch and Development type job in my chosen Engineering field, is this an attainable thing to get/is there some sort of different path that I would go through that would guarantee me an R&D position, or is getting that position just a thing of luck? Lastly, and simply put, how much does ROTC take away from the college life?

Also are you guaranteed jobs post graduation, and if so, do you have any/many choice as to where you’d live/ work?

Never did ROTC but I am somewhat familiar with the programs…

That depends a lot on which program you are in. AFROTC does not appear to be tremendously physically challenging (the other services often derisively refer to that branch as the “Chair Force”), while doing the Marine option in NROTC will be physically tough for ANYONE if they can find a way to do it! If you are interested, I would suggest contacting a local ROTC detachment and asking if you can observe their PT sessions.

It is… somewhat obtainable. The military does not do a whole lot of actual engineering, they do a lot of contract management and the like. Each service has a Research Lab, but most, perhaps ALL, of the research is actually done by civilians. That having been said, you get to state a preference and depending on the needs of the service and how many other people are competing for that same preference you may or may not get it. To again discuss the extremes, the Air Force has a relatively small number of officers in actual combat positions and most of those are extremely competitive - you won’t get into them without wanting them. Conversely, the Marine Corps expects all officers to be infantry qualified, so even if you don’t get a combat position you’ll get a lot of combat training… and they have relatively few non-combat positions! But if you want R&D, I would strongly advise against the military.

The programs state clearly what is expected. During the school year you have daily PT, one day a week in uniform, and extra classes that add up to a minor. It is a heavier load than most students, but I knew a few guys in ROTC who still had lots of time for socializing and extracurriculars.

You are most definitely guaranteed a job! If you graduate, you become an officer with (if I recall correctly) 4 years minimum active duty and if you spend less than 8 years active you have to make up the rest in the reserves. If you don’t graduate, you are automatically enlisted (not sure for how long, but I am pretty sure it is for at least 4 years). By graduation you should know where you are going, but other than stating preferences you get little choice. Also, most services want you to spend at least one early tour in a deployable billet, which can mean serving on a ship if you are in the Navy or at some other overseas or otherwise “front line” post, even if you are not in a combat position. For example, an engineering officer may expect to spend a tour on ship, attached to an aircraft squadron, or otherwise somewhere bullets could theoretically fly.

I will add to this, and say be sure to read the programs for the school. There are a handful of schools where the ROTC program is very different. For example, Virginia Tech (and I believe Texas A&M as well) maintains a corps of cadets and functions almost like a small military academy within the larger university.

At TAMU, the Corps of Cadets is separate from the ROTC program.

I did AFROTC and majored in Aero/Astro at UIUC in the early 90’s. As cosmicfish said it was not that physically challenging. Different detachments have different policies but PT was not mandatory but if you were gung ho or needed to improve your fitness to pass the PFT (physical fitness test) you went twice a week. Every semester you had to pass the 1.5 mile run (in 12 min for males) and the PFT (situps, pushups, pullups, jump, and run).

Academically you were required to take a 1 semester hour class each term of your freshman and sophomore years and a 3 hour class of your junior and senior years. The AFROTC classes aren’t that tough but stacking them on top of an already rigorous engineering load means you’re looking at 18 to 20 hours some semesters. Not impossible but you better learn some time management. One of my classmates was in Aero/Astro, had leadership positions in AFROTC, was actively involved in his frat, and was a starter on the football team. But then he was kind of a special case as he ended up as an astronaut flying on the ISS.

One downside to AFROTC is that it limits your internship opportunities because you were required to attend Field Training the summer b/w sophomore and junior years. This is essentially Officer basic training for 30 days and the Air Force tells you where and when. Mine was in San Antonio in early August which was a real treat. There are also programs after your junior year where you can shadow active duty officers for several weeks and it looks bad if you don’t apply for these programs and can affect your ratings.

Ratings matter your senior year when the Air Force decides what career fields you will be assigned to. As I recall, you get three choices of career field and base. And you may get none of them which is what happened to me initially. The Air Force assigned me to be an intelligence officer (as an engineer this could mean analyzing foreign technology and capabilities and writing reports). There’s not much of an appeals process but the AF has a program where you can take and Educational Delay from active duty and get a graduate degree. So I took advantage of that program and went to get an MS in Aero and was eventually re-classified as an R&D engineer. Not sure how much is luck and how much was due to the MS.

Back then you owed the AF 4 years active duty and 4 years inactive. You could do active reserves if you wanted but it was not required. Inactive just means they can call you up if they want.

Happy to answer more questions but this is already longer than I expected.

Purdue