Does anyone know what it is like to be in a ROTC without being obligated to join the military. What are the pros and cons? How labor and/or time intensive is it? I plan to graduate with a bachelor’s degree in three years so I am wondering if I would have the time to do it. I am not interested in the ROTC for the scholarships. I purely interested in the military, but I am not quite interested in joining the military. I just want the experience.
Reposted .
Well, actually, you cannot do that. Rather, I should say you cannot do ROTC past your sophomore year without incurring a military obligation.
Some colleges will allow you to attend ROTC classes without joining ROTC. This means not getting a uniform, nor having to particpate in drills, physical fitness training, etc… We had one civilian take our Naval ROTC navigation class, for example.
Other than that, you cannot go into your junior year in ROTC without joining the military.
Virginia Tech, however, allows students to become part of their Corps of Cadets without joining ROTC. It is called the “Citizen-Leader Track” and you do get a uniform, etc… but do not have any ROTC or military obligation. You are not in ROTC, just in the CoC. Texas A&M University might have the same thing with its Corps of Cadets, but I don’t know.
I assume that you are not at VT, but here is that link:
http://www.vtcc.vt.edu/join/citizen-leader-track.html
You can do this at VMI. All students at VMI are required to be in a ROTC unit for all four years but they are not required to accept a commission. If you might like going to school in a military atmosphere, you may really enjoy this school.
I actually looked into VMI, but I decided to stay in-state (NY)
It’s not a college program, but have you looked at Civil Air Patrol?
If you are really looking for the experience without the commitment you could always go to West Point for two years then drop out before junior year when you must commit to serve. The taxpayers would not be too happy about that but you would certainly get a taste of military life
Most people who took ROTC for the experience were taking the one hour PE course and it was a free college credit. You took the PE class and had to attend a weekly 3 hour class with all the students enrolled in ROTC classes. This gave the senior members of ROTC enough people so they could practice all sorts of military stuff from marching to tactics. There would also be one weekend for maneuvers.
So a weekly 3 hour class and one weekend were the requirements in addition to the PE class. It wasn’t a big issue for those who were taking the class for the PE credit.
Of course this may vary based on the school which you attend. Where I went to school, they tried to minimize the time the non contract ROTC students had to give to the program. You could do more if you wanted but wasn’t required.