<p>S is considering it somewhat later than most-- he is currently a college sophomore. His interests are IR and foreign policy, and he thinks army experience would be a plus in the long run. I'm concerned abut the length of time for which you are committed, and how it might affect future jobs and also personal life. Am pretty much in the dark. Any advice out there?</p>
<p>My spouse went through college on an Navy scholarship 20 years ago and is still on active duty (Marine Corps.) Your questions are very broad but I'll take a stab at it.</p>
<p>Your son will have to tell you what kind of first tour committment he is thinking of making. I'm not clear on why you are concerned about how it might affect future jobs. I cannot think of anyone we've known in two decades who experienced their time in the military as anything but a plus with employers/starting a business/grad school. I would put the networking that service members provide for each other up against the alum network of any school.</p>
<p>As for personal life, well, it depends. How is that for helpful? The military becomes another family. It takes more of an effort to stay well-connected to civilian family. There has to be patience and understanding on both sides. These days, there is a lot more support for that, especially for the family side of things. This will change your life as well.</p>
<p>If he marries, it's a more difficult life than most civilian couples live. Divorce is more likely with a military couple, that's just a fact. I would encourage any newly wed military couple to put off having children for a few years. Making it work can seem very possible in theory and yet putting it into practice can prove to be all but impossible. All marriage is a leap of faith, I think of marrying someone on active duty as taking another leap of faith.</p>
<p>If you have any other questions, I'll try to answer them.</p>
<p>Dang - I just wrote a reply and it disappeared!
Anyway, thanks PMK. My questions have to be broad at this point because I know little about it. Regarding future jobs-- I'm under the impression (right or wrong?) that you commit to either 8 years in the army, or about half that with reserve service required for the remainder. The latter is the case I'm asking about- juggling the reserve commitment with a civilian career, or even grad school.</p>
<p>From goarmy.com:</p>
<p>GoArmy.com</a> > Army ROTC > Service Commitment</p>
<p>Army ROTC students who receive an Army ROTC scholarship or enter the Army ROTC Advanced Course must agree to complete an eight-year period of service with the Army. </p>
<p>You can serve full time in the Army for three years (four years for scholarship winners), with the balance in the Individual Ready Reserve (IRR).
Selected Cadets may choose to serve part time in the U.S. Army Reserve or Army National Guard while pursuing a civilian career.
It's an experience that you can't get anywhere else, and your leadership skills will be challenged every day. Contact your campus Military Science department for more specific details on your Army ROTC service commitment. </p>
<p>Enrolling in the Army ROTC Basic Course does NOT involve a commitment of service to the Army unless you have received an Army ROTC scholarship. </p>
<p>All scholarship students will be required to serve in the military for a period of eight years. This obligation may be fulfilled by serving four years on Active Duty, followed by four years service in the Inactive Ready Reserve (IRR). </p>
<p>As for a civilian career, employers are required by law to give time off to reservists. Companies vary in how well they handle it, but they have to do it.</p>
<p>OP, My S is a (scholarship) senior in NROTC. He will commission in May. The ROTC program has been a good experience for him. He sees it as a huge positive for him if he decides to get out after his first commitment. The training he will receive will def. be a big boost for his post military career. ROTC does throw some extra hours into the college sched. but I'm sure your S knows about that part.</p>
<p>Another thing to mention is that the service committment can vary depending on the specialty you branch into. For instance, aviation requires a longer committment that most others. </p>
<p>If your S is really interested he needs to see the Commanding Officer of his school's AROTC unit right away. If it is like Navy ROTC, summer plans are already underway. I'm pretty sure your S would need to go to an AROTC camp this summer since he would be starting two years late. </p>
<p>There is a pretty big chance he could would up with a two-yr. scholarship.<br>
The GI Bill benefits for grad. school after separating fr. the service are very good.</p>
<p>checking back--
It's something he's mulling over. I'm just trying to learn a bit more about it. It's not something to take lightly, as it's a very serious commitment. Thanks</p>
<p>My spouse covered his college via ROTC and loved the experience (before and after: was Lt Commander in the Navy, and reserve after that which he did just for the fun of it for many many years). </p>
<p>The one downside I know he's spoken of is he didn't get to choose where or how they assigned him- location of course is not up to you, but more importantly, neither is the job after college. Despite his degree (a very demanding engineering specialty and he was top of his class), he was doing very different work than he had anticipated, completely unrelated to his degree or career goals. On the plus side, after serving 4 years, he had a huge set of very lucrative management positions so looking back, had no regrets. </p>
<p>Of course this is dated information now so things may have changed.</p>
<p>starbright, the choices for new Ensigns now are Surface Warfare, Aviation, Submarines (S says they are pretty desperate for sub guys), Spec. Warfare and Spec. Ops.<br>
S1 is going into Special Ops. He worked hard to get this spot and is thrilled to have it.
It has nothing to do with his major but to be honest he is waay more interested in Naval Spec. Ops. than his major,lol.</p>
<p>OP, if this is something your S is "mulling over" my advice is to get him to do some soul searching. In my experience if a student is not 100% committed to a life as a officer and putting themselves in harms way for our country then at best they will be miserable. At worst they will drop from the program and owe either the $ back or an enlisted tour. </p>
<p>I've seen it many times. The ones that succeed know that this is what they want. If it is a decision for them then it is not a fit.</p>
<p>Are employers more reluctant to employ people that are in reserve? It is more likely now they'll be called to duty. In this type of economy, would employers have additional funding to back fill (to hold) those positions. Just wondering.</p>
<p>Thanks all-
IronMaiden - I agree 100%. It's something he's always been interested in. His academic focus is international security and Arabic, for which the army seems to have some attractive offerings. I think it's reasonable he consider it but neither do I want his decision to be guided too much by the economic downturn (in our own family- hopefully temporary). It's the long term commitment that I'd like him to get some perspective on, which is hard for a teenager.</p>
<p>What about the long-term perspective are you are worried that he is not grasping?</p>
<p>Getting past the financial benefits and the initial excitement about ROTC to the eight-years-is-a-long-time part. I can't help but think that the renewed interest is due in part to the change in our family's financial situation, and hearing us talk about college options that he had that his younger siblings may not.</p>
<p>My S has no interest in ROTC or the military. Honestly, I'm very happy about that. We've been a military family for 20+ years, I can live without it now. And if I were in your situation, I'd be wrestling with it.</p>
<p>Having said that, if the military is a good fit for your son, the eight years will go by very quickly. Have you asked him what part money is playing? Honestly, my husband would have been a US Marine for free in his younger days. Is your son intense? Does he thrive on being challenged? Does he do best in a community where the standards are high and there is always a puch for better? Is he driven to serve others? Does he need to feel that his work has meaning beyond himself and his income? </p>
<p>There are a lot of jobs that would match that description but you throw in International Security and Arabic and suddenly we're down to the military and the CIA. Not exclusively, but certainly as a recognized path. </p>
<p>For some people, men and women, the military is where they thrive. And there is no question that your son having served and having the clearance level he'll have by then will be valuable in his chosen field. </p>
<p>I'm not trying to make you feel better about his choice overall. A child in the military is a very difficult thing to have to handle. However, while we family members get the stress, there is no question that the active-duty person can be aquiring skills available no where else that will pay off their entire professional life.</p>
<p>I wish the very best for you and for your son.</p>
<p>PMK - a lot of your questions actually do fit him pretty well, and a career in the CIA (or NSA or State Dept) has been a dream of his for a while. I had a long talk with him tonight, and our recent financial downturn is definitely playing a big part in his thinking. I made it clear to him that it (hopefully) is temporary, and should not be the driving force behind his decision.</p>
<p>Since your son is currently a college sophomore - if he enrolls in Army ROTC for the final two years he would go to LTC (Leader's Training Course) at Ft Campbell KY for 4 weeks this summer.<br>
This will give him the first two years of ROTC in a crash course.
He will then take ROTC his junior and senior year.
After his junior year he will go to LDAC (leader development and assessment course) at Ft Lewis WA for 4 weeks.<br>
He could be eligible for a 2 year scholarship which includes tuition, fees a book stipend and monthly allowance.
His active duty committment is 4 years. If he doesn't get a scholarship is Active duty committment is 3 years (5 years IRR).
Out of ROTC he may also go Army Reserves - his committment would be 8 years in the Reserves.</p>
<p>There are many benefits for a military career transferring over to other government or civilian jobs. The government gives priority to veterans, a few years in the Army is a great stepping stone into CIA or Foreign Service. </p>
<p>Another option is for him to go to OCS after college or enlist.
If he has grad school aspirations - the New GI Bill may be used for grad school and is a very good deal.<br>
All that said - there are plenty of benefits for joining the military as well there should be. He will be asked to put his life on the line for his men (and women) and his country.
This has to be his decision.</p>
<p>Additionally - he will be required to pass a very comprehensive physical and medical history and take and pass a physical fitness test each year. The Army adheres strictly to height and weight standards as well.</p>
<p>Thanks, Justamom--
Very helpful info. Am guessing from your posts that you have a son or daughter in the army? It looks like we are back to square one re: decisions. The problem is time-- it seems his last chance for decision-making re: ROTC is pretty much NOW. He just learned that the cut-off point is usually sometime around the end of February. He will speak with a recruiter in the next day or two.
I have no idea what his chances of getting a two-year scholarship will be. We do NOT want finances to drive his decision. We want him to take very seriously what he is signing up for. From what I understand, if he signs up for ROTC, he will do the program in KY this summer, then sign up officially in the fall.
He's interested (down the road) in intelligence or analyst work. It sounds like those fields are tough to get into, though. Are you familiar with them? He thinks his four years of Arabic will help, but don't know how much.
I'd be lying if I said the whole thing didn't worry me. The danger, and the thought of giving up the freedom to make your own decisions for eight years is tough for me to handle. It's his decision, I know, but the time constraints aren't helping....</p>
<p>Your son should go here:
GoArmy.com</a> > Army ROTC > Overview</p>
<p>Go down the page on the right and see if his school has an AROTC department. He can go to the website and see who the contact person it.</p>
<p>I don't know the odds of getting a two year scholarship but they are out there. The Army still has a serious shortage of junior officers. </p>
<p>
[quote]
The danger, and the thought of giving up the freedom to make your own decisions for eight years is tough for me to handle.
[quote]
Actually it's 3 or 4 years unless he is activated from the reserves. But he won't be giving up freedom to make his own decisions. He will be a decision maker. As a platoon leader (first job for a 2nd LT) he will be responsible for a platoon of soldiers. Their lives very well could be in his hands and the decisions he makes.</p>
<p>Take it one step at a time. This is the exploratory phase and there is no commitment for exploring.</p>
<p>If there is an AROTC unit at his school, he can just look on the school's website and call over to the ROTC office and ask who he needs to see. </p>
<p>At one point S1 was considering switching from Navy to Army. He went over to the AROTC offices and talked to the officers. They were very accomadating, discussing exactly what he would need to do to make the switch and assuring him he would get scholarship money.<br>
S1 ended up staying with Navy but felt very comfortable with the plan the AROTC laid out for him (in gettng a late start) to finish on time.
Have your S get in touch with the AROTC unit at his sch. as soon as possible to get info. Then he can make a decision.</p>