ROTC - Pros & Cons

Parents Forum
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<p>I’ve been married to a very successful US Marine Officer for 20 years now and have family/friends in all the branches of the services. I would be interested to hear what the Officers and NCOs who are, indeed, leading their troops “over the hill and into battle” in Afghanistan would think of your theory that those days are gone. </p>

<p>In anycase, my point had nothing to do with being “super” agressive nor testosterone. I was speaking of the overall culture of the services and the differences between them.</p>

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<p>To be more specific - the days of lining up troops on the battlefield and charging toward the enemy to gain real estate are long gone.
We aren’t trying to gain ground. It’s more like village to village - a war being fought town to town, urban warfare. We are not so much taking “ground” or capturing “real estate”. A little bit of that yeah - but a counter-insurgency is very much going door to door, winning the hearts and minds. Its about getting to know the people in the villages, developing a rapport and getting them to talk.<br>
To accomplish these missions the Army wants officers with finesse, who can develop relationships and understand the people and the culture. Otherwise we would just carpet bomb.
Sorry for getting “off topic”.</p>

<p>The culture - there are many Army soldiers who a quietly “hooah”. But, yes - “hooah” nonetheless.</p>

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<p>I thought I would attach the link for AF ROTC.
[U.S</a>. Air Force ROTC - Scholarships](<a href=“http://www.afrotc.com/scholarships/]U.S”>Scholarships | U.S. Air Force ROTC)</p>

<p>As stated many times before ea branch operates differently…in the AF you apply for the scholarship in your desired major and can use at any school that has AF ROTC, from what I have seen for the Navy you apply for the scholarship to be used at a particular school.</p>

<p>Currently, the AF changed their payback times to 4 and 4 with 10 for pilots, my sons contract is 5 and 3, with 8 for pilots. This is not an uncommon practice to change committments (during Bullets 20 yrs, pilots in a 5 yr span, owed many different committments, 8 was his, yr later it was dropped to 7, a yr later raised to 10, a yr later to 8 again…and that is where it stayed until recently.) The importance in this is that the AF will not move the bar with you, so if you signed 10 and they drop back to 8, you still owe 10.</p>

<p>I suggest to anybody interested in ROTC during this economic downturn as an option to fully investigate it, because the devil is in the details. The AFROTC scholarships have a close out date of Jan. for anybody entering the following fall. There are many things that are required to do to be eligible that are unique to this scholarship, such as medical, physical fitness test and recommendations from the ALO (Air Force Liasion Officer) in addition to essays, teacher recs, and transcripts. This is not something you can accomplish over a weekend or last minute. </p>

<p>The AF has a limited pot of money, so it is very competitive. This yr I have seen many students not receive anything. I think it is because of the economic downturn they now have more people applying than in previous yrs, thus the caliber is higher.</p>

<p>As I stated before DS got the full ride and he is not engineering. He attends UMD and is in their Scholars program, thus, don’t walk away if you believe only engineering kids get it. It is true that the AF leans towards technical degrees, but they also take from other fields.</p>

<p>The AF is also commonly referred by the other branches as the **corporate ** military! The fighter pilots have a different mentality, but on a whole the officers are more on the 8-4 M-F personality…very little hooah goes on in this branch. So if he is the “quiet” type as pugmadkate said it might be a better fit. For non-flyers it is also rare that they are ever in a foward operating theatre. Most squadrons in the combat theatres are in places like Saudi, Kuwait, Qatar, and Turkey (the pilots fly over the badlands, but they leave from a more secure area…think about the jets can re-fuel in mid-air and you don’t want to keep multi-million dollar planes in the green zone)</p>

<p>We loved th AF life and they are great benefits that you will never experience anywhere else. Some of them are:

  1. Lifelong friends (nobody understands the acronyms or moving every 3 yrs than tose serving…you will also spend your holidays and birthdays with them…they are the ones that throw the baby showers since you are nowhere near home)
  2. Free housing on base, subsidized off base (VA loan for 1st time buyer allows them 100% of the loan, plus will roll closing costs into the mtg)
  3. 100% Medical/Dental coverage for AD members, will even pay for things like Lasik.
  4. Spouses get priority for federal jobs. Retirees also take priority.
  5. Continuing ed…as pug mentioned the services will pay 75% of the cost for any education during AD, this includes undergrad for enlisted. They are required to committ another 3 yrs, but if you start right off the bat as a Lt. you owe 4, thus, if you get your Masters by yr 2, you only owe 1 more yr AD. Every base has recognized universities on base (SJAFB, has Embry-Riiddle, UMD, Troy, and Websters…these programs understand their unique work schedules/ deployments and work with the students) Not bad to walk away with military experince and a Masters by the time you are 27. Also, companies like Raytheon, Rand, Lockheed, Boeing, SAIC, L-3 Comm hire almost only previous military members for their mgmt levels.
  6. Spouses get continuing ed assistance if living overseas. The AF paid @50% of my Masters degree, with no committment time owed for Bullet.</p>

<p>Best of luck, if he decides to try the AF route feel free to pm me.</p>

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<p>Question for jwlstn or any others who know about LDAC at Fort Lewis–</p>

<p>Depending on finances, S hopes to spend the spring semester of next (junior) year abroad. His ROTC enrollment officer says it’s OK, and he will keep up with his physical training over there, but I was wondering-- will he miss any important training or preparation for LDAC? Is it something you need to prepare for, or is it more for assessment?
He’d prefer to take the fall semester away, but it’s a shorter semester in the UK, and therefore not approved by his college here.</p>

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<p>hiya everyone!
was looking for something and i came across you guys. nice comunity u got here, I wanna be a part of it ^^</p>

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<p>Welcome, arrogeoff–
Are you exploring ROTC?</p>

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<p>Hi all, I am currently a Senior in Highschool and in the process of making my plans for the coming years in my life, I plan to pursue a career in zooology and possibly get my doctorate as a wildlife vet. My ultimate goal would be to be part of the UN traveling the world setting up reservations and preservation parks for endangered animals all across the world, it has been something i have wanted to do for as long as I can remember. I have been part of athletics all my life being Captain of both my Junior Olympic and Highschool Volleyball team leading my team to a state Champion and 9th at Nationals, I was also Captain of my highschool soccer team. Yet there is another side of me that feels i have a responsiblity as a citesen of the United States to serve my country to the best of my ability and that is why i have been looking into pursueing ROTC army. Money is not an issue and is not the reason I am considering this (as i have had to explain to my parents again in again), I just feel that what gives me the right to pursue the oppurtunities this country offers and not give back what makes me any better then the men and woman fighting over seas. This is something I want to do and feel that this could help me get to my ultimate goal of the UN and making connections for my later goal in life. I am wondering if I choose to pursue this will it hinder my ultimate goal as a zoologist and wildlife vet? I know they ROTC program preaches the idea of pursueing a civilian career after your service but how true is that idea? And if I do pursue ROTC would Army be the best branch for my ultimate goal? I would not be looking into this if i did not know the ultimate risks. As a side note I have a vary liberal brother who is very anti-war, who is 4 years older then me who believes I am throwing my life away, any tips on how to handle that situation??? </p>

<p>Sorry i know that was long
Thanks</p>