Officers commissioned through ROTC at Gonzaga had a leg up on their peers. We had a retired CSM that worked with cadets for at least 20 years. He was quiet for a CSM, but he knew how to get his point across, and he didn't put up with any half-stepping.
Another advantage we had was the small cadet corps, which rarely exceeded 100 cadets...my graduating class had less than 25, almost all of whom were together for four years. The bonds we established with each other have carried over the years.
I was also blessed that my first platoon sergeant was excellent. We hit it off immediately, and he became one of my best friends, to boot.
I'll never forget my first day on the job. A squad leader wanted an Article 15 for one of his soldiers, because he wasn't following orders. However, during my first meeting with the squad leaders about an hour later, he was throwing up excuses why his squad couldn't perform the tasks given to them for that week.
After they left, I asked my platoon sergeant, "let me see if I have this straight. This squad leader wanted one of his troops busted for not following orders, yet he was making excuses why he couldn't follow your orders."
With a big grin on his face, he said "LT, we're going to get along just fine."
I commissioned through ROTC at a commuter college, most of the cadets, like me, were prior service soldiers. We had a no chickens—t attitude and it was a good group.
Our sister program, which was at a traditional college, was almost all non-prior service, so they had to play the cadet games with them as they were generally clueless. Oddly enough, that program had two prior service cadets, one a Ranger qualified infantryman, and the other was a finance clerk. Talk about opposite ends of the spectrum.