Replies

My youngest (16) is still in high school and is trying to decide between the different services and which ROTC program he wants to join.

Is he looking at going Guard or active? But I wouldn't really suggest going straight into ROTC. I started to do that, had issues with the military bureaucracy, and ended up going enlisted Guard for a bit while paying off the rest of school. (They messed up getting scholarship to cover tuition above the generic State/Fed TA.) Started regular ROTC, went Guard ROTC, then had to switch from 09R to 19D. Sweet stuff there!

Anyways, I would highly suggest him looking at enlisting for 2-3 years before he goes into the ROTC program. There is a HUGE difference between straight-cadets and guys who've gotten some time in the real Army first. It's much more difficult to make fun of your butterbar when you know he's gotten more deployments under his belt than you! The knowledge of basic tasks/drills, how the Army works, lingo, etc. is very useful and will help him a ton in ROTC. Plus, he can concentrate more on learning the officer tasks, instead of trying to figure out 360 security and how to crawl around in the dirt. When he goes off to LDAC for his evaluation, being at that level above most cadets will help him get the duty station/MOS that he wants, instead of getting stuck wherever they decide to throw him.

Of course, if he's looking at AF, just go straight into ROTC. Doesn't really matter as much for them :p

I am prior service, enlisted Infantry so I fully understand that prior enlisted make for better officers. I am of the opinion that all butter bars should be required to pass the AIT for their officer corps, and serve 1 year as an E5 in a unit that is tasked for their corps.

Not sure what my son wants to do. He does show an aptitude for STEM courses and is a sophomore taking honors chem and honors geometry. He is a solid B at this level and is improving to an A. These are his first honors classes. He does have a bit of a self disciple issue about homework and when he achieves that, he will be a solid A student. Right now, he is a 3.0 +/- .2

He has expressed interest in being a chemical engineer, working in IT (like dad) or music. Though he realizes that it is difficult to make enough money with his guitar / saxophone to live in the lifestyle that he has grown accustomed to. So he is still deciding, has time, and nothing is set in stone.

The current plan is to work with him to get him to manage his own grades and take mom/dad out of the picture. This coming summer, start doing a little college exploration and invest some time in researching scholarships. So while ROTC is on the table, it may not be the path that he decides on.

We have a friend of the family who is ARNG Military Intel enlisted so she can help him with the Guard options. We live in Colorado so if he wants to go the IT path, there is even a guard option for that as well - assuming he can score high enough on his ASVAB.