ROTC/ National Guard Question

[Persaus]

I was recently denied the ROTC Scholarship. I have been in JROTC for 4 years now, most recently as a captain, have gotten many awards, and have always been the first one to jump at a chance to help the program. I made an 1570 on the SAT and a 90 AFQT on the ASVAB. A friend told me about how she "failed out" of ROTC her freshmen year of college, joined the National Guard, and is now in some type of Dual Enrollment feature. I would like more information on joining the guard to become and officer. Thank you all.

[iambrian90]

You are able to be in the SMP program, which allows you to be a cadet who will still drill with a unit, but in a cadet role, so more of an officer. However, you cannot contract ROTC without being in at least your 2nd Semester of MS2 I don't think, and on top of that, you need to be an MS3 before they would have you drilling as a cadet. So, if you want to do that, i would recommend going to your college, taking the MS1 year of ROTC and then deciding whether or not you want to do it or not. You might find that you dont want to do rotc, and then will be stuck with a guard contract to fulfill on top of school. Not saying it isnt possible, as I am a senior in college and have been enlisted for 2 years, with 1 year ROTC, and i decided to just stay enlisted.. just make sure you weigh all the options before you make a decision like that assuming you will just become an ROTC cadet. it is VERY competitive right now to get into most programs around the country.

[Persaus]

You are able to be in the SMP program, which allows you to be a cadet who will still drill with a unit, but in a cadet role, so more of an officer. However, you cannot contract ROTC without being in at least your 2nd Semester of MS2 I don't think, and on top of that, you need to be an MS3 before they would have you drilling as a cadet. So, if you want to do that, i would recommend going to your college, taking the MS1 year of ROTC and then deciding whether or not you want to do it or not. You might find that you dont want to do rotc, and then will be stuck with a guard contract to fulfill on top of school. Not saying it isnt possible, as I am a senior in college and have been enlisted for 2 years, with 1 year ROTC, and i decided to just stay enlisted.. just make sure you weigh all the options before you make a decision like that assuming you will just become an ROTC cadet. it is VERY competitive right now to get into most programs around the country.

I think I may enlist and try that out. If I enjoy it I may stay that way. If not maybe ROTC. I had already been accepted to Campbell Uni., Lenoir-Rhyne, and Georgia Military.

[HR NCO]

A friend told me about how she "failed out" of ROTC her freshmen year of college

Ok, do you know how hard it is to fail out of MS1??? That is really one of the easiest classes some one can take in college.

[iambrian90]

I think I may enlist and try that out. If I enjoy it I may stay that way. If not maybe ROTC. I had already been accepted to Campbell Uni., Lenoir-Rhyne, and Georgia Military.

Sounds good, just remember, all of those schools are going to have VERY hard ROTC programs to get into. I don't know much about lenoir rhyne, but Georgia military has the entire student body fighting for rotc slots, and Campbell is a Christian school, so it will be very conservative, and therefore military will be very popular there, and you will probably have a hard time getting contracted. I go to Liberty, and our program was basically cut in half due to funding constraints, so the realistic group of people still in there are averaging 270s with over 3.5 GPAs.

[deepsouth]

Ok, do you know how hard it is to fail out of MS1??? That is really one of the easiest classes some one can take in college.

You say that, and yet I think about 5 or 6 of about 30 MS1s failed at my university this semester. Failing the PT course is even more embarrassing for them (it's attendance only). Depending on her scholarship though, I believe failing a record PT test could also cause her to lose it. That happened with one of the cadets as well last semester.

[iambrian90]

You say that, and yet I think about 5 or 6 of about 30 MS1s failed at my university this semester. Failing the PT course is even more embarrassing for them (it's attendance only). Depending on her scholarship though, I believe failing a record PT test could also cause her to lose it. That happened with one of the cadets as well last semester.

thats a good point, if you are on scholarship and fail a PT, in todays program, that is almost instant grounds for removal. They don't have time or money to be putting people through college who will not amount to anything in the army when they won't even make it to LDAC because of PT

[Lance13A]

MSIs usually only have to pass one per semester (rarities like MSI scholarships/early contracts obviously have to keep PT scores within standard). I still can't understand how somebody who has been attending PT 3 days a week for an entire semester couldn't pass one. The class itself is cake. All you have to do is pass one PT test out of 4 eventually some time before finals. And kids can't seem to find the motivation to do that. Good riddance to them.

[iambrian90]

MSIs usually only have to pass one per semester (rarities like MSI scholarships/early contracts obviously have to keep PT scores within standard). I still can't understand how somebody who has been attending PT 3 days a week for an entire semester couldn't pass one. The class itself is cake. All you have to do is pass one PT test out of 4 eventually some time before finals. And kids can't seem to find the motivation to do that. Good riddance to them.

its because the pt is basically an hour of PRT, and without doing your own workouts on the off days, you stand no chance of passing pt. prt is useless haha

[HR NCO]

prt is useless

You must be doing it wrong

[Polo08816]

You must be doing it wrong

+1. Army PRT may not get you the highest PT scores but if someone's doing PRT for an hour each day, they will PASS an APFT. I'm not a fan of PRT though, but that's not the point.

While we are talking about SMP, does anyone have a link to a reference for the policy of drill attendance for cadets?

[iambrian90]

i dont mind the prt, but i have to do it along with my own workouts, mostly on cardio in order to pass. pushups and situps are fine with the prt though, at least for me.

[Lance13A]

The standards to pass the APFT are ridiculously low. If you can't pass with doing PRT 3x a week, you're not trying very hard to pass. If you fail 3 in a row, and the 4th determines your final grade in the class, then go workout on your own. Whatever.

The point is that it doesn't take much to pass one APFT per semester, but somehow these kids can't find the motivation to do so.

[iambrian90]

its them dang dining halls. hahahah

[kenny27]

I was just wondering what the age limit would be to join rotc if you did enlist in the National Guard? Thanks for any information.

[RyCass]

I was just wondering what the age limit would be to join rotc if you did enlist in the National Guard? Thanks for any information.

There is a specific time frame to complete ROTC. More specifically, you can anticipate that you will need to be commissioned prior to your 30th birthday, with some waivers available on a case by case basis for up to 32 years old.

[Lance13A]

I just commissioned last week, and I'm 30. I had to sign an age waiver and I was 3 years too old to qualify for the ROTC scholarship.

[show_stopper999]

PRT is useless unless its done right. If you follow the actual plan for it, it will definitely help... that being said, I dont recommended doing 5 bend and reach, 5 squat bender, 5 wind mill, and 5 push ups as your PRT every day (thats our stretch out every morning here at IBOLC), that kind of PRT is useless