Enlisting Vs. ROTC

Off Topic
1

Hey everybody. I’ve made a thread or two before about becoming an officer in the military, but this is a bit different.

Currently, I’m in the process of applying for an Army ROTC scholarship that will pay for college. I have a good chance of receiving it and getting a lot of great benefits. However, there’s one issue that I have.

For about two years now, I’ve wanted to enlist first and then go to college. I’m 17 (turn 18 in a month) and have been weighing my options for a while. The biggest thing that is preventing me from enlisting is my parents. Pretty much, they won’t let me. I’ve tried to talk to them on numerous occasions and they tell me that if I enlist, then I’m never going to go to college afterword, or I’m going to die, etc. Quite frankly, I’m tired of it. I know they’re just being my parents and looking out for me, but I don’t want to wait to serve.

First and foremost, I want to serve my country; that is number one. Second, I want the life experience and challenge of being an enlisted guy. I’m hoping to become an officer some time down the road, and I think that serving 4 years in the enlisted ranks would do me some good and definitely help me become a better soldier and officer.

The Army has a program called SMP (Simultaneous Membership Program) where I can be in the National Guard and go to college and participate in my college’s ROTC program at the same time, which is also appealing to me. I only have to PT once a month and go for 2 weeks of training once a year. But again, my parents have told me it’ll be too much with school and ROTC.

Any thoughts as to what I should do?

CS

2

If you went the SMP route and wanted to do so could you switch to straight ROTC? I think that sounds like the most flexible way. Really, if you wanted to it’s not like you couldn’t drop out if college “isn’t for you” and enlist and maybe pick school up down the line again.

I always wanted to be a solider, infantry actually, all through high school and my father threatened to disown me if I didn’t go to college. I figured I’d hate it particularly since I felt forced to go into it (he had the same concerns your parents have) but now in January I’m going to be starting my PhD… I never would have guessed that’s where I’d be ending up and I feel like a lot of people feel the same way going through college.

In short I think giving college (particularly if it’s going to be free) a shot before just straight up enlisting would be the most reasonable way to do it. Even if you end up hating the army a free education after your mandatory service time will still probably have you ahead of the curve financially compared to most of your peers.

3

[quote]otar wrote:
Really, if you wanted to it’s not like you couldn’t drop out if college “isn’t for you” and enlist and maybe pick school up down the line again.[/quote]

That’s another option. I’d feel guilty because my parents have helped me SOOOO much with my college and ROTC scholarship applications, so if I I did that, then it would’ve been for nothing. I don’t like to quit; I like to see something through.

Thank you for your opinion, though.

CS

4

I’ve been enlisted for 19 years now. I am also Infantry. Go to college. Officers make more money and do less. They have more options for their career. You get a free education. If you find out the Army isnt for you, you still have a college degree and the experience. I am trying to get a degree taking online courses and be deployed and still having a wacky schedule when I am stateside. It sucks. So, once again, GO TO COLLEGE!!!

5

You don’t need to rush anything, I tried to join straight out of highschool for the Navy, I have been trying to be a Team guy since highschool but I did not have that higher level of mental maturity that I do now at 22, I went to college and am finishing up before I join but thats because I had to have a medical waiver cleared… Whatever you are going to do just follow through with that choice and don’t worry about any other options. Unless you were going for a specific MOS that you really wanted to acheive now then I would say go officer, up to you though man.

6

[quote]CSEagles1694 wrote:
Hey everybody. I’ve made a thread or two before about becoming an officer in the military, but this is a bit different.

Currently, I’m in the process of applying for an Army ROTC scholarship that will pay for college. I have a good chance of receiving it and getting a lot of great benefits. However, there’s one issue that I have.

For about two years now, I’ve wanted to enlist first and then go to college. I’m 17 (turn 18 in a month) and have been weighing my options for a while. The biggest thing that is preventing me from enlisting is my parents. Pretty much, they won’t let me. I’ve tried to talk to them on numerous occasions and they tell me that if I enlist, then I’m never going to go to college afterword, or I’m going to die, etc. Quite frankly, I’m tired of it. I know they’re just being my parents and looking out for me, but I don’t want to wait to serve.

First and foremost, I want to serve my country; that is number one. Second, I want the life experience and challenge of being an enlisted guy. I’m hoping to become an officer some time down the road, and I think that serving 4 years in the enlisted ranks would do me some good and definitely help me become a better soldier and officer.

The Army has a program called SMP (Simultaneous Membership Program) where I can be in the National Guard and go to college and participate in my college’s ROTC program at the same time, which is also appealing to me. I only have to PT once a month and go for 2 weeks of training once a year. But again, my parents have told me it’ll be too much with school and ROTC.

Any thoughts as to what I should do?

CS[/quote]

Enlisting was the best decision I ever made. The bottom line is that the opportunity to better yourself while serving is there, but it’s up to you and only you to make it happen. I enlisted, took classes when I could, deployed a few times (non-combat), got out, and then finished my degree with the post 9/11 GI Bill. I walked away with a B.S. in Accounting and life experience most people will never have. Well worth it in my book.

There’s no question you can enlist and then become an officer if that’s what you want. Again it’s 100% on you.

7

I was enlisted before receiving my commission in the Army. While it does provide a good view from “both sides” of the coin, it wasn’t really that important in the grand scheme of things.

Once you are beyond the O-3 level, it doesn’t really matter if you were enlisted first or not. Not even in pay (O-3E is a small boost. but there is no O-4E pay rate).

And about the quote “officers make more money and do less”… spoken from someone who hasn’t experienced both sides of the fence. Either you have only been in really shitty units (or NG/Reserve?), or you don’t know what you are talking about. Having BEEN on both sides of the rank structure, I can tell you that I worked harder and longer hours with brass on my collar than when I wore stripes. Same was true for 90% of the officers I served with. The bad 10% were washed out of the service rather quickly.

Just my 2c opinion, of course.

8

[quote]late_start wrote:
I was enlisted before receiving my commission in the Army. While it does provide a good view from “both sides” of the coin, it wasn’t really that important in the grand scheme of things.

Once you are beyond the O-3 level, it doesn’t really matter if you were enlisted first or not. Not even in pay (O-3E is a small boost. but there is no O-4E pay rate).

And about the quote “officers make more money and do less”… spoken from someone who hasn’t experienced both sides of the fence. Either you have only been in really shitty units (or NG/Reserve?), or you don’t know what you are talking about. Having BEEN on both sides of the rank structure, I can tell you that I worked harder and longer hours with brass on my collar than when I wore stripes. Same was true for 90% of the officers I served with. The bad 10% were washed out of the service rather quickly.

Just my 2c opinion, of course.[/quote]

Solid post. I was Army enlisted then USMC officer and I most definitely worked harder and longer hours with a million times more responsibility as an officer.

I liked having the enlisted experience but it’s definitely not necessary. If you go ROTC you’ll still be serving your country and you’ll only be postponing it for 4 years. That said, I think I did much better in college with having the enlisted experience but your mileage may vary.

One thing to think about is that college is only going to get more expensive and ROTC slots are probably going to get more limited.

james

9

The work you do and responsibility you have has a lot more to do with your job than whether or not you are enlisted or an officer. The officers I have worked with that had some previous enlisted time were generally better than those right out of college or one of the academies, but not always. I can tell you that trying to work college into a 60 hour work week and complete a degree before you retire is a huge pain (working on that now).

I have not heard of the SMP program, but it sounds like it may be the best of both worlds.

10

i joined right after highschool and just got out a few weeks ago (wanna go to college then possibly go back in as an officer).

Officers make way more money (this should be incentive enough)

the crap thing about ROTC is that you have to do 4 years in the NG or Reserve. Which sucks if if i were an O id wanna be active duty.

by the way in the national guard you get federal tuition assistance which is about 4,500 dollars annually depending on the state you live in they may add to that (state tuition assistance). For instance Texas matches it by 100% meaning you get 9,000 dollars, but ga for instance matches it by 75% so one living there would only get $7875.

As for people saying you’ll never go to college. That’s dumb. You do what you want to do. I just got out of the army and i start college at a good university next friday. All my friends that got out honorably are doing the same thing under the GI bill. (getting paid to go to school :slight_smile: )

not to mention I had friends go to college while they were in the army and earn associates and or bachelor degrees.

11

[quote]cstratton2 wrote:
You don’t need to rush anything, I tried to join straight out of highschool for the Navy, I have been trying to be a Team guy since highschool but I did not have that higher level of mental maturity that I do now at 22, [/quote]

O_O

12

Enlist now, you’ll do better in college and enjoy it more when you’re 22. Beats being an 18 year old idiot freshman. Try to take a class or two while serving to shorten up the degree time. But first rule is don’t take major life advice from Get a Life forum on supplement web site.

13

[quote]orion wrote:

[quote]cstratton2 wrote:
You don’t need to rush anything, I tried to join straight out of highschool for the Navy, I have been trying to be a Team guy since highschool but I did not have that higher level of mental maturity that I do now at 22, [/quote]

O_O[/quote]

Lol trust me I’m alot better off then I was then I just meant higher not ultimate hahaha

14

Thanks for all the responses. A lot of conflicting view points, but again, it’s on me. I’ll have a clearer picture of what the future holds once October rolls around (that’s when I find out if I got the ROTC scholarship or not).

CS

15

[quote]late_start wrote:

And about the quote “officers make more money and do less”… spoken from someone who hasn’t experienced both sides of the fence. Either you have only been in really shitty units (or NG/Reserve?), or you don’t know what you are talking about. Having BEEN on both sides of the rank structure, I can tell you that I worked harder and longer hours with brass on my collar than when I wore stripes. Same was true for 90% of the officers I served with. The bad 10% were washed out of the service rather quickly.

Just my 2c opinion, of course.[/quote]

Sure you worked longer hours and harder on staff, doing up power point slides. As on O you will have PL time, XO, Staff time, Command if your lucky then back to Staff until you might get a BN Command. Meanwhile the enlisted guy will spend 80% of his time on “the line” with maybe a break on the trail or recruiter or maybe RI. So while the O may work harder in an office, the E is doing more on the ground.

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CS, unfortunately I don’t have much to offer in the way of your questions, but they have raised some of my own. These are directed to any one in this thread who can answer them. What kind of ROTC scholarships are you looking at? Where can I see similar scholarships? I am considering applying for the HPSP scholarship for graduate studies, can you do ROTC scholarships as well or is that prevented by some double dip rule? What do various ROTC scholarships entail? My apologies for all the questions and semi hi jack, I’d just be thrilled to find anything else that I can do take more of the financial burden of college off my parents. If anyone can just provide a link that would have this information that would be great too.

17

vanagandr- ROTC scholarships(from what I recall from looking at them YEARS ago) all do the same thing - whichever service gives you the scholarship pays for your schooling completely, then upon graduation you get commissioned into whichever service granted the scholarship. You will have a Reserve commission if I recall, but you are still serving on active duty until completion of your service obligation. At some point, if you decide to stay, your commission can be switched to full active(I think). I don’t think ROTC scholarships cover graduate studies, they are only for undergrad.

jgoodin- Arguing who has the harder job is retarded. I have been enlisted 18 years, 9 in NSW. Just because your O isn’t standing next to you the whole time, doesn’t mean he isn’t busting his ass. He is also getting paid more because of his education and his increased responsibility. Your typical O has a lot bigger stuff to worry about than sweating with the grunts while you clean weapons or do classes on IMT. Officers do less field time than grunts, big surprise. That isn’t their main focus, even the Infantry officers.

You are comparing apples and oranges. Get over it.

18

The OP asked if he should enlist or go straight to ROTC. Should he be an apple or an orange?

OP- whatever you decide, just make an informed decision. The Army is not going anywhere, an ROTC scholarship may not come around again.

19

I’d hit it with some next level beats

20

I just enlisted in the Navy last month down at Ft. Lee and got my MC contract. Down in NC where I first spoke to the Officer Programs recruiting, they told me my college GPA was too low for OCS and much lower than where it needed to be to become a Public Affairs Officer. Turns out I’ll be doing exactly what PAO’s do on the enlisted side and much more.

They won’t repay my loans I took out on my 4-year degree but they will pay for me to go to graduate school. It is nice that I already have the degree and won’t have to serve full-time and balance online courses from some obscure college. I did 5 semesters at the community college before I transferred out to finish my B.S. Looking back, I should’ve got my A.S. degree then went into the police department (which I just left) or join the military then finished the B.S through them. As it currently stands, I have much more desire to serve than to get a master’s. They said I can wait 2 years and then apply for OCS but I’m leaning more towards the Warrant Officer route which may take 12 years to reach, if not that than LDO and become an 0-1.

As far as the ASVAB goes I got 92/99 on it but still missed SWCC and EOD by 3 and 4 points respectively on my mechanical comprehension. I qualifed for the Teams and AIRR but can’t do the last one bc I actually failed depth perception at MEPS.