ROTC crosstown/commute questions

[Guest GCL]

Big time THREAD REVIVAL! Hey, its better then starting a new one

I'll be joining ROTC soon and I have a bit of a dilemma here

I am going to a College which has a cross=town agreement with a larger university about an hour away . The det is very small, they are only commissioning 10 seniors or so this may. I am of course willing to put in the time,effort, and gas money of driving up every week, this is my dream in fly.

I am concerned about how my commander's ranking would affect my overall OM, since I have less people to compete with. For example, if i ranked 5/10 cadets I would be worse off then if i ranked 40/100 cadets.

Do commanders consider the fact that you are commuting 3 times a week to the detachment when they are ranking you? Should i just wait and transfer to a larger university my sophomore year? (transferring to my host university wouldn't be an option, because they don't have my major).

Any cross-towner's want to comment on there experiences with this?

[jjfly]

Any cross-towner's want to comment on there experiences with this?

Hey, I'm a cross-towner about 30 minutes away of 0500 w/o traffic and about 1 hr 15 min away if you catch traffic. I'm finishing up my 300 yr, and I haven't had a problem with it affecting my ranking. I just got a pilot slot, and it won't hurt you too much, but you have to make an effort to take up jobs, even as a freshman or sophomore, and stand out. Your AS class instructor is the one who'll rank you most of the time, so don't worry if you don't run in to the Colonel all the time.

Just remember, don't be a douche-- help out your friends. Don't focus on what your ranking is going to be, just do your best.

Edited April 7, 2008 by jamesleenman

[Gravedigger]

Big time THREAD REVIVAL! Hey, its better then starting a new one

I'll be joining ROTC soon and I have a bit of a dilemma here

I am going to a College which has a cross=town agreement with a larger university about an hour away . The det is very small, they are only commissioning 10 seniors or so this may. I am of course willing to put in the time,effort, and gas money of driving up every week, this is my dream in fly.

I am concerned about how my commander's ranking would affect my overall OM, since I have less people to compete with. For example, if i ranked 5/10 cadets I would be worse off then if i ranked 40/100 cadets.

Do commanders consider the fact that you are commuting 3 times a week to the detachment when they are ranking you? Should i just wait and transfer to a larger university my sophomore year? (transferring to my host university wouldn't be an option, because they don't have my major).

Any cross-towner's want to comment on there experiences with this?

I spent my first 3 years of ROTC commuting over an hour to and from my det. Along with school and working full-time...it sucked! But, I knew I wanted to be a pilot in the Air Force, so I stuck with it. You will become great at time management, which will pay off in the long run. I was too busy to be involved in a lot of extra-curricular crap my first 1.5 years, but I started scheduling my classes all on Monday/Wednesday and left Tues/Thurs just for ROTC stuff. This system worked out really well for me, and I was able to be involved in all of the ROTC activities, as well as knock out all of my school work.

As for the ranking. The cadre will definitely notice. Don't feel like being a crosstown will hurt you. They understand how much of a burden it can be, and they will take all of that into account when you go for a rated position.

Transferring is always an option as well...there are lots of benefits of attending the school your det is at. Maybe you should give it a try for a semester, see how it goes, and if you don't like commuting, transfer.

[spectre56]

I'm not a cross-towner, but I did sleep at a Holiday Inn last night! No, seriously...all your instructors and your commander will know that you are a cross-towner and should keep that in mind. That being said, help out as much as you can and demonstrate that you want to be there and want a pilot slot. The cadre will see the effort you put in and rank you accordingly (along with gpa, etc.), because they won't give it to you just because they feel sorry for you for driving an hour to LLab. Good luck!

[Toro]

Hey, I'm a cross-towner about 30 minutes away of 0500 w/o traffic and about 1 hr 15 min away if you catch traffic. I'm finishing up my 300 yr, and I haven't had a problem with it affecting my ranking.

That's not what he's asking. He's not asking if being cross town would hurt his ranking, he's asking if it would benefit. My response would be no. While it does show motivation, I don't think your ranking would be increased just because you had to travel a far distance. However, it it came up to a tie-breaker of rating the guy who attended ROTC at his own school and the guy who travelled an hour, I would give the higher ranking to the guy who put for the effort to make the commute.

I went cross town for ROTC - though only about a 20 minute drive. There was a guy who travelled an hour, and as far as I could tell he didn't get any sort of favoritism.

GCL

In terms of your original question, your OM would obviously be better if your difference in ranking was different as you stated between the two Dets...

I am concerned about how my commander's ranking would affect my overall OM, since I have less people to compete with. For example, if i ranked 5/10 cadets I would be worse off then if i ranked 40/100 cadets.

The problem here is that you're assuming that when you go from a smaller school to a larger school, your relative OM will be higher amongst those people simply because there are more of them. That's a pretty big assumption to make...unless maybe you transfer to University of Alabama.

[yerfer]

In my experience, being a cross town student has been good and bad. The good news is I get a better education at the community college and its a little closer to home. The bad news is I have to hop from one school to another and find parking there (which is a PAIN here). The other bad news is not being able to put in as much face time. Most of the people who live around campus hang out around the det pretty often and have that reputation advantage. However, theirs a fine line with this in my observation. To much face time and you'll just look like a tool.

I consider myself very fortunate. We've got a few cadets that drive almost 2 hours one way. They have to leave at 4 to make it to PT and LLAB on Thurs.

One of them had to drop because he was driving OVER 2 hours and the mileage was killing his car and wallet. Great cadet, but the situation wasn't practical for him or his family. He'll probably go OTS later.

Unfortunately, you'll have the disadvantage of having to crush your time management skills even tighter. If your getting to bed really late and getting up super early, your going to put a big toll on your body and mind. Your PT will suffer, and worse...your grades. So be wise with the time you have to get stuff done.

Good luck to you. Your devotion to anything you do will show. Work hard.

[Guest pblarson7]

I'm a crosstown commissioning in May.

Short & Sweet

1. Join a club sports team at your school - get PT credit for practices

2. Get ready for those gas bills for LLab

3. Schedule classes around ROTC and work (as c17wannabe stated)

4. Manage your time, enjoy college

Note on quitting and going OTS

OTS is very competitive, I'd rather stick it out (sts) in ROTC, and cash in on some free base visits

my .02

[Guest kev110382]

Man, after reading what some people have to deal with for ROTC I think I must be at an amazing, lenient detachment.

Mandatory Sundays? We've NEVER done anything mandatory on a weekend. We might meet up to practice various things like marching, bearing, etc but never is it a mandatory thing.

With the exception of the FTP guys, cadets don't usually have mandatory meetings for us besides Thursdays for class and LLAB. As I said before, we do meet up to practice on other days though.

We have some people at cross-town schools (read: super far away) that really only have to show their face once a week on Thursday and maybe the occasional Friday afternoon. Granted these people are a little out of the loop sometimes but we usually text and email each other at least 3-4 times a day to keep up.

On top of that, the Col. running the show is the coolest dude on earth. Our Maj. plays that bad-cop role but the Col. generally cares more and is more lenient with the rules. I suggest that if you have a problem with scheduling, just talk to them. I told them I could rarely can make more than 1 mandatory PT session a week because of school but they always look the other way because I've consistently improved my scores.

When it comes down to it, show you care and strings usually get pulled to make it work.

[Guest danielhv]

Im doing the online degree program with the University of Phoenix... I live in Texas though. Can I join an ROTC program at a school I am not enrolled in? I'd like to be in ROTC, but I cannot afford to quit my full time job and go to a local traditional college... The online program is working very well with my hectic schedule... Is there anything I can do in place of ROTC? My main goal is to be a pilot (fighter preferably).

-Daniel

[Guest Tertle]

You can only join an ROTC unit that does not reside are you school if

1) your school doesn't have a unit

2) your school is a 'crosstown affiliate' of the school whose unit you will be joining.

Bottom line, is no. (unless there is some sort of stipulation that I am unaware of.)

[Guest F16crewdwgg]

Everyone can give you their "opinion" but without actually going to the closest ROTC det and asking, you will never know.

[Gravedigger]

According to the AFROTC website. University of Phoenix has crosstown arrangements with Arizona State and Loyola Marymount. They do not have any agreements with any schools in Texas. My det was 50% crosstown students from 13 schools. There are tons of cadets that work full time, commute to ROTC, do well in school, and get pilot slots.

If you really want to be in the Air Force, I would say figure out a way to get into a school that has a det or a crosstown agreement. Apply for every scholarship out there, including AFROTC scholarships that are available. I know Texas has several Historically Hispanic schools that offer non-competitive scholarships, so that is always an option.

Good luck!

[M2]

Daniel

Have you tried the AFROTC web site? There is a detachment locator on there, or you can email them directly at: AFROTC1@maxwell.af.mil

You could also try this guy:

Regional Director of Admissions

Capt Keith Linenberger

University of North Texas

Phone #: 9405652075

Fax #: 9405654269

Email address: klinenberger@unt.edu

I did a brief scan of the General Requirements for Admission and did not see anything that specifically prohibited your applying; but I did find this...

The General Military Course (GMC = General Military Course - an ROTC course offered to freshmen and sophomores designed to improve communication skills and provide instruction about the Profession of Arms.) is offered to freshmen and sophomore students who meet the following minimum membership requirements:

- Enrolled in an accredited college that hosts or has a cross-town agreement with an Air Force ROTC detachment

So the bottom line is that although it isn't looking good, I couldn't find where it is explicitly prohibited. But don't let that stop you from asking, as you could be the first!

And let us know what you find out, and be sure if whoever you talk to tells you 'no' that they provide you with the regulation (a.k.a. Air Force Instruction) to include paragraph number, that says that. I'm curious as to what you'll find out.

Lastly, don't be dejected if you find out you can't go the AFROTC route. As stated, you can always apply for OTS once you have your degree!

Best of luck to ya!

Cheers! M2

[Guest ASUcadet]

You could always look into OTS; it's like Basic Training for people who already have bachelor degrees. In fact, I know an officer who got their degree from Univ of Phoenix while she was on active duty, then she went to OTS. But, keep in mind that pilot slots are a lot more competitive at OTS than in ROTC (search the forum).

You could also look into the Navy or Marine officer programs, but make sure that you talk to an officer recruiter because enlisted recruiters will tell you anything to get you to sign up. Also, you could be a helicopter pilot in the Army through their warrant officer program (doesn't require a degree). I don't really know anything else about that process though.

Finally, I'm almost certain that you have to be a full-time student at an approved school in order to participate in ROTC. At a minimum, you will need to devote one summer to Field Training, then at least 2 years to the program in order to commission. But, if you search around this forum, you'll see that it's best to spend at least 3 years in ROTC.

[Guest Hammer]

You might also want to look into the Navy's Baccalaureate Degree Completion Program (BDCP). It is pretty goddamn sweet, all things considered. Basically, they pay you ~$20,000 a year (enlisted pay) just for maintaining good grades (there's a mandatory minimum GPA) while you're in school, with the understanding that you'll go to OCS when you graduate and AD at the end, similar to ROTC.

Obvious advantages:

With an extra $20,000 you can pretty much afford to go to any brick-and mortar University with a Det that will have you, while working a scanty part-time job (or possibly not at all, YMMV).

There's absolutely no military involvement while in school, not even classes or training, so you're freed up to concentrate on kicking ass in your classes.

Not sure on all the details, but you might be able to work out a "guaranteed" pilot slot with the Marines, while going this route. I was seriously considering BDCP, but the Navy's cutoff age for pilot selects is significantly lower than the Air Force's right now, which boned me.

Anyways, I just wanted to pass along a tiny bit of info to let you know there's options. For details etc. just find the nearest Navy or Marines officer recruiter. If the person you talk to doesn't have the answers you want, they'll have access to the info and/or colleagues that do know.

[edit: grammar. oops.]

Edited June 21, 2008 by Hammer

[Guest Hammer]

Obvious advantages:

With an extra $20,000 you can pretty much afford to go to any brick-and mortar University with a Det that will have you

I just realized it doesn't make any sense to go to a Uni with an ROTC det if you're doing Navy BDCP. But I think there may be restrictions about going full time at certain recognized schools... So the sentiment probably stands, if my original stated reasoning does not.

[Guest decoy]

Is it possible for crosstown cadets to earn pilot slots? If yes: is it even feasible considering that the cadet will have less availability to attend optional activities that can build face-time with cadre? (I searched, the only other thread about crosstown cadets is just about some dude bitching that he has to drive 40 min each way)

Edited April 4, 2011 by decoy

[thoma015]

Yes, cross-town cadets have every opportunity that the local cadets have. Face time/optional activities isn’t going to get you a pilot spot. You need to be well rounded…good grades decent scores on the AFOQT/PT and be involved at lab as much you can. Let the cadre know that you have to travel and it is sometime more difficult for you to make events, but let them you want to be there and go every chance you get.

[Guest AspiringPilot]

Hey guys, I'm currently finishing up my sophomore year at a university without AFROTC, however we are a crosstown affiliate with the host university being about 1.5 hours away. I just found out about this, and up until now have been planning on applying for OTS. Is it too late to do AFROTC considering I'll be a junior in the fall?

[jtk2010]

Hey guys, I'm currently finishing up my sophomore year at a university without AFROTC, however we are a crosstown affiliate with the host university being about 1.5 hours away. I just found out about this, and up until now have been planning on applying for OTS. Is it too late to do AFROTC considering I'll be a junior in the fall?

Most likely you would have to extend your graduation another year. If your goal is to be an officer, then do ROTC because OTS is a big gamble these days. If you have questions about it PM, I have extended my graduation for 2 years so that I could do ROTC.

[Guest harharhar]

Hey guys, I'm currently finishing up my sophomore year at a university without AFROTC, however we are a crosstown affiliate with the host university being about 1.5 hours away. I just found out about this, and up until now have been planning on applying for OTS. Is it too late to do AFROTC considering I'll be a junior in the fall?

No, it's not. I entered the program at the beginning of the year, as a junior. I am also a crosstown cadet with about the same commute time as you, and just got an EA. Starting late/being dual-enrolled (as an AS 250) is not really that big of a deal. The 1.5 hour commute, on the other hand, sucks balls.

Most likely you would have to extend your graduation another year. If your goal is to be an officer, then do ROTC because OTS is a big gamble these days. If you have questions about it PM, I have extended my graduation for 2 years so that I could do ROTC.

Exactly this. Another option besides extending your graduation is graduating on time and then starting your grad work. The regs say you have to be a full time student up to your last term in the program. That can be either undergrad or grad (based on what my PAS has been telling me).

[jjfly]

dude, 1.5 hours away is super far- I'd just try OTS. Those 0530 morning show times will really suck. My crosstown was 30 min away in the morning w/o traffic and up to an hour drive in the afternoon... it really sucked sometimes.

[Guest AspiringPilot]

dude, 1.5 hours away is super far- I'd just try OTS. Those 0530 morning show times will really suck. My crosstown was 30 min away in the morning w/o traffic and up to an hour drive in the afternoon... it really sucked sometimes.

I agree it is really far but apparently if the commute is that long most of the time they let you do PT on your own and just send them a log. I'd probably have to drive there at least once a week though for three years, which would suck. I'm going to have to apply for OTS.

[jjfly]

yeah, the told me I would be exempt for PT my freshman year for playing intercollegiate soccer... once I got there, they didn't approve it... I wouldn't believe any promises like that. Remember, they're kinda like recruiters when they're trying to lure you in.