Enlist with SMP program or just go straight to ROTC? Which do you think is a better decision?

2015-05-15T11:19:05-04:00

This is my first question on RP. In advance, sorry for any gramatical mistakes. So I decided to enlist in the NG as an Infantryman. I will be attending OSUT in August and will skip my first semester of college. I will be back home in December, and start college along with ROTC in the spring and join the SMP program once I am qualified. I already have 9 college credits so skipping my first semester of college will not be that bad. Also, I hope to receive college credits from BCT and AIT. I originally planned to just attend college and join ROTC and not enlist. From what I read, the SMP program sounded like it could be beneficial to me.

Response by CPT Private RallyPoint Member made May 15 at 2015 11:19 AM

2015-05-15T11:19:55-04:00

Good call. I did the SMP program and got a lot of stuff out of it. All depends on YOUR attitude through the whole thing.

Response by CPT Brian Willey made May 15 at 2015 11:28 AM

2015-05-15T11:28:19-04:00

I'd say it was a great decision. You'll have the same or similar initial training as those you'll one day lead, have a better understanding of military culture, have the monthly experience at drill to compliment everything in the ROTC program, and the added bonus of beginning your time in service years earlier than many of your peers. It will also give you the chance to drill with units within different branches (i.e. Infantry, Aviation, Quartermaster, etc.) to see what you may or may not want to branch when you commission. Best of luck!

Response by COL Jason Smallfield, PMP, CFM, CM made May 15 at 2015 11:30 AM

2015-05-15T11:30:32-04:00

- Short answer: METT-TC (it depends). Good or bad decisions have objective and subjective components. By objective I mean things that are always good or bad (DUI is a bad decision). By subjective I mean that the decision may be good or bad but it varies person to person (SMP may not be good decision for all people).
- The long answer is that sometimes it is more important on how and why you came to your decision than it is upon what the decision that you made is. If SMP works for you then it is the right decision.

Response by 1SG Private RallyPoint Member made May 15 at 2015 11:32 AM

2015-05-15T11:32:55-04:00

PVT Angelo Velez I do not know what the SMP program is please educate me so that I can assist others in the future.

Response by LTC Gavin Heater made May 15 at 2015 11:35 AM

2015-05-15T11:35:13-04:00

Time management will be your key to success. Keep a strict schedule. Get your school work done as far in advance as possible. Be careful if offered an Early Commission down the line. You will potentially trade off higher pay at the end of your career for less pay sooner. Good luck.

Response by CPT Private RallyPoint Member made May 15 at 2015 11:35 AM

2015-05-15T11:35:41-04:00

I did the SMP program and felt I got a lot out of it. What was nice about my program was that all the drills and the summer two weeks was all geared towards ROTC events and preparing for LDAC. That gives you a leg up on others. Also going through basic gives you a little more credibility with your future troops.

Response by 1SG Private RallyPoint Member made May 15 at 2015 11:39 AM

2015-05-15T11:39:23-04:00

PVT Angelo Velez, the biggest advantage to being SMP is that you get to participate in training with a real Guard/Reserve unit and get some experience.
Find a mentor to coach you along the way. If you are feeling bold, seek out opportunities to lead such as a convoy commander. Other than the additional time commitment, I see little in the way of downside to being in SMP.

Response by COL Jon Thompson made May 15 at 2015 11:39 AM

2015-05-15T11:39:57-04:00

PVT Velez, either way you are on a path to becoming an Officer so if you want to lead, you can do that. If you are looking to get an ROTC scholarship to help pay for college, the only option you have as a member of the NG is a Guaranteed Reserve Forces Duty Scholarship that locks you into NG or USAR upon commissioning. If you get done with INOSUT and are considering active duty after graduation, then you would not want to take that scholarship. An advantage of SMP is that you will get practical leadership exposure in your unit. You just have to remember that as an SMP cadet, you are not an 11B Rifleman, you are an officer trainee and need to act accordingly. The final thing I will add is that going to INOSUT and being SMP will not make you a better officer. That must come from within you not just from experience. Good luck as you enjoy Fort Benning!

Response by LTC John Shaw made May 15 at 2015 11:44 AM

2015-05-15T11:44:45-04:00

I joined the same way in the late 80s, you will have exposure to the enlisted world for a short time, then complete your officer training. I found the experience critical to my success as a young LT. Your school comes first, don't let the SMP relationship dominate your schedule.

Response by PVT Angelo Velez made May 15 at 2015 12:23 PM

2015-05-15T12:23:34-04:00

I want to thank everyone for their opinion's and advice!

Response by CPT Private RallyPoint Member made May 15 at 2015 12:29 PM

2015-05-15T12:29:35-04:00

It would probably go better if you stayed enlisted through college and go to yor state academy when you are through school. ROTC is a huge distraction and waste of time! The state academies are 18 months of drills and every bit as good as federal OCS. Good luck!

Response by LCDR Private RallyPoint Member made May 15 at 2015 1:07 PM

2015-05-15T13:07:02-04:00

I think it sounds like a pretty good deal and a solid choice. I wouldn't expect a lot of credits from BCT/AIT, though; I was trained as a reactor operator for the Navy, and I got a total of 3 credits for that from my university. (I did get 8 credits of physical fitness for recruit training.)

If you're going to skip a semester now, even with 9 credits toward your degree, that puts you a little behind. I averaged something like 15 per semester in college, if that gives you an idea of what a lot of people can expect.

I think your decision is solid, and you'll probably do just fine. Good luck!

Response by MAJ Ken Landgren made May 15 at 2015 1:32 PM

2015-05-15T13:32:39-04:00

Does SMP guarantee an Active Duty slot?

Response by SGT Craig Northacker made May 15 at 2015 1:57 PM

2015-05-15T13:57:37-04:00

There are two major components to every potential answer - long-term and short-term. If both answers are positive, then it is a good decision based upon what you are trying to accomplish. If both answers are no, you already have your answer. A split decision requires thought as to what your objectives are, and decide which end is more important to you. Remember, not every decision is a 100% yes or no answer - the squeakers at 51/49 are much more difficult. If you trust your gut, then that may well be your best answer.

Good luck - and remember, attitude is everything! All paths lead you to your future - what you do with them is the measure of success and failure.

Response by CPT Private RallyPoint Member made May 15 at 2015 2:29 PM

2015-05-15T14:29:29-04:00

Let me begin by thanking and congratulating you on your committment - you will be hard pressed to find a more rewarding job (or at least thats my opinion).

The SMP program is an outstanding program, which if you take full advantage of, you can get some extremely valuable experience that will only serve to propell you ahead of your peer 2LTs upon arriving to an active duty unit. I would stick with OSUT - knocking out BCT and AIT at once is a great idea and also makes you eligible for the Montgomery GI Bill. When I was in college, I had my MGIB, drill check and ROTC stipend to help suppliment my ARNG tuition assistance to get me through school debt free.

Your 9 credits can be applied to college in most cases but typically only for a PE credit, which ROTC counts for anyways. That being said, you will be slightly behind the power curve, but there is no reason you cannot extend one semester to finish your degree - I had many peers do the same.

Lastly, one thing that I did not see in the other responses was that SMP is not only beneficial in college or immediately after college, but rather for many years to come. Your drills count as time in service in two ways:
- 1. They will count as days on active duty. My 5 years in the guard sadly only transferred to ~4 months active duty time. I'm not worried about that though.

- 2. The drills count as time in service FINANCIALLY. As a 2LT entering active duty, I got paid as a 2LT with 5 years Time in Service (TIS) - maxing out the 2LT pay scale and making ~$650 more each month than my ROTC scholarship counterparts. Putting it in perspective for me right now, I am making about $825 more each month than my peers. And when I am promoted will (for a time) be making almost $1000 more each month. I added it up one day several years ago and I estimated that by the time you are eligible to make LTC, you will have earned upwards of $75,000 more than your peers who did not do SMP or were not prior service.

Ultimately, it is not about the money, but rather about the service, your dedication to your institution and those within it. I am just trying to convey the "hidden secrets" that most people do not know or tell you about. Good luck in your adventure and reach out if you need anything.

Response by LTC Damon LaCour made May 15 at 2015 2:29 PM

2015-05-15T14:29:57-04:00

I think you made a good decision! I joined SMP during ROTC, too. The program gives you additional experience & additional income that you don't receive in ROTC alone. You'll learn how a Guard or Reserve unit works from the inside. Good luck with you military career, you've made a step in the right direction!

Response by MAJ Robert (Bob) Petrarca made May 15 at 2015 3:15 PM

2015-05-15T15:15:06-04:00

Great Call. I did it for 6 months prior to my commissioning and wished I had done it sooner.

1) It gives you retirement points and credits towards your 20 while you are in ROTC.

2) Lets you see both the O & E sides of life and how as a junior O you will be able to affect things. It gives you a unique advantage of having a trained MOS then getting a commission. Whether or not you commission is in the same branch as your MOS doesn't matter because you have the experience and will know as an officer what your troops will go through.

Best of luck to you in your endeavor and thanks for the post!

Response by LTC Jason Mackay made May 15 at 2015 5:37 PM

2015-05-15T17:37:42-04:00

There is nothing I read in your statement that says "so, you've ruined your life". I would caution you skipping a semester. Here is why. As you progress, the classes will get harder. Mathematically, Your GPA gets less flexible and harder to improve as you go (mysteriously, it plummets in a hurry). The more grades in there, the less flexible it gets. It is critical to get high grades in the first two years to pad and protect your GPA. If you have a real bad semester you could get in a really tough spot. Most undergrad programs have a graduation requirement of overall GPA and a program specific GPA (like in engineering, your GPA for engineering classes). I intentionally did not test out of any freshman requirements so I could pad my GPA...then I had two really abysmal semesters. I almost did not graduate. The padding I built plus an eleventh hour win in a graduate level engineering class allowed me to graduate.

AIT and Basic will not get you any huge credit as far as classes. Most schools count it as phys Ed...which you get for ROTC too. Where basic and AIT will help is preparing you for LDAC and training leading up to it. What credit is the university giving you for Basic and AIT?

Response by CPT Private RallyPoint Member made May 15 at 2015 9:52 PM

2015-05-15T21:52:32-04:00

Great decision but just like everything else its what you make of it. Do not get in the "I just finished basic so I'm better than you" type of mentality. Be a sponge and learn from the NCOs that are assigned to hour program. Good luck!

Response by COL Private RallyPoint Member made May 16 at 2015 3:10 AM

2015-05-16T03:10:18-04:00

Hindsight 20/20, I would have done the SMP program while in ROTC. I had an ROTC scholarship and got the stipend ($100/mo at the time) which really didn't do much for me. I also had a part time job at my university. Had I been in an SMP slot, I would have gotten the extra paycheck and also the load of experience. Many of the guard and reserve units that were around the university were very good. Simply experience what life is like in a training base, during an AT, and simply being around the culture would have made the transition to active duty much easier. As a 2LT, you're walking around like your lost most of the time...if you have a little experience under your belt, you'll look less lost. Good luck!

Response by 2LT Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 12 at 2015 4:24 AM

2015-06-12T04:24:01-04:00

Hopefully I am not just repeating what everyone else is saying here, all good points.

I recently commissioned as an AD MI officer and was a SMP CDT while in ROTC. I originally enlisted 11B and then contracted after I came back. Though there were a lot of weekends that I wished I could have hung out with friends rather than go to drill, looking back, being an SMP cadet was a great advantage for me during school. One of the biggest disadvantages normal (not SMP) ROTC cadets have is never being around a lot of enlisted soldiers and junior officers. Most of the time ROTC cadets only directly interact with maybe a E-7/E-8 and a O-3/O-5. Being around, working with, and understanding how much every soldier (no matter rank) can bring to the table is a great tool to bring with you to your first assignment.

The biggest piece of advice I can give to you when you begin going to drill as a cadet is to not be 'that guy' who thinks that just because they have a dot on their chest they are some how more qualified or experienced then even the most junior E-1 in their unit. Be humble and learn from everyone.

Finally, Figure out what is most important to you when you commission - getting active duty, or the branch of your choice (mostly). IF it is going active duty, and you can afford it, then do not sign a GRFD contract (guaranteed reserve) and be a non-scholarship SMP cadet. If, however you need the scholarship from the National Guard to help pay tuition, want to pursue some type of grad school after college, or want a more guaranteed choice of branch when you commission then go with the National Guard. Just realize that the Army, as I am sure you have heard, is downsizing. Since all of your top choices for branching are the most highly sought after ones you will need to do very well in school, have a high APFT score, do will in peer accessions, PMS accessions, and do well on the news tests they have you take at camp. I would recommend at least a 3.5GPA - and take a look at branch detail (could do IN-MI) or ADSO options.

Good luck with your future endeavors. If you want to talk anymore I would be happy to do so over email or phone. Just message me for my number.

Response by CPT Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 28 at 2015 8:25 PM

2015-06-28T20:25:58-04:00

The SMP program is the best of both worlds. You get the experience of going through basic training and drilling with a real unit while you are enrolled in ROTC learning how to become an Officer. This is a great advantage because what you take what you are learning in ROTC and see how it is being applied at your unit. If you're in a unit with good leadership, they will get you involved as much as possible and maybe even give you some type of responsibility.
I was a former SMP cadet. At my unit we did not have a XO at the time, so the CO put me in as 'acting XO'. I was tasked to help prepare training slides and review maintenance reports. Now, obviously I had A LOT of help from NCOs and other officers but still it gave me some great experience for the future. The SMP program was definitely a smart path for you to take and will give you a leg up on your peers down the line. Good Luck!

Response by Capt Richard I P. made Jun 28 at 2015 8:33 PM

2015-06-28T20:33:29-04:00

CPT Private RallyPoint Member Was that downvote a finger slip or intentional?

Response by Cadet 1LT Private RallyPoint Member made Jul 28 at 2015 6:32 PM

2015-07-28T18:32:43-04:00

Going SMP is a great way to get more experience and a little more money while you're in school. Just be careful of the GRFD scholarship. It lures a lot of cadets in who originally wanted to go active duty. If you want to go reserve or national guard then GRFD is absolutely a good choice.