Posted on Feb 4, 2018
Is it possible for me to commission into the Army (through ROTC) then get a conditional release to be an Air Force Officer?
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Posted 6 y ago
Responses: 21
It's technically possible, but highly unlikely to ever occur. That's a workaround to try to find a back door into the AF.
If you really want to be an AF officer, I would recommend pursuing AF ROTC. Otherwise, if you are looking at pursuing a commission through Army ROTC, you will need to accept that you may very well have to stick with an Army career.
If you really want to be an AF officer, I would recommend pursuing AF ROTC. Otherwise, if you are looking at pursuing a commission through Army ROTC, you will need to accept that you may very well have to stick with an Army career.
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1LT (Join to see)
Yes i am currently a MLT in school pursuing my bachelors in Medical Technology. Before i joined Army ROTC I did talk to both air guard and air ROTC recruiters. I told them my situation and both were willing to help me but my National Guard unit is deploying soon and so the state wasn’t letting anybody go & only Army ROTC made me non deployable so i was locked in. I live the lab and i am still pursing lab education and career. At first i wanted out of the guard because they never gave me my enlistment bonus. I felt lied to. Then my unit was full of combat medics. Nobody cared about the lab. We didn’t even have supplied. I love my job and i want to do it. So i looked into air guard. But none of that was going to work with the upcoming deployment. So now I’m just looking for one last sliver of hope that it’s possible.
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LTC Kevin B.
1LT (Join to see) - Good luck. Just expect that once the Army invests time and money in you, they're not going to want to just let you leave (even if for another branch).
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Possible yes. Probable no. There is a form for it. When you commission you can technically change your Army branch but it is highly unlikely (I am sample size of one). There is another form for that. The only time I have heard this happening is with Service Academy Graduates. I served with an Armor Officer that was a USAFA grad.
Intraservice transfers in concept work like this: the gaining service has to accept you. The Army then has to release you. Sounds deceptively simple. If you are accessed into a shortage field then you will not get released until your branch deems that your year group is over strength, and then maybe not. I had a fellow cavalryman that was branched infantry. He tried year on year without success to transfer to aviation. He finally got accepted into a naval aviation program to fly Sea Stallions. That languished for months. He finally had to take leave, fly to HRC in DC, found the staff officer that was sitting on it and confronted him directly. To the Colonels credit, he asked one question do you really want to be a Naval Officer. Bob told him yes, and he endorsed the transfer paperwork and walked him place to place and had it approved by the end of the week. A few weeks later he was watching Top Gun trying to figure out how to put his crap on his khakis....there is no transition course.
There would have to be something significant for justification to make it happen.
What I don't know is if you tried floating between the Army National Guard and the Air Guard.
Intraservice transfers in concept work like this: the gaining service has to accept you. The Army then has to release you. Sounds deceptively simple. If you are accessed into a shortage field then you will not get released until your branch deems that your year group is over strength, and then maybe not. I had a fellow cavalryman that was branched infantry. He tried year on year without success to transfer to aviation. He finally got accepted into a naval aviation program to fly Sea Stallions. That languished for months. He finally had to take leave, fly to HRC in DC, found the staff officer that was sitting on it and confronted him directly. To the Colonels credit, he asked one question do you really want to be a Naval Officer. Bob told him yes, and he endorsed the transfer paperwork and walked him place to place and had it approved by the end of the week. A few weeks later he was watching Top Gun trying to figure out how to put his crap on his khakis....there is no transition course.
There would have to be something significant for justification to make it happen.
What I don't know is if you tried floating between the Army National Guard and the Air Guard.
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1LT (Join to see)
I did try floating between but my unit is deploying so they’re not letting anybody go.
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1LT (Join to see)
Yes i am currently a MLT in school pursuing my bachelors in Medical Technology. Before i joined Army ROTC I did talk to both air guard and air ROTC recruiters. I told them my situation and both were willing to help me but my National Guard unit is deploying soon and so the state wasn’t letting anybody go & only Army ROTC made me non deployable so i was locked in. I live the lab and i am still pursing lab education and career. At first i wanted out of the guard because they never gave me my enlistment bonus. I felt lied to. Then my unit was full of combat medics. Nobody cared about the lab. We didn’t even have supplied. I love my job and i want to do it. So i looked into air guard. But none of that was going to work with the upcoming deployment. So now I’m just looking for one last sliver of hope that it’s possible.
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LTC Jason Mackay
1LT (Join to see) - it may be possible to move between Air and Army Guard with your commission, but you are likely going to attend BOLC for a branch. Shortages in the ARNG may make it more difficult.
Predeployment lock ins are a fact of life
Predeployment lock ins are a fact of life
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I am making a strong assumption the answer is no. You will become Army property. The Army won't spend its funds for a commission into the Air Force.
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