Securing Active Duty and Branch after ROTC

2014-03-10T18:25:21-04:00

I'll be making the jump to ROTC in the next few months and I am wondering how competitive it is to secure Active duty AND Branch slots? Any new LT's have any insight?

Response by SFC James Baber made Mar 10 at 2014 7:49 PM

2014-03-10T19:49:46-04:00

Are you doing the green to gold program or are you just getting out and going back to school on your own, your post is not too definitive on how you are going about this.

It would be easier to get full responses or where to give direction too with better details and circumstances.

Response by MAJ Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 10 at 2014 7:53 PM

2014-03-10T19:53:55-04:00

Actually, If you're near the top in your class, you'll be able to select your branch before your OSC counterparts, as well as opportunities for Airborne and Air Assault after you contract.

Response by SSG(P) Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 10 at 2014 7:56 PM

2014-03-10T19:56:16-04:00

I did the Army ROTC program in 1990-1992. Times have changed, but my experiences were as such:

Active Duty at the time was the Holy Grail for ROTC grads. The numbers may be similar now that we are in another drawdown.

Branch slots are based primarily on Needs of the Army (as always), how many slots of each branch are allocated to ROTC, and then how many of those slots are allocated to your particular program/school. THEN it comes down to your place on the OML.

Your place on the OML will primarily be determined by your grades (academic and ROTC), your PT scores, and your Advanced Camp (LDAC or whatever it is called now) score.

The "good" part is that ROTC receives more slots than OCS does. It is right behind USMA (West Point) when it comes to sheer numbers of branch allocations. So you have that going for you.

Bottom line is that you really need to do your best, which should be better than everyone else if you want Active Duty AND your branch of choice.

Good Luck!

Response by LTC Haimes (Andy) Kilgore made Mar 10 at 2014 7:58 PM

2014-03-10T19:58:26-04:00

As a former PMS, I say that everything depends on your grades. If you are G2G, you will be active duty once commissioned, but if you don't have good grades you will not get a combat arms branch. If you want to actually talk about this, let me know and I'll send you a cell number for me.

Response by SPC Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 10 at 2014 8:10 PM

2014-03-10T20:10:50-04:00

A more detailed idea of how I am going about this is that I am getting out of the Guard here, very soon and will be transferring to a University from my local CC to finish my last 2 years to receive my B.A. in History (I want to be a teacher later on down the road) and will begin ROTC as an MS III. I will also be applying shortly for the Big Army (as we call them) ROTC Scholarship in order to help foot the bill for rent so I'm not stuck in the CSUN dorms. My overall end goal of ROTC is to become an Armor Officer in the Active Duty.

Response by LTC Haimes (Andy) Kilgore made Mar 10 at 2014 11:09 PM

2014-03-10T23:09:43-04:00

My work # is [login to see] . Give me a call and I'll talk you through the process and how it works.

v/r

LTC Kilgore

Response by MAJ Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 11 at 2014 4:29 PM

2014-03-11T16:29:37-04:00

Come see me at drill this weekend and we can talk about ROTC.

Response by MAJ Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 12 at 2014 3:49 AM

2014-03-12T03:49:23-04:00

I would be really interested in being a ROTC job. I return from my current deployment in October.

Response by 1LT Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 12 at 2014 4:21 AM

2014-03-12T04:21:49-04:00

I commissioned in January of 2012. The process may have
changed, but this is what it looked like for me:

You are assessed against all of your peers (everyone
commissioning in your year group). Each cadet is placed in an OML that is
country-wide. It’s based off of a point system. During my year, the top 50% got
active duty and the bottom 50% got ARNG. The numbers change every year based on
the needs of the Army. If you WANT reserve or guard, you will get it.

50% of your accession criteria is Grades. This is the most
important part!

The rest of your points are divided up between your APFT at
home station (your school), your APFT at LDAC, your performance during graded
tasks and class at your university, and your performance at LDAC. There is a
little room for the discretion of your PMS and peers as well. Grades are the
most important part by far.

If you manage to assess into the RA, you will list your top
10 branch choices and your top 10 duty station assignments. The top 10% of
cadets in the country are guaranteed their branch of choice.

The most competitive branches during my year were 1)
Aviation 2) Infantry 3) MI.

I graduated with a 2.8 GPA (garbage), but was very
successful on the military side. I also committed to an additional service
obligation which caused me to incur 3 extra years of service in exchange for a
better chance of getting my number 1 choice, Infantry.

Shoot me a note or add me if you want more info. And good
luck!

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 12 at 2014 9:55 PM

2014-03-12T21:55:02-04:00

Be mindful of what you post cause your BN CD-R monitor this webpage

Response by LTC Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 18 at 2014 9:13 PM

2014-03-18T21:13:22-04:00

Speaking as a former PMS at Eastern Washington University from 2009-2012 - selection rates to AD will be at or less than 50% until stabilization at the new Army Strength levels. The three major things that will affect your standings in the OML are Grades, PT scores, and LDAC (now CLC -Cadet Leader Course). Branch selection is also competitive, using the same OML as AD. Important to note, Degrees are also becoming important in Active Duty as well as Branch selections. Several Branches, such as Engineer and Signal Corps now require a percentage(45% or higher the last couple years of my tour) of their new Lieutenants to have branch specific degrees.

Response by COL Jon Thompson made Apr 3 at 2014 6:51 PM

2014-04-03T18:51:48-04:00

I am the Recruiting Operations Officer for an ROTC program. Right now, active duty is very competitive and will become even more so as the Army draws down. That being said, you have a lot of the share in shaping your future. 40% of your final score is based on your college grades. Typical AD GPAs are above 3.0. 15% of your score is based on your APFT scores taken during your junior year. The remaining 45% is based on assessments and your performance. So 55% of your score is totally up to you. I tell all Cadets to stay focused on academics. You may be the best Cadet but if you do not graduate, you will not become an Officer. Feel free to contact me if you need any more information.

Response by COL Charles Williams made Mar 24 at 2015 12:21 AM

2015-03-24T00:21:13-04:00

Great Question!!!!! Here is the deal, now, and deal is changing, as SROTC is redoing its whole accessions process. And, assuming you don't Guard or Reserve, which you can opt for via the Guaranteed Reserves Forces Duty (GFRD) option.

If Active Duty is your goal, the bottomline to guarantee your position on active duty, the branch of your choice, and your first duty assignment (ROTC, USMA, and OCS) is all about OML (Order of Merit List).

Every Cadet in ROTC, in the year you are commissioned (commissioning year or Year Group) is placed on an OML from say 1 to 6000 across every ROTC program in the nation. Number picks first, and so on... The higher your OML number, the more likely you get what you want... Based also on the needs of the Army.

ROTC commissions about 75% - 80% of all Army Officers each year, West Point about 15% and OCS the Balance; there also some direct commissions. This is ROTC vs. ROTC, not USMA or OCS; they both compete within their own commissioning groups.

OML is roughly based on (It changes from year to year, and is changing now):

40% on Academic GPA,
45% on Leadership/Military Grades: ROTC Grades, Summer Camps (Basic and LDAC), PMS grades...
15% Physical Fitness (Fall and Spring APFT averages).

The bottomline, the better you do in ROTC (Academic GPA, military program, and PT) the more likely you will get what you want... Needs of the Army also always play in... But, do your best, and you will get what you want.

I hope this helps and good luck.

Response by CPT Private RallyPoint Member made Dec 12 at 2015 11:44 PM

2015-12-12T23:44:11-05:00

The best way to secure your branch and component is to keep your GPA up. The OML is giving more to people in STEMs degrees, especially engineering. Get involved on campus and the ROTC Battalion. Don't expect it to be like an operational unit and get frustrated because things are "jacked up". Take the time to coach and mentor cadets who don't know what you do about the military. You do this and I promise you will be happy with what you get. I'm not sure on statistics for this year, but last year most people who wanted active duty got it. A lot of people want to stay guard or reserves. Some sign contracts to go guard for more money. Branch is needs of the army, but new changes to OML policy gave a significant percentage their #1 pick and 9/10 their top 3 pick. Most competitive branches in order are aviation, military intelligence, and infantry usually. I commissioned summer of 2015.

Response by Sgt Bruce C. made May 15 at 2016 9:59 PM

2016-05-15T21:59:44-04:00

This is a good post for me right now, even being two years old. My Nephew started college last fall on a football and Army ROTC scholarships and he is a bit down now, 10 ROTC seniors who graduated this year and only 2 are going active, so now I am not sure if he thinks it's worth it. He wants to be career officer, so my reply to him is study harder and go after what he wants. So I guess this happens all th time?

Response by 1LT Private RallyPoint Member made Feb 16 at 2017 11:40 AM

2017-02-16T11:40:53-05:00

Besides the obvious of keeping your grades I want to point out the necessity of learning how to be a n officer and not an NCO. Embrace your cadre and the cadets, both will help re-shape your leadership process. Being enlisted first, you need to make sure you can transition into the new branch.

I'm in the same boat, 8 years service, just now going to college and ROTC.

Response by Cadet SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Nov 28 at 2017 11:05 AM

2017-11-28T11:05:22-05:00

I just received my branch choice a few weeks ago and got my 7th choice although I was ranked rather high and had a pretty decent OML score. I was told by a former PMS that if I postpone my graduation, I will be more likely to branch higher in the summer after camp, as that is what he did and it worked. Does anyone have any information on if it will be likely that I will branch what I want if I postpone my graduation?