Changes in NROTC

[Immy]

I hope you can get a scholarship off a non-tech major...

 

[JhwK08]

Interesting...I could see this having the opposite effect of what the engineering incentive did previously/currently. I can imagine a lot of mids just picking up non-tech majors to boost their gpa and get slots.

I was under the impression that in order to retain scholarships midshipmen must stay a technical major. And since the % of mids with tech. majors is supposed to increase to %70+ in the next few years while the number of aviation slots isn't necessarily changing, then wouldn't it make sense that any preference given to these tech majors would be negligible in the big picture? If the majority of people applying for aviation are tech majors, then it would all even out anyway.

Am I looking at this the wrong way?

 

[Ducky]

It pretty much is - this is a public forum, indexed by Google and read by numerous senior officers to include guys who wear stars. Your cloak of anonymity isn't as impenetrable as you may think.

That should not be anything to be afraid of as long as you are tactful in what you say. Any senior officer worth his salt would value the impressive feed back one could get from this sight, and not try to discover someones true identity and hang him for a trivial discussion. However, serious situations like mishaps and operations is a totally different story.

 

[phrogdriver]

Apparently TOO new. Got an infraction for________ (insert lame excuse here)! I don't think giving your opinion about the current or new NROTC regulations could lead to anything adverse. As a guy that took the enlisted route and paid for college, I don't think NROTC candidates did anything more than prior enlisted NCO's, so why did I do 12 weeks of OCS and the NROTC guy only did 6 weeks? Because the NROTC candidate is better than me and got a super sweet deal, that's why. (Not to be construed as sarcasm. Seriously I have enough bad reps.)

The correct comparison is not between NROTC grads and prior enlisted, but between NROTC and PLC. The PLC candidate does two six-week training sessions. The NROTC candidate does one. However, he also did at least 4 weeks of training each summer before OCS. Plus, he had to go to naval science 3 hours every week, plus 2 hours of drill every week, plus unit PT. At my Marine-Option unit, that was three times a week. That adds up to a whole lot more time than the PLCer. Not as intense as juniors, perhaps (though at some schools probably yes), but if the goal is to train leaders, then NROTC gives at least as much training.

Those Marine NCOs usually do MECEP or ECP, which only do Bulldog, too. They usually participate in an NROTC unit, which gives them a chance to pass on their knowledge to other mids. They don't need the entry-level indoctrination of PLC Jrs, since they are supposed to know drill, nomenclature, etc., already.

BTW, unless he's been mobilized for deployment for 6 months or more, any reservist who becomes an officer and thinks of himself as a mustang is ghey. Just going to boot camp and a few drills does not a salty dog make.

 

[Python]

My CO explained the new "Service Assignment" as a board of officers from different communities. All the commissioning MIDN are then ranked by academics and aptitude. He said there is no preference given to tech. majors. Then they look at your choices and put you where you fit. The first MIDN gets his/her first choice, the 100th MIDN's first choice might be filled, so they put you in your next choice.

My question is, how is this different from the old Service Selection. Also, because you don't really apply for a particular designator, does everyone have to take the ASTB and flight physical? Or are these scores not applied to the ranking system?

This is not correct. My understanding is that under the new system the top ranked are protected. A certain percentage (perhaps top 25%) are locked in for their first choice and are protected. After that, people might have to put service before self.