archer39

Has anyone gone thought the ROTC program? If so what are your thoughts? What position or job did you have after completing the program? What is the pay and benefits like if you don't mind sharing?

Here is my current situation, (sorry for being long winded) i currently am attending Penn State and am perusing a IST (information science and technology) degree. I am in my third semester. I am paying my tuition all by my lonesome with out any support from my parents. So that is playing a large roll in my life now. From what i have heard the army will pay for my last 2 year if i qualify.

I do sorta like what i am doing but i am not the type of person that will want a job sitting in a office all day. My entire family is blue collar workers so that is what i have been brought up around.

I know i want to join but i don't want a future/career where i am going to be away from my family (currently engaged getting married in 09) all the time. So if anyone has any experiences or advice it would be great.

tinkerin-w-stuf

I didn't go ROTC but went straight active duty Airforce. I commend you on evaluating the option of joining the service.

It can be tough on a family and there's no guarantee you won't travel or be stationed far away. But wherever you get a permenant duty assignment, your family gets put up there with you. Temporary duty assignments away from family aren't usually longer than three months from what I saw. And it's so much easier to stay in touch these days with the internet and cheaper calling plans/cell phones.

I wouldn't be afraid to talk to a good recruiter. If you don't like the first one you talk to and don't feel like you are getting straight answers to your questions, don't be afraid to find another one.

With active duty, you take a four hour aptitude test to see where your skills fit in. Then you get a list of jobs that fit your skills. From there you choose five jobs you would like to have. I got my 3rd choice which was crew chief on F-15's. That's how it was 14yrs ago anyway. I don't know how it works on ROTC.

Good Luck!

Wolfcsm

http://www.dfas.mil/militarypay/militarypaytables.html

This link leads to the PAY TABLES for Active Duty soldiers. This is only BASE PAY. There are a number of additional pays authorized.

You would be an O-1, when you complete college.

Any of the branches offer an opportunity to have challanging work in a very challenging environment. You choose your path - stay get out, after your commitment is up. Not a bad life, but it is not for everyone.

I stayed for 24 years and still work for the Army as a civilian. My youngets son spent five years and decided to get out.

Let me know if I can answer any other questions you might have.

Hal

jbjarko

If I were to do it all over again. I'd be going Navy ROTC and go straight into the Marine Corps. Im a junior in college now and am still debating between going through the PLC program or OCS after graduation.

TreeFarm

Be VERY careful when going into the service with a perishable skill set. The military is famous for putting people, officers in particular, in jobs for which they have zero training or experience. In your case, you are in field which is rapidly advancing, and you need to work in it to gain practical experience and keep your skills sharp. That may not happen if you go into the service.

The military MAY place you in an unrelated position, and you are very likely to get stuck with officer duties which are unrelated to the IT field, no matter what. Unless you are entertaining the idea of making a career of it, my recommendation would be to pass on it, unless you can't finance your education by any other reasonable means.

tinkerin-w-stuf

Well I know with active duty, I had an optional out if I didn't get one of my 5 career choices. So, there was no getting stuck in a job I didn't want. Again, that's why I say talk to a good recruiter and express these concerns, watch what you sign. Like anything else these days, the rules change all the time and the only one that can give you up to date info is a recruiter.

And the military has to be as diligent or more-so when it comes to IT so I'm sure they'd have a job where your skills would continue to flourish. You also may be surprised after taking the aptitude test what other jobs are out there you never considered.

13ALPHA

I am in my last semester of Army ROTC, will commission in May in Field Artillery. I was enlisted for a couple years first and still thing it was the best choice I made. There are 3, 2 year scholarships available still. There is a monthly stipend which helps out a lot, book money, not to mention tuition and fees are covered. I look at my friends that aren't in the program and there is a big difference, I feel I have learned a lot and am ready to keep on learning continually. If you have any questions or just want to talk more give me a PM. Happy to give all the goods and also the few not so goods.

I am getting a degree in Metallurgical Engineering and I know I won't be doing that in the Army, but if I get out in 4 yrs grad school is waiting or after a little longer your degree is just a background plus, your leadership training is what they look at. Three people I know had great offers at the 4 year mark, going straight to midlevel management. ~120k!

Hope this helps.

Scott

Wolfcsm

Good luck!

Hal

az0091

I don't know if you have considered the following but here it goes. What about employment at Penn State?

When I attended The University of Arizona, one of my friends did not have the means to pay for school. He found a job as a clerk in the admissions office that paid around $12/hour plus benefits. One of the benefits from working at school was tuition assistance. After one semester of full time employment he was allowed to enroll a maximum of 9 credit hours each semester and pay $75 for the 9 credits. In addition, he had a weekend job outside of school to supplement his income. This route obviously took him longer, but he graduated and did not have any student loans to pay.

I would think Penn State offers the same deal since it is a state funded institution just like The Univ of AZ. Sometimes sacrifices have to be made and if that means working in an office setting until you reach your goal well.... Also, consider your choices carefully (ROTC, my comment, loans, family help??) but don't think about disenrollment from school, especially if you are thinking about getting I meant married

13ALPHA

For some more information, I also am getting married, May 23, so soon! If you are married you get some extra benefits, your BAH goes up, and such, they account for you having a dependent. Also, USAA has a loan just for cadets, 25K at 2% fixed APR, that's insane, I took it and used it to pay off my regular student loans that were 3x that rate, and put the rest in short CD. That's another benefit if you go that route, but definitely don't let anyone make up your mind for you. Good luck

archer39

thanks everyone will take this advice into consideration but i am really going to have to think long and hard about this. If anyone else has anymore food for thought throw it out there.

I have looked into it but for me it is not practical. The pay is very poor and from what i have found out they don't offer any type of tuition assistance. Also, i don't live on campus and commute so i am kinda of limited. I am going to look into more but i don't think i will be that lucky.

archer39

Although it may seem like Penn State IST degree is like IT but really is not. It does greatly deal with technology but it not nearly as technical as a IT degree. IST focuses you more towards management in a world full of technology. Teamwork, time management and critical thinking is more of the goal of the IST degree more so than IT.

TreeFarm

My wife has a similar degree in Information Systems Management. She went to work right out of college in the information technology field. I just asked her what she thought about your situation. Be aware that she is currently employed in the field and has input on hiring decisions. Her take, to effectively compete in the field these days, you need a masters degree.

Getting out of college with a BS or BA and not working in the field, which may happen in the military, will put you so far behind that you may never catch up.

Sorry to be blunt, but sometimes it's best. My advice remains, if you are going to make a career out of the military, fine. Go for it. It's an honorable profession, and you could do a lot worse in life. If not, stay out of the military, if at all possible. It is likely only to sidetrack your career.

Others, no doubt, will have a different opinion.

archer39

thanks man i really appreciate it. if i don't take the military track i certainly am going to get my masters.

RamPB331

Sounds to me like you've got SIGNAL CORPS written all over you. Believe it or not, Signal Officers do just what you're training for: management of systems and Soldiers. Information Systems and Network Management is a bigger part of SC than things like radios and signal propagation, which used to be the mainstay of SC. Much of the technical aspect an SC officer needs to know would be taught to you by the Army at your service schools, but your degree would be good for the management aspect. Officers are mostly generalists in their respective fields. I'm a Field Artillery officer (recently pinned MAJ) whose last couple assignments were outside the normal branch duties, as our unit has been mobilized twice in non-FA (non-traditional) missions.

I suggest looking into the National Guard's educational incentives for your state. I'm from Indiana, and if they'd had the same deals for Cadet/Guardsmen in 1990 when I first joined ROTC, paying for school would've been a cinch, with beer money left over. This much I know, SMPs (ROTC Cadets in their 3d year and out who are also affiliated to a Guard or Reserve unit) are paid as E-5 SGTs for drill pay. Weekend drill pay is a two-for-one deal (2 days pay per day drill) and you also get other bennies in the SMP program that we didn't get in my day, besides the monthly stipend went from $100 in 1993 to $350 per month when in school. Add MGIB and SMP Kicker (which is $450-550) and you're talking $1350-1400/school month.

For the record, SMP cadets are Non-Deployable. The only way you would be deployed is to disenroll and volunteer to deploy.

This should be current http://www.1800goguard.com/guides/pdf/part6.pdf