Army vs. Air Force ROTC?

[geoint]

I find myself in a dilemma. I am prior enlisted Army planning to begin using my GI Bill in a few months. The school where I attend has both Army and AF ROTC programs. I would prefer to go Air Force after seeing the quality of life of personnel in the AF as compared to Army (however, that was from an enlisted viewpoint). The real dilemma Im facing is I was offered a $20k bonus to become a Drill Sergeant in the Army Reserve for 6 years and that would (I am assuming here) make me ineligible for Air Force ROTC. So my question is, would you guys take the bonus and go Army or sacrifice the bonus and go Air Force?


Also, are prior service Army even allowed into AF ROTC?

[MRX9989]

Everything will depend on your current age, your age at commissioning, and if you want to be an officer or an NCO. The maximum age fluctuates at the needs of the service.

[Snoopy47]

In the long run economically you'd do better as an officer.

I got a $10K bonus for picking logistics for my Direct Commission. So I got to think that bonus would be there for you if you wanted and it would lessen the economic disparity (in the short term).

Also, are you truly going to be a Drill SGT, or as a reservist Drill SGT are you going to be the guys at reception greeting the incoming batches? Or those that randomly go around and give training support to deploying soldiers?

I got to think the reserve guys aren't getting the more involved positions with an entire cycle of privates.

You can always direct commission in the reserves up till age 42, but you have to be currently serving as a reservist at the time you put your package in. Then again, you only get the scraps left over from ROTC, OCS, and those coming off active duty.

You'd be in a stronger position to choose from vacancies for officers via ROTC or OCS.

I have the view that the army has the most opportunities and turn over. So it will be easier to go back to the army later than the air force.

So if the air force is what you want, then go down that path now.

I don't know what your age is or your choices are in life are, but as you get older and older your choices get narrower and narrower.

When you are 6 years older than you are now do you want to be in the position of a E6/E7 Drill SGT, or an Air Force O2/O3?

[geoint]

Im 25, I should graduate in 2018 and I definitely want to be an officer more than I want to be a DS. Ive talked to a few guys on another forum and they are warning me that if I commission into AD, Im guaranteed to have to pay back the bonus and if I commission into reserves, Ill still probably have to pay it back as the fine print will stipulate that I have to serve out a full 6 years in that MOS.

So with that info, the Drill Sergeant Bonus is no longer a factor and that makes my decision a lot easier. However, the Air Force doesn't have a SMP program like the Army does (therefore no tricare select), and I am starting to think Im going to have to get on MediCal unless I want to work while I go to school (which I really dont want to do).


Also, the odds of getting picked up for active duty from either AFROTC or AROTC are pretty slim. The AROTC adviser I spoke with told me they are accepting roughly 30% this year and my guess is that that number will only decrease in the near future. I haven't spoken with the AFROTC advisers yet but I found several articles online indicating the same.

http://archive.airforcetimes.com/article/20140718/CAREERS03/307180058/New-options-allow-ROTC-grads-enter-Guard-Reserve

They took a total of 833 ROTC grads into Active Duty this year as opposed to 1344 last year. Thats from the entire country.

I dont know if I want to do all the work of ROTC for a reserve position. Nothing against the reserves, but if thats my ultimate destination, Ill just relax during college and go to OTS after I graduate.

Im not going to make any final decisions until Ive spoken with the AFROTC advisers though. Maybe they will surprise me with good news, but I doubt it lol

[Snoopy47]