Question about Air Force ROTC

[JaceTheAce]

I'm 21 years old and will be transfering to San Diego State Univ Fall 2004 as a Junior. In order to become a Second Lieutenant to begin a flying career in the Air Force, do I have to go through the ROTC program? It looks like this program was designed more for Freshman students that are just starting their college program, or am I wrong? I'm highly considering the Air Force route to get my foot into the professional aviation world, especially knowing all the benefits of it. Also, what about OTC?

 

[Visceral]

Since you aren't going to the Air Force Academy, you can do either ROTC or OTS(Officer Training School) I don't know much about OTS other than its at Maxwell AFB and you need to have a 4 year degree. I did ROTC. You can do either the 4 year ROTC program or the 2 year program. The two year program is for people who decide to join during their junior year in college. I'd recommend this route personally, as you can concentrate on getting good grades those first two years and not have to worry about maintaining your flight or squadron of cadets. I did the 4 year program and hindsight is 20/20. Either way though, 2 or 4 year, you will be a 2LT at the end.

 

[BJ]

I actually did the whole 2-year ROTC program after transferring schools. I agree with Visceral, the 2-year program is definately the way to go. When I went through, you had to go to a 6 week summer field training camp. The 4-year students only had to go to 4 weeks. I think the field training for 2-year ROTC students has dropped to 5 weeks now though.

On the other hand, OTS is a 12 week course in Alabama. Trust me, the 2 years of ROTC in college is a lot better then the 12-week course would be. Much like anything, you can put as much time into ROTC as you want. I knew guys who did only the minumum amount of work, showing up for class and labs. Then there were other guys that put in a lot of time. That extra time could earn you a better commander's rating though, which helps in selection for pilot training. Either way, the emphasis should be on grades because they count for a large portion of your overall class ranking.

-BJ