Let Army ROTC help you make the most of the time you have already invested and the experience you have already gained in the military.

What is Army ROTC?

Army ROTC is a program that provides college-trained officers for the Active Army, the Army National Guard and the Army Reserve.

Army ROTC is traditionally a four-year program that is divided into two parts: a Basic Course and an Advanced Course. The Basic Course is normally taken in your freshman and sophomore years. The Advanced Course is usually taken during your final two years of college and includes a four-week National Advance Leadership Camp that is normally attended in the summer, between your junior and senior years.

Your military experience could fulfill your credit requirements for the ROTC Basic Course (MS 6). This means that, if credit is granted and provided you are not on an Army ROTC 3-year scholarship, you can skip the freshman and sophomore years of ROTC and enroll directly in the Advanced Course (MS 190).

Learning to be a leader

In the ROTC Advanced Course, you will learn leadership development, organization and management, tactics, and ethics and professionalism: qualities essential to a future Army Officer. Your instruction will go beyond the classroom to help you gain practical management and leadership experience.

Practicing what you learn

At National Advance Leadership Camp, you'll put into practice the principles, theories and decision-making you learned in the your junior year. You'll plan and execute tactical missions, and you'll shoulder a lot of responsibility as you are given the opportunity to serve in leadership positions. At the end of four weeks, you'll leave National Advance Leadership Camp with renewed pride and increased confidence in your ability to serve as a leader in the officer corps.

Financial help during college

You may be eligible to compete for an ROTC scholarship while you're in college. The scholarship pays for most tuition and on-campus educational fees that are required of all students, and provides a fixed amount for books, supplies, and equipment. Low Cost includes full tuition, $900 for books per year, $250 living stipend per month for Freshmen, $300 for Sophomores, $350 for Juniors, and $400 for Seniors, for up to 10 months. Even if you don't win a scholarship, you will still receive the allowance for each year of the Advanced Course, along with your uniforms and military science textbooks and materials. In addition, all cadets are paid for attending the four-week National Advance Leadership Camp. If eligible, you may also collect any VA benefits to which you would normally be entitled.

Your age at commissioning

To be awarded an ROTC scholarship, you must be under 30 years of age on June 30th of the year you expect to graduate and receive your officer's commission.

If you do not win an ROTC scholarship, you must be less than 30 years of age at the time you are commissioned. Requests for a waiver for age may be considered on an individual basis.

Join ROTC and the Guard or Reserve while you're in college

You may be able to take advantage of a program that allows you to participate in ROTC and enlist in the Army National Guard or Army Reserve at the same time, provided a vacancy exists in either a Guard or Reserve unit. This is called the Simultaneous Membership Program (SMP), and it means that while you're still in college you can be gaining valuable experience and earning extra income. Under the SMP, you will be paid at the rate of at least a Sergeant E-5 for your Guard or Reserve service, and you'll receive the ROTC Advanced Course allowance as well.

You'll serve as an officer trainee in a Guard or Reserve unit and perform duties associated with the grade of second lieutenant. Then once graduated and commissioned, you may continue your military service with your unit or apply for active duty in the U.S. Army.

Military service obligation

Following graduation, ROTC cadets are required to serve in the Active Army, Army National Guard or the Army Reserve.
All scholarship students will be required to serve in the military for a period of eight years. This obligation may be fulfilled by serving two to four years on active duty, followed by four to six years' service as citizen soldiers in the Reserve Components, Army National Guard (ARNG) or U.S. Army
Reserve (USAR).

Non-scholarship graduates may serve three years on active duty and five years as citizen soldiers, or they may select, or be selected, to fulfill their total military obligation as citizen soldiers. If Reserve Forces Duty is selected, graduates will serve a period of active duty necessary to complete the active component resident OBC, and spend the remainder of the eight year obligation in the ARNG or USAR.

Army ROTC is a good deal for anybody. It's an even better deal for veterans like you.  Army ROTC helps you apply what you've already learned to new situations as you train for a leadership role. You'll receive an officer's commission and when you return to active duty, your previous active duty enlisted time will count toward longevity pay and retirement.