Hey all

A brief bio of me would state that I am a 17 year old high school senior with plans of going to college and becoming a USMC officer. So since I plan on becoming a Marine officer, I have spent numerous hours searching about NROTC and PLC. I have learned alot about both NROTC and PLC, but I still have a few questions about them and was hoping some of you here with experience in this situation could help me out and answer a few of these possible life changing questions.

On a website I went to about a college that offers NROTC gives an NROTC overview and in the overview they say "Upon graduation, midshipmen are commissioned as ensigns in the Naval Reserve or second lieutenants in the Marine Corps Reserve. Midshipmen will have military obligations of eight years; at least four of those years must be on active duty (three for college program)."

1) With the 4 years active duty in the reserves would that be any different than 4 years active duty not in the reserves. Will I still be doing the same as anyone not in the reserves? Also my dad brought across another question? Do I do the 4 years active first and then the 4 years inactive, or inactive (while in college) and then the active duty.

I know that the NROTC program offers tuition assistance, but if I didn't get int the NROTC scholarship program and just went to PLC would I receive any tuition assistance? I read a webpage (can't remember at this time where) that you have no military obligation after the first PLC course, unless you receive tuition assistance then you have a certain number of years obligated. So I guess the question is, is their PLC tuition assistance and if so how do you get it? (I know that you get paid to attend the PLC courses. Is that the tuition assistance they speak of or am I missing some bit of information?)

I guess thats all of the questions for right now. I hope I didn't bore you to death with this very long post and I hope you can take some time and answer those questions as that would help me greatly.

Also I would like to say to all of you that are in the Armed Forces that I deeply appreciate what you and your brothers have sacrificed for this country and for me.

I'm not sure how PLC works, so I can't answer that part of the question.

However, with NROTC, when you graduate from college, you get what's called a reserve commission. For all intents and purposes, it's basically the same as a regular commission, but there are some nuances between the two (you can probably do an online search as to the differences, or maybe someone else can chime in on the differences*).

However, a reserve commission has no effect on going on active duty. Even though you'll have a reserve commission, you'll still have to go on active duty immediately following graduation. You will have to serve a minimum of four years on active duty, and then possibly more time AFTER that in the reserves. Depending on your specialty (i.e., if you decide to become a pilot), you may end up spending all eight years on active duty instead of splitting it up four-and-four.

Hope that helps!

* - this link will bring you to a PDF file -- page 3 shows the differences between a reserve corps officer and a regular corps officer in the US Public Health Service (for the record, I'm a reserve corps officer on full-time active duty). Obviously, the USMC has its own differences, but this will give you an idea of what the differences are.

Now that is sort of what im am planing on doing is joining NROTC in collage and go in the navy as commissioned navel officer. Oh and you can
join any ROTC program and if you join the military you become an officer though I have no idea about this PLC program.

I just typed a lengthy response, but when previewing it I accidently lost it all. So here goes again.

Thanks for the replies.

My plans are if PLC offers tuition assistance (I know I have brought that up a few times, but that isn't the only thing that matters. I just figure it might come in handy and would like to explore all options) to not worry about going in NROTC. If PLC doesn't offer tuition assistance I plan on trying to gain admission to the NROTC scholarship program and go that way (knowing I still have to attend PLC. I believe that NROTC may offer a good experience with meeting new people and getting a feel for the way things work). I have a few more questions that I either forgo to post or that was sparked by something said. Any help is requested.

1) Would it be wise to go talk to a recruiter (or do I still have to) if I plan on going in as an officer, since they are only over people that go in as enlisted. Should I be concerned with them maybe trying to discourage me into going in as an officer and try to get me to enlist so they get credit (?) for me? Or do you think they will still be helpful with me even if I have no concerns of going in as enlisted? (If any recruiters that read this and are offended, I apoligize as that is not my intention.)

2) I have also been told that if your college doesn't offer NROTC, but it does offer either Army ROTC or Air Force ROTC than you can participate in those programs and it would be no difference than NROTC? Is there any truth to that statement or is the info just totally off base?

3) Also I was wondering if any of you were in my shoes what would you do differently and how would you go about obtaining the title of college graduate along with the honored title of Marine Officer? Would you try and gain admission into NROTC or not? I am hoping to learn what someone would do that has more info on this aspect than I do as this is what I want to do with my life because I see the Marine Corps as a positive life change for me. As I am not the most motivated person in the world and have things about me that I wish were changed for the better. Any other advice on what I should do is welcomed and greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance for any advice, answers, or info.

I don't want to make another topic so..
Q 1: After graduating from college from ROTC I will have to serve 4 ad- 4 reserve but can I make it so that I can serve active duty for like.. the rest of my life? I wanna serve for like 25 years or so.. 35 maybe..

sorry for not answering your question as im learning too from these replies and im so unsure about which branch I want to go into.. >.o;;

It's okay with posting a question on here. I don't mind at all as I will probably benefit from your questions as well. I can't give you a for sure answer so I will keep my info to myself as not to give you false info. On the which branch of military question,just do some research is all I can say. Go to all of the websites and see what they offer to you and what you would enjoy doing the most. I have chosen Marines for a few different reasons. One of those reasons and maybe the most important of why going into the Marines is because my dad and grandfather were both Marines and I would like to try and earn the title so not only are they my elders, but they are also my brothers. Another reason is because they are said to have the most demanding bootcamp and if I decide to go in and serve I want to try to bring the very best out of me.

Hutch

Any answers over some of the PLC questions would be very helpful as I need to start deciding what I am going to do because I am a senior in highschool.

From my understanding, you can't go to Army ROTC and have that count and get you to become an Officer of Marines. Yeah, you can take some of their course, but as far as I know, only the lower division ones. If you want to take the upper division ones you need to get accetped into that program.
Yes, go talk to your recruiter. His/her job is to help you. But more so people wanting to enlist, and yes they probably will try to get you to enlist.
For Officer information, contact your local OSO, Officer Selection Officer. He is a recruiter, but for Officer Candidates only.
I plan on becoming an Officer of Marines myself. I am going to enlist in the USMCR when I turn 18 next September, get into the USMCR, and go to college while in the Reserves. Upon completion of college, I will go active duty. I will either stay enlisted active duty for a year or two or apply for Officers School as soon as I graduate college.
Thats my plan and objective.
Good luck!
Lamm

Concerning PLC: There is tution assistance, not full-ride like the ROTC scholarship but it still assists. Also, I think you get a set amount of money each month (not too sure though). I am currently applying for a PLC scholarship. From what I have been told by my ROTC instructors is that it is less competitive then ROTC and you can still apply for the ROTC scholarship if you are in the PLC program. Also concerning ROTC, remeber that just because you are in ROTC doesn't mean you are commissioning, you have to have a scholarship. O and be sure to max that PT test for either scholarship, or at least recieve a first class. If in good enough shape, you should be able to get the hundred crunches fairly easily. It is the pullups and run that is difficult. So good luck.

Originally Posted by Hutch

2) I have also been told that if your college doesn't offer NROTC, but it does offer either Army ROTC or Air Force ROTC than you can participate in those programs and it would be no difference than NROTC? Is there any truth to that statement or is the info just totally off base?

They're totally off base. Sure, you can do AROTC or AFROTC, but you'll get your commission in one of those services. Then you'd have to apply for a transfer to the Marines -- it's not like you can do AROTC or AFROTC and then get a commission in the Marines. The Army sponsors (and pays the scholarships for) AROTC; the Air Force sponsors (and pays the scholarships for) AFROTC. They're going to want to get their investment back and not see you run off to the Marines.

By the way, the other route you can look into is applying for the Naval Academy -- you can get a Marine commission that way, too. There's one small advantage to attending the Naval Academy over going to a civilian college with Navy ROTC -- the four years you spend there count towards your pay and retirement. So when you graduate from the Academy, you'll be an O-1 (2nd Lt.) with four years' of service, as opposed to an O-1 with no years or service if you graduate from Navy ROTC (it's a difference of over $600 per month at current pay rates -- before taxes). Of course, getting into the Academy is a whole other story.

Originally Posted by JulesLee

Q 1: After graduating from college from ROTC I will have to serve 4 ad- 4 reserve but can I make it so that I can serve active duty for like.. the rest of my life? I wanna serve for like 25 years or so.. 35 maybe..

Oh, sure. The 4 and 4 part is only the minimum requirement that you have to serve. (Depending on the military specialty you enter, that requirement may actually be longer -- i.e., if you were to become a Naval Aviator, your requirement is 8 years of active duty after you get your wings, so about 10 or 11 years on active duty in total.) You can serve as long as you like, provided you're eligible to serve (i.e., you haven't been passed over for promotion too many times, you're still under the age limit, etc.).