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Air Force ROTC
Hi,
I am a junior in high school and I am strongly considering joining the AFROTC program. However, my parents are STRONGLY against it. When I even mentioned the word ROTC to my mom a few months ago, she started crying and made me promise I wouldn't do anything in the military. I was at dinner with my dad the other day, and I told him what I wanted to do. He said he can't support my idea and that he doesn't agree with it.
What should I do? I really don't want to do this without the support of my parents. I was thinking I could write a letter to my mom explaining my plans, because I never get anywhere when I try to talk to her.
Thanks for your time.
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whoops!I've been proven wrong by the way, two dudes just got killed in Bagram by 107mm rockets yesterday. don't worry though, thats the first american casualties there in 7 years, and those are the first I've ever heard of being killed by a "katyusha" rocket. kinda odd that a dreadfully inaccurate weapon like that killed folks. it was at best a fluke.
later
here's how I joined the army: my parents went away on vacation, and I enlisted. your parents are scared because of the war, let me tell you, as an officer in the air force, you're in the safest job in the military. I have never seen an air force officer leave the wire downrange, they're fobbits. real combat is left to guys like me, their war is a big videogame. six month deployments, cush living conditions, its like a vacation for them. anyways, off of that, your parents are still rightly worried, its not a job at the local deli, its war, and the business of killing people. great experience though, lotsa friends, lots of stupid things, and lots of crazy ass adventures. show her this question and the answers you've gotten, that might change her mind. but here's the deal with ROTC. the first two years, its just an elective that you take, the second two years require a contract to complete four years active duty. if you don't like it, don't sign the contract. its likely you'll miss most of the war. by the time you're commissioned as an officer in the air force (what, 2013?), there will be a really relaxed rotation in afghanistan, and iraq will be a thing of the past. go to a local college, take the tour, and have the ROTC commander talk to your mom, also have her go to www.todaysmilitary.com
this will help her out. and if it sets her mind at ease, 90% of the casualties in the war have been in the army and marines, the air force and navy haven't taken much at all, and its usually air force enlisted guys that get hurt (JTAC guys work with the army and marines directing fire support for field units, and account for most of them).
93% of guys hurt in the war have survived, more than any war in the history of the planet. never has a military been better equipped than ours now. every four or five months, the country pops out some new revolutionary weapon or gadget that makes us more effective at our job, and we get the gear right quick. every time I look in my work email, I have to send more of my guys to some random school to learn how to use some new gadget. but its not the tools or weapons that make us good, its our training, its the man wearing the monkey suit that wins the battles. your mom has nothing to fear, air force zoomies are safer on their FOB than any other place in the world. probably safer than where you live now.
course, you could always grow a pair, tell her to shove it, and do it regardless of her opinion, like I did. but what I do is extremely dangerous, and doesn't really compare. if it works, enjoy your green beans coffee, I'll be eating crickets and waiting for your fast movers to start dropping bombs about four hundred kilometers away. have a good time and tell your mom to chill out.
-gunner
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First of all, if it is ultimately YOUR decision, I would not pass up this great opportunity. You didn't mention if you were going on a scholarship or not. If you are going under a scholarship, and you complete the program, you are more than likely obligated to the military. I believe at some point you don't complete the program, or you change your mind before completing the program, you must pay back all of the tuition to the provider. Always read what you sign. If you are paying your own way, you will not be obligated to the military. Nevertheless, it's a great program; and once you graduate, your parents will be proud of you.
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