Hello again, I am sure many students at one point or another have considered entering a branch of the military in order to help pay for educational costs. Reserve Officer Training Corps is certainly an excellent way to gain a degree and a career as an officer in a branch of the military services. ROTC is available on most campuses nationwide, not every campus will have every branch so you must choose a University depending on the branch you would like to enter.

Embry Riddle has two full ROTC detachments as well asan additional training program. These are Air Force ROTC, Army ROTC, and the Marine training called Platoon Leaders. Each of these programs can prepare you to follow a career in a military service and get you financial aid that will help you earn a degree. As some of our readers might know I am a sophomore cadet in the Air Force ROTC program.

Air Force ROTC

Competition for scholarships in Air Force ROTC can be difficult as a scholarship requires a good Physical Fitness score, a positive medical evaluation, a demonstration of leadership abilities through extracurricular activities and positions as well as letters of recommendation and at least a 3.0 GPA in high school. Other tests such as the SAT, ACT, AFOQT (Air Force Officer Qualifying Test) are taken into account when a student is being considered for a scholarship.

Army ROTC

There are two scholarships available, each can vary in type and the amount awarded.

The first one is the in high school scholarship which is awarded to a graduating high school senior who intends to enter ROTC at the University of their chose and the second is an in college scholarship that is awarded to cadets who have continually displayed outstanding performance in their time as a cadet. If you are interested in joining Air Force ROTC straight out of high school I highly recommend applying for the high school scholarship during the fall semester of your Senior year. This is actually how I was awarded my scholarship, it can be a lot of work but, the scholarship is an enormous help if you are attending a four year university.

Platoon Leaders

Whatever you chose to pursue in the future I wish you great luck but, if you are interested in one of the programs I discussed I would be happy to answer any questions you might have, so please comment!

Also check out the Embry Riddle Prescott campus website for more information on each program. Thank you!!!