I'm trying to research this for my brother. He is currently a freshman in college. I know you take the classes at the University, but what is the typical enlistment time after he finishes school?

it's not an enlistment.  you have an 8 year obligation upon commissioning, and at this point, it is your choice for AD, Guard, or Reserve or some combination thereof.  That is subject to change.  Also, based on his grades, PT, and evaluations, that will determine how he gets ranked among rotc cadets nationwide which will determine how likely he is to get selected for the particular branch within the Army that he wants.  He submits a wish list of branches and duty stations sometime during the fall of his fourth year.

it's not enlistment; it's commissioned service.  8year commitment in the Reserves, but if you get active duty then it is 4 years active and 4 reserve.

Note that several hundred captains in the Individual Ready Reserve (i.e., marking time til 8 years are up, not drilling at unit) whose 8 years end in May just got orders to mobilize and deploy overseas for a year.

You also don't get to pick your branch.  You can make a wishlist, but needs of the Army rule.

join the guard

So it is 8 years of commissioned service in the reserve after he is finished w/ school? Would they pay for his school? Forgive my ignorance.

Not sure how the Army system works, but I'm just finishing the Air Force version.

AFROTC is designed to be a 4 year course, though you can do 3 year and for high demand majors, 2 years.

Your first two years are a learning phase.  You learn things like military structure, drill, uniform wear, ect. You are preparing for Field Training which comes between your sophmore and junior year.

FT is similar to basic training with a few key differences: at BT you are expected to know nothing, and are taught what you need to know.  At ROTC FT, you are expected to know everything you should know BEFORE you show up.  FT is more of test of your leadership and followership skills rather than an indoctrination exercise.  I had a few prior enlisted guys in my flight at FT, including an Army guy, and they all said that ROTC FT was much harder than basic training because of the level of mental stress they put on you and still expect you to perform.

Your junior and senior years you are the leader of the cadet corps.  The cadet corps is organized like an active duty AF wing, and the juniors and seniors fill the leadership positions in that wing.

Throughout ROTC you also have an academic class.  Freshman and Sophmore year the class meets once a week and you get 1 credit hour for it.  Junior and Senior year the class meets twice a week and you get 3 hours for it.  Classes vary by the year: Freshman year is about AF organization and function, Sophmore year is about AF and aviation history, Junior year is administration and managment, and Senior year is National Security Affairs and Prep for Active duty.

Finally, you have 2 hours per week of PT that is required.

The spring of your junior year is when you generally find out what job you will have once you commission.  95% of cadets commission and go on active duty.  You would only go reserve if you were defering service to go to med school/law school.  Your job selection is based on how you are rated in ROTC.  You incur an 8 year service commitment after ROTC.  You serve 4 years on active duty and 4 years on the reserves.  The exception to this is if you are going to be a Pilot or Combat Systems Officer (used to be called Navigators)  Pilots have a 10 year commitment after training and CSO's have a 6 year commitment after training.  Both Pilot and CSO schools last a year, so do the math.

DO NOT DO ROTC AND EXPECT TO COMMISSION INTO THE RESERVE!!! UNLESS THE AIR FORCE DOES NOT NEED YOU, YOU WILL GO ON ACTIVE DUTY AFTER GRADUATION!!!

As I said, I am just finishing up ROTC and will commission in May.  I can honestly say that I have learned more in ROTC than I have anywhere else for my entire life.

If you have more questions, ask me or check out my detachment's webpage here or contact the detachment at 305-284-2870.  You can get general info about the program that will apply to all det's.

Thank you, USAF HNP - good info. I am going to encourage my brother to seriously look into this. He has had some problems with self-discipline, and I honestly think this option would work well for him.

USAF, did you get a scholarship?

Google is your friend....

Army ROTC

In med school it was year for year unless is was less then 4 years.  Then you owed them 3 regardless of how many years you got from them.

BTT

and yes, I was on a scholarship comming out of HS.

ROTC will teach self discipline to a degree, but at the same time, it is a lot easier to be shown the door for a bad attitude too.  It's not like basic training.  You are free to leave the whole first year, scholarship or not, and at the same time, ROTC reserves the right to give you The Boot for being a dickhead any time during your cadet career.  In fact, there is a guy in our commissioning class who is supposed to be commissioning in May, who is going to get kicked out for a bad attitude coupled with senioritis.

(and for those who don't know, I am the member formerly known as USAF_Hop_N_Pop)

Army ROTC is a 3 phase program to commission officers for the US Army, National Guard and the Army Reserve. The first phase is the college program now called Basic Officer Leadership Course I (BOLC I ). After graduation and commissioning, the officers then go to BOLC II which is immersion training in the new Warrior Tasks designed to get a new LT ready for deployment to a combat zone. Then they go to BOLC III, Officer Basic Course (OBC), which is training in their cosen career field. After all that, they get to their first duty assignment.

There is now required commitment until the first day of classes their Junior year which is the the start of the advanced ROTC class. Then they must agree to join the Army, Guard or Reserve upon commissioning and sign a contract to that affect. All ROTC scholarship recipients are required to contract in order to accept the scholarship even as freshman.

There is alot more info to cover. Anything else in particular you want to know please email me. I am a Senior Military Science Instructor at Minnesota State University, Mankato.