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Air Force Help Please, kinda long story :)
Hello! So heres the story my husband attended St.Louis University & was in ROTC. Well in his last semester in college he was disenrolled due to grades (sucks!). Anyway after he graduated in December 2010 he went to basic training in Feburary & then graduated. So now today, he is an enlisted A1C in the military. His contract ends in Feburary & our #1 goal has been to get him into OTS. Well we've heard that it's easier to get into OTS as a civilian so were considering getting out of the AF and applying to OTS. What is the better option, stay in and apply or get out and apply? If we get out of the military will he be allowed to enlist again? If he is will he pick up where he left off? Help please! 
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Re: Air Force Help Please, kinda long story :)
I agree with Stan. With the failure to adapt in college getting him booted from ROTC, getting out and trying to go OTC isn't the greatest idea if being in the AF is what he wants. He needs to focus on being a great A1C and then move from there.
As a former enlisted person, I can tell you my best officers came from the enlisted ranks. They worked their way up, furthered their educations and then became officers. They understand how the enlisted ranks work and the issues enlisted people face.
Honestly, it sounds to me that you are pushing more for the officer thing than he is. If he really wanted it that badly, he would have worked for it in school in the first place.
I slightly disagree with the other posts. In my opinion, If that was his initial goal, to go Officer out of ROTC, and he still wants to do it, then he should. I think his grades was a minor set-back and he defintely should not give up, just learn from it, and do better.
I've dealt with the process and being enlisted, I can tell you going from the inside is actually better. Since they are trying to limit the amount of people go officer due to "oversized amounts" its just easier for them to look at someone who is already an Airman and knows a bit more about being in the military vs. a civillian. I am getting out to complete ROTC then commission, but I wouldn't reccommend that route since he was disenrolled before. No need to go through any bad recommendations if you could avoid it.
To answer your other question if you get out, no you cannot enlist again. The military is way too full, and if everyone could do that, they'd jump on it. The only option is to do what I stated, get out, go to an ROTC program and come back commissioned, just remember that might put him in bit of a grundge. Hope I helped
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I couldn't have said it better !
I'm sure she said "our #1 goal" because they're married and made that decision together. She probably does live with her husband, so they've obviously talked about it and maybe he expressed that it was his #1 goal and if she supports him, which she clearly does then it's HER #1 goal as well. Clearly his grades weren't good at the time. Ever heard of "if at first you don't succeed, try, try again?"
Most definitely, she probably used the "WE" comment because it was a family decision. I don't think he should base his future on mistakes he made... I mean it was college, people make mistakes in college, he might have his ducks in a row now..
So are they going to be "OUR DEPLOYMENTS" too? No. You're not in the military, so you can't get out of it. My husband doesn't talk about my job like it's his, nor vice versa.
I think enlisted to commissioned can be and often are the best officers. But being an officer is not the end all be all. I don't have an issue with him trying for it, but I don't like when I get the impression that people aren't doing it for the right reasons. Some of the wrong reasons include: "I have a degree so I should be an officer!", "The pay is better!", "My wife REALLY wants me to be an O", etc. Officers should be servant leaders, their men should always, always come first.
Your E3 H is an awesome leader, huh? Guaranteed his package would be a million times stronger if her waited to apply after he made SSgt. Not only is that a rank with actual leadership responsibilities, but it's a rank one has to earn, not one that comes with TIS. Look, his grades were bad enough that he lost his chance to commission. The people who look at O packages care more about GPA than a whole lot of things. Some actual leadership experience may counteract the bias against him that will come with his GPA.
And you say you're married? What's with the ticker then? And your profile says you're getting married in October?
BY GOD ! whats with the third degree????? this turned from her asking a simple question to "our deployments" "say you're married? Whats with the profile?" Jesus Christ, maybe it is a question for a PLANNED marriage....original poster, I`m sorry. I know you said this is your first post, but I don't want you to feel bullied. Believe me. The rest of us "Nesties" Are not that uptight. Like I said before, tell him there is absolutely NOTHING wrong with submitting an OTS package. If he gets it, he gets it. If he doesn't he does not. Do what is best for YOUR family. Yes I said YOUR
xoxo
I'm harsh because her husband/fiance wants to be a leader, and with that comes responsibilities for other people, people who also have families.
Clicking on her profile makes me evil?
You've got 8 posts. I would say that yes, this is often how Nesties are.
His package will be stronger with real leadership experience. In the Air Force, that means E5 and above. Not E3. Sorry. So really, your advice is far less useful than mine, because if he submits now, with a weak package, he's unlikely to get selected. So he'll have the failure to adapt in college situation, plus a non select for OTS. That will make his overall future attempts even weaker. So you're giving her bad advice in order to call me a bully. I'd rather give good advice than be nice all the time. Sometimes I do both. But when someone needs a wake up call because they can't see past what they want, tough love is necessary.
Stan is right. His packet is far more likely to go through after a few more years of actual leadership. Right now, all they have to look at is his college time and very little time in service. It's not going to do much for him. What he needs to do is further his education, go to anything and everything the AF will send him to, get more time in service under his belt and spend some actual time in leadership. More often than not, my best officers were NCOs before they were Os.
You really have to look at the over all picture and not what's right in front of you. What is better down the road? Like Stan said, he's not likely to be selected for OTS right now given his college situation and his limited time in service. If he isn't, it does nothing but hurt his future. He needs to beef up his stats and prove he can be a good leader first. His packet as an E3 is nothing. Building it up and and sending it in as an E5 will look much better.
Yeah. I personally liked the parts where she said, "Like Stan said..." and "I agree with Stan."
It's the exact same advice that Stan gave.
No where in my post did I say I was a professional NESTIE. Excuse me for not being able to have over 12,000 posts....HOWEVER, someone who has 630 posts agreed with me as well. So for you to say every one's opinion except your opinion is "far less useful." Okay...I guess being as I've done the process I felt I had a little bit of insight that meant SOMETHING. I am not going to argue over who to listen to, advice is given and you take whomeever you choose, I just didnt like the whole
"And you say you're married? What's with the ticker then? And your profile says you're getting married in October?"
We're a part of the USAF and we think it's the right advice.
OP tell your H to go for it!!!
So you're part of the officer selections board? Because I have dealt with those, more than once, and I promise that his application as an A1C, with a failure to adapt to ROTC in college, is not a strong application. You have to apply with the best possible package you can. In this case, that's a post testing rank, not a TIS rank. It's an application post a little experience as a SSgt.
You people don't have to like me. I very genuinely could not possibly care less if you do. But you're giving bad advice because you want to be right next to the mean poster, and in the end, that hurts her and her H more than my not saccharine delivery of correct advice.
No, I`m sorry, you must have read wrong. I think she just said we are USAF not that we were particularly on the board.....
And you just keep calling it BAD advice, which is the only reason I am even entertaining it furthermore.. All I am stating is what I have been through MYSELF. I also asked my OIC how he felt about the situation and he agreed with me, so I felt it was not BAD advice you just have a different opinion. which is fine. Because everyone is entitled to their opinion.
And to reiterate "WE PEOPLE" do not have to like you, you are right. And no where in our post did we state our personal opinions about you or your lifestyle on here so lets not open up another can of worms ;-)
What can of worms would you be referring to?
I would like to know how him not waiting is the best idea. Beefing up his packet should be his first priority. You don't jump off a boat in the middle of the ocean with out making sure you have a life vest and proper gear. Why in the world would you put in a packet with out making sure it's the best one you can put it? It's irresponsible to give any advice other than that. Any good leader would recognize that.
Yes, I am apart of the officer's selection board and that is how I know more than you.
Huh. That's an interesting detail to leave until the end. So you gave her no advice on the fact that "your" board only selected 47 active duty Airmen for OTS on the September board. That's 47 of 398 overall accepted to OTS. I don't know offhand how many Airmen applied, because I'm not on the board. But 47 AD Airmen of 398 accepted applicants is 11.8%. Of those 47, 6 were A1Cs. 12.7% of the active members selected. 25 of the 47 were SSgts. 53% of the selected active members. Techs were 7 of those 47. So together, NCOs made up 32/47 active member selections. 68% of the active members selected were NCOs. With how competitive selection is, I think those 6 A1Cs were likely really stellar Airmen. Not people with failures in college to meet the standards set by ROTC. The board takes into account academic discipline. Just a little more math because math skills are important as an AF officer, 1.5% of the 398 selected for OCS on the September announced board were A1Cs.
And since you just posted on MF (I read and respond over there as well) on TB about living in VA, I'm really curious about your commute to HQ AFRS at Randolph. And I didn't realize I was talking to a senior Air Force officer, since that's who reviews and makes the decisions on OTS applications. My apologies Colonel.
My husband is ADAF. He's sewing on SSgt here soon. He is coming up on a year left in his contract of 6 years and we're looking at all possible options for his future career.
I have to agree in a way with Stan and Tx. It's a very very competitive area in the AF and there are a TON of VERY qualified Airmen that are hopefuls for being selected. Now, your husband can work on his packet and provide all given information he can as to show how he would be qualified. But, he is just an A1C. His chances are very low. I think the biggest thing would be that as an individual and a couple, your emotions will be pretty set on making the cut and if/when he doesn't make it, it would really damper your moods/feelings on the entire matter.
Whereas, if you waited a few more years and took these few years for him to really make his packet look phenomenal, then your chances of being selected are much much higher. Could he be selected this time around? Perhaps. But very unlikely.
It would be the off chance that they didn't have many applicants or anyone with great proof to show their leadership. But if he had an outstanding packet, it would prove to the AF that they not only want him, but need him.
There's nothing wrong with waiting. It can build strength together in your relationship, it will better prepare him to be an officer, and better Airman/leader.
I'm not telling you what you can/can't do. It's just my opinion.
It's rough. My BIL crossed from enlisted to officer and he had an incredible GPA, several years in as an enlisted member and really worked hard to make him qualified. I've had several conversations with my husband in the past 3 1/2 years about him putting in for Officer. He personally, at least in the past, hasn't had the confidence in making it BECAUSE it's so competitive. Now that he's older, has worked really hard on his schooling and is a supervisor for his flight, he has more confidence and would probably feel better about applying. (If he chooses to go that route.)
I wish you guys the best of luck with making your decisions and hope it all works out.
Just know that Stan and Tx are only trying to help. I've been around this board for a while, and especially when it was more active. I know them both pretty well. No need to take offense.
Again, good luck!
ETA: Also, I want to make a point that none of us, in any way are bashing on you or your husband in saying that "He's just an A1C, he didn't finish ROTC" etc. It's just simple facts that because becoming an officer is so competitive, those points just wouldn't help him perse. And could possibly make those on the board look past his packet quickly. I don't know, because I'm civilian. But I do know how competitive it all is.