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NROTC vs Academy predicament

Aeroshell

New Member
Hello,

I have been awarded a NROTC scholarship to Purdue and a USAFA appointment. I have also always seen myself being in the Navy, wearing whites, and flying whatever it is that the Navy needs me to fly (ideal outcome).

However, having been awarded the USAFA appointment, my mind is telling me it is impossible to deny the option to go to a service academy.

I have been talking to pilots from each branch nearly every day. Obviously they all tell me their branch is the best if you want to fly. I understand what the difference is between NROTC and an Academy, and that the Academy will basically own you for four years. I am not really worried about getting a pilot slot in each branch either. In fact, I will be getting an anomaloscope test (CCT comparison for AF pilots) to make sure I will even qualify in case I do choose the USAFA. I also know that the attrition rate for AF pilots is higher.

Part of me says who cares that its an Academy, do what will make you happy in 8 years and join the branch that you have always wanted to: NROTC. But the other part of me says the obvious choice is the Academy as it is so such a limited opportunity.

The most helpful advice I have gotten so far is just "pretend you got AFROTC and NROTC, what would you take, there is your answer, there is no shame in not accepting an appointment" - coming from an AF guy.

By no means am I complaining, this is not at all a bad predicament to have. I'm very fortunate. I just need advice from people who have lived it to make the best decision.
 

Aeroshell

New Member
And to clarify, I would be happy flying at the USAF also. However, I couldn't help but think I would wish I had ended up flying in the Navy. On the other hand, yes, I will have a blast being a leader and flying in the Navy, but I would also think knowing I could have gone to an Academy, I would have experienced something that not many people do.

However, I have also heard many stories about why being an officer in the Navy is better. If I went Air force and didn't get a pilot slot for whatever reason, I would probably end up in a desk job. However, with the Navy, I could look at a number of options that would not involve printing papers in an office all day.

At this point I am just venting, and am curios about what someone with experience would think. I am leaning Navy but maybe I am missing something.

V/R

Aeroshell
 

zippy

Freedom!
pilot
Contributor
That's a though one. Do you have the USAFA congressional nomination as well?

Most pilots slots in the Airforce used to go to USAFA not sure about now.

You'll have a higher chance of being a UAV pilot In the Air Force, but also a much greater chance of flying fixed wing.

You can always go AFR/ANG from active duty Navy if your timing works out for you departing active duty.

All other things see pretty much equal so where do see yourself going to school and enjoying it?

Sounds like you like the idea of USAFA. go, kick ass and enjoy the ride.
 

Uncle Fester

Robot Pimp
None
Super Moderator
Contributor
It's two solid choices there. Paid full rides to two good schools. I was in a similar spot with a ROTC and acceptance to Texas A&M, and a USNA appointment.

My folks wanted me to go to A&M. My dad was USAFA '63 and his advice was essentially, you have the rest of your adult life to be in uniform, but only a few years to be in college, so get some enjoyment out of it.

I took USNA, because it'd always been my dream to go. In retrospect, I should've gone to A&M; I'm a math rock, and I spent four years frantically treading water in all the engineering and hard science classes. Plus I have a lot of family in Texas, including several cousins at A&M at the time, and that would've been nice to have.

I don't know what intrinsic values one school vs the other might have for you, but since you seem stuck between the two, try thinking about stuff like that.

There is always the point that you can walk away from USAFA if it's not for you, any time up til the start of junior year. Worst case, two free years of school. I can tell you from experience, though, that's hard to do. You invest a lot in completing those first two years.

I would also point out that you have a much broader selection of service opportunities by going Navy than Air Force. It's hardly a secret that the AF is made of pilots and pilot support personnel.
 

Pags

N/A
pilot
At the end of the day this is a good problem to have. You have your choice of two really solid options.

One thing that you haven't mentioned but I know was part of my calculus is cost of school. Service academies were attractive because they were "free*."

The other thing to consider is what if pilot doesn't work out? What if your eyes go or something else outside of your control happens? Which provides for the more interesting Plan B. I figured I would have rather been an NFO or driven a boat then done what the AF guys do if pilot hadn't worked out.

Like Fester mentioned another aspect to consider is what kind of "college experience" do you want? Do you want one with lots of pushups, summer obligations, curfews, etc or do you want one a bit more "animal house?" If you're a guy/gal who might benefit from a more guiding hand because you lack self discipline then maybe the Academy is the lowest risk option. If you think you can handle managing your own schedule/priorities then it might be a toss up.

Finally, have you visited both places? Which one do you like more? It could be a simple thing like "I really want to see the USAFA chapel everyday" or "I really liked the Purdue stadium?"

I had a similar predicament back when the earth's crust was still cooling and I ended up going ROTC based on the calculus above. I still ended up flying helos for the Navy. I had a good time in real school.**

*"It's a million dollar education shoved up your ass a nickel at a time"
**real school is subjective. I went to an engineering school so I wasn't exactly surrounded by co-eds and still spent a lot of time doing nerdy work vice streaking through the quad.
 

Aeroshell

New Member
Thanks everyone,

Money should not be an issue either way I go. I have other scholarships that will cover room and board at Purdue. Also, yes, I have two nominations from senators to the USAFA and an appointment. But at the end of the day I almost want to do what I have dreamed of despite how prestigious everyone makes the appointment out to be: flying in the Navy. The only thing that will get me there is NROTC.

I have visited Purdue, but next month I will be going to the AFA to see what its all about. Who knows maybe I will like it and want to end up there.

I don't think I can really make my decision until I see the place. Although, I have talked to the Navy liaison about cross commissioning, but it is something you just have to expect not to happen nowadays.

If I had gotten USNA, I would have gone in a heartbeat. I guess that shows I want an Academy, but I also really want to Fly Navy. But like some people have said, it does not really matter where you went to school if you got to where you wanted to be. Anyway, cant have the best of both worlds.

After I got turned down by USNA I thought it was over for the academies. I really applied to the USAFA because it served as my plan B. However, before I got the AFA, I honestly got chills thinking about putting on those whites and representing the Navy (sounds cheesy). I don't want to base this thing off a uniform, but I guess that shows my love for the Navy.
 
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Pags

N/A
pilot
I honestly got chills thinking about putting on those whites and representing the Navy (sounds cheesy). I don't want to base this thing off a uniform, but I guess that shows my love for the Navy.
I was the same way....before I had to wear the stupid things. The white uniforms are terrible.
 

SynixMan

HKG Based Artificial Excrement Pilot
pilot
Contributor
If I was you, I'd take the Purdue ride and never look back. I went to another engineering school in the Midwest and visited Purdue a few times. Legit college town, lots of fun.
 

SynixMan

HKG Based Artificial Excrement Pilot
pilot
Contributor
It should be emphasized how much fun real college is.

The contortions Academy folks went through to avoid the rules ("secret" in company relationships, party apartments in town, sneaking around the yard) just seemed pointless. I get that a lot of people make that decision at 16/17 to go there, not knowing about the larger world, but you only get college once.

If the OP was debating free USAFA vs student loans and OCS, take the money. In this case, I'd make the choice for maximizing fun while you can.
 

exNavyOffRec

Well-Known Member
Thanks everyone,

Money should not be an issue either way I go. I have other scholarships that will cover room and board at Purdue. Also, yes, I have two nominations from senators to the USAFA and an appointment. But at the end of the day I almost want to do what I have dreamed of despite how prestigious everyone makes the appointment out to be: flying in the Navy. The only thing that will get me there is NROTC.

I have visited Purdue, but next month I will be going to the AFA to see what its all about. Who knows maybe I will like it and want to end up there.

I don't think I can really make my decision until I see the place. Although, I have talked to the Navy liaison about cross commissioning, but it is something you just have to expect not to happen nowadays.

If I had gotten USNA, I would have gone in a heartbeat. I guess that shows I want an Academy, but I also really want to Fly Navy. But like some people have said, it does not really matter where you went to school if you got to where you wanted to be. Anyway, cant have the best of both worlds.

After I got turned down by USNA I thought it was over for the academies. I really applied to the USAFA because it served as my plan B. However, before I got the AFA, I honestly got chills thinking about putting on those whites and representing the Navy (sounds cheesy). I don't want to base this thing off a uniform, but I guess that shows my love for the Navy.

Good friend of mines son went to the USAFA, had a great time, original plan was to graduate and become a pilot and do 20 like his grandfather, he had a great time at USAFA, everytime I saw him he couldn't say enough positive things about it, and he had great grades, fully qualified for pilot on all levels, but then graduation happened, long story short he is not a pilot, he is looking at spending his time in USAF at a desk, now has no plans to stay past his required time.

He wanted to go into the service for a chance to serve his country, travel, have excitement, etc.... and not most of that isn't happening.

Do what is going to give you the best shot at giving you what you want in life.
 

LET73

Well-Known Member
You've got two great options, and you'll need to see the AFA before you can really make a choice about where you want to spend the next four years. That said, it's only four years. It seems like a huge decision now - service academy vs. ROTC - but at the end of that time, you'll have the commission either way, and the importance of your commissioning source tends to fade over time. If you know for sure that you've got your sights set on the Navy, take the ROTC scholarship and don't think twice. If you go with the AFA, make sure that it's because you want to be in the Air Force, and not because you're set on a service academy.

All that's the long-term view. In the short term, real college is way more fun. I thought I wanted to go to USNA, but I ended up going the OCS route, and I think I got a better college experience and better/more life experience along the way.
 

Recovering LSO

Suck Less
pilot
Contributor
You'll have a higher chance of being a UAV pilot In the Air Force.
USAFA has not filled its pilot spots in the last two (maybe more years). They actually have cadets who are asking for UAVs as their first choice. Send a PM for more details.
 

Gatordev

Well-Known Member
pilot
Site Admin
Contributor
At the end of the day, don't make your pick based off of a name/reputation. Whether that's Purdue or USAFA. USAFA will give you a great life experiences and lifelong friends and networking. Purdue will give you great life experiences and potentially a network. Either way, you have lots of options.

Knowing what I know now, I'm glad I chose to go through college through a conventional model, but that doesn't mean I don't value the experience of an Academy.
 

DanMa1156

Is it baseball season yet?
pilot
Contributor
Tough decision man, good luck. In the end, when it came for the debate for me to do Navy vs. Air Force in a similar predicament I had at the end of high school, I may have looked at what I considered the "worst case" scenario for either, say something tragic happens and I got medically disqualified during my time at either place from being a pilot or didn't have the grades or anything... in the Navy, I figured my worst case scenario was they would force me to do Submarines, and I figured to myself I could live with that. In the Air Force, I figured my worst case scenario was the underground bunkers waiting to launch nukes in some real rural places and I decided there was almost no circumstance that I'd be happy with that. I genuinely thought about where I could get stationed in the Navy and was willing to put up with the worst stateside location of either Lemoore or Norfolk and with plenty of better options like San Diego, Whidbey, JAX, Pensacola, etc., whereas I thought the Air Force didn't have that many bases in locations I'd like...

I was right on all of those accounts and love living in San Diego instead of Minot, ND with orders to Pensacola next. Here are the things I was wrong about or otherwise didn't consider:

-The Air Force produces exceptional pilots who focus the early part of their career on being PILOTS. Sometimes I am jealous; other times, especially in Joint exercises, I often feel a sense of pride as I am, as a LT, being sent to the same meetings their mid-level to senior Majors are being sent to.

-The Academy network is pretty nice, sometimes even within the Navy - if for nothing else just to have someone you know everywhere you go. I imagine that other schools have a much more regional network, so Purdue is definitely a good school, but the value of its network may be in the midwest and central plains states more than other places.

-The Air Force has better locations for option overseas - specifically Europe. I imagine most Naval Aviators here would agree that getting to Europe and remaining as flying pilot within the Navy, especially before or even as an O-4 is pretty difficult. I've had 4 Skippers and XOs in my squadron thus far and none have a tour overseas except for Japan yet. The same is true for all but one of my Department Heads (10+ at this time?); only 1 has had a tour in Europe and it was for AFRICOM, so he was constantly in Africa - some places great, some places terrible. There are 2 that did a tour in Guam; the rest all have been stateside the entire time. The one who did go to Europe was 100% convinced he was done flying, but somehow the stars aligned and he was able to continue, but he admits it's not typical.

-I think it's unlikely that had I gone to the Air Force, I would have ended up in the Missile Bunkers in a worst case scenario; they commission their officers in nearly every field you can think of, whereas the Navy is fairly limited in scope on how they commission people from NROTC or USNA (pilot, NFO, SWO, SEAL, EOD, Subs, Marine Corps are pretty much your only options, though they are opening up a few supply, Intel, and Meteorology spots each year more and more, though often only after doing 2 SWO tours). I have AF friends who are now physicists, space researchers, acquisition specialists, etc. - you name it, the AF probably has a job for it.

-For anyone who tells you the rules of flying are so much worse in the Air Force vs. the "freedom" of flying in the Navy (i.e.: the Navy tells you what not to do and the Air Force tells you what you can do) which was a lot of advice given to me, I would take their word with a grain of salt for now... I may be too junior to tell, but flying is fairly regimented and you're not just zorching around doing whatever you want as fast as you want. I can't speak all that much to the culture of flying in the Air Force in this respect, but I think I was a little surprised at just how many rules there are for Navy flying and again, just how regimented it was given those pieces of advice.

-Think about your major or what you want to major in and make sure whatever school you choose has that. There's no wiggle room on this.

More to come later as I think of it.
 
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