Introduction
Joining ROTC and NROTC can be an exciting time. It gives you a clear career path forward which can last a lifetime if you want it. Other people try out the program and decide it’s not for them. While the appeal of a program paying for your entire college is extremely desirable, sometimes individuals join this program for the wrong reason or change their mind about serving in the military.
Others get dropped for reasons that cause lack of trust and confidence and result in negative paperwork, which can even affect their civilian career.
In this article, I’ll share with you the most common reasons people quit ROTC in any branch, how to avoid getting dropped for integrity or illegal reasons, and leave my contact at the end of the article if you have any other questions about my personal experience.
So what happens if you get dropped or quit ROTC?
You’ll be expected to pay back any academic benefits and stipends you received from the government during your time with fixed interest. Sometimes, people have the option to enlist or work a government position for a few years instead of paying back the total amount. You can receive ROTC benefits for your freshmen year and quit before your sophomore year without owing the government anything if you decide to discontinue the program.
Reasons People Quit ROTC
The most common reason for a Drop on Request is because someone doesn’t want to actually serve in the military for personal reasons (not including medical reasons).
The don’t pass Marine OCS or Advanced Camp (Army)
Just because you don’t pass these schools doesn’t mean you get dropped from the whole program. You have an opportunity to come back the summer of your senior year to try again. In almost all cases, people quit before they try again because they don’t want to put the work into it or loose focus.
There’s a lot of ways to not be that guy, check out this article on how not to fail OCS if you’re worried.
Cadets or midshipman get disillusioned with the military.
Some ROTC and NROTC units have toxic leadership and one that’s run by a staff with an ironclad, zero defects mentality approach. Sometimes their peers create a hostile work environment and power trip each other and decide it’s healthier to to continue the next four years without these individuals. My unit had toxic leadership the first two years I was there and it was a real challenge trying to keep my head up. However, most units are really good and provide great training to aspiring officers. Every few years the instructor staff is rotated with another group so bad times won’t last forever. and new leadership can turn around a unit for the better- and often times they do.
Aspiring officers give up on themselves too soon
The program can be extremely demanding and time consuming. Sometimes people are given additional responsibility at the reserve unit as a way to learn leadership and management skills in addition to their major. This can sometimes cause people to give up and be overwhelmed with what they’re expected to do. The best way through this is to keep a good attitude and rely on your peers and help each other get through hard times. It will make you stronger in the end and eventually turn you into a time management master.
Cadets and Midshipman don’t agree with the political climate
Elections are bound to happen throughout the four years of being at a ROTC unit. Some people have strong political opinions and they might disagree with something that’s going on in current events.
What Happens When You Get Dropped From ROTC?
In short you have to pay back the money they gave you. ROTC covers all tuition plus some stipend money to help with personal expenses. Any dollar they gave you will need to be paid back over the course of roughly 10 years. I have a really good friend who got medically dropped from the program because he couldn’t finish OCS for personal reasons. It took them roughly a year to give him the full rundown on how he’ll pay back the semesters he was covered under.
Update: his medical condition released him of paying back two years of tuition.
Below are some of the reasons people get dropped from ROTC programs by their command:
Cadets or Midshipman get dropped from OCS for integrity violations
People have been sent home from summer OCS classes for something as small as sneaking a peanut butter packet into their pocket on the way back from the chow hall or deliberately lied about something a drill instructor challenged them on. Uncompromising character is the standard at OCS and Advanced Camp and they will always find out if someone has been dishonest or cutting corners.
Physical Fitness Test Scores
It’s not hard to maintain a passing fitness test score in any of the branches. You can train pushups, pullups and sit-ups anywhere and anytime. Running is something you just have to be consistent with. Some people never learn the discipline to workout every other day or to work on their physical weaknesses until they run out of chances to remediate a fitness test.
Testing positive on a drug test
Everyone in ROTC is tested randomly throughout the semester for drugs via urinalysis. This includes marijuana, coke, and all kinds of other substances. They will make sure you are well educated on what’s prohibited.
For a list of all prohibited drugs and how drug tests work in ROTC, check out this article.
My unit had one guy pop positive for cocaine three days before he was supposed to graduate and another admitted to smoking weed while in the ROTC program. They both got dropped. If you did drugs before, it’s not the end of the world. Just make sure you don’t do drugs at any point while in the ROTC program and in the military.
Academic Integrity
Every year, cadets and midshipman have to complete annual trainings through a government website. Topics range from Traffic Safety, handling of classified materials, cyber security awareness, and many others. After the course you get a certificate of completion.
We had a guy at our unit get dropped for forging a certificate because he didn’t want to take an hour out of his day and work through the mundane course. He lost his Marine scholarship and isn’t doing anything with his life still to this day.
Getting caught cheating in a university class will also get you dropped because the professor will inform the unit.*
Medical Conditions Arise
Sometimes people get sick, develop conditions, or get badly injured due to outside activity. Depending on the mechanism of injury, you might not have to payback the government for ROTC tuition received. It can be heartbreaking, but sometimes unforeseen health conditions arise that cause you to be separated from service. Not all conditions cause separation, it’s always case by case.
Other Things to Know About Getting Dropped from the program
There will be a small interest attached to whatever you owe the government for anything they paid you for. Sometimes you also have to option to payback the government by enlisting or working a government job for a few years to ride out what would have been your contract.
If your thinking about applying for ROTC in any branch, remember that uncompromising character will always win. Now that you don’t need to stress about getting dropped, take a look on significant ways to stand out when applying for a scholarship.
Conclusion
In short, sometimes people make poor chances and loose a good opportunity while others decide the program isn’t for them. Hopefully you have a better understanding of why this happens and how it works.
Thanks for reading! If you have any other questions or comments, feel free to reach out at theyouculture@gmail.com and I’ll do my best to respond. Stay tuned for the next article.