What are the differences between joining the military through the ROTC and through a recruitment center?

What is the process to receive benefits while in or after leaving the military? How long does it take to receive benefits and how much does one receive?

“When you go through ROTC, it is setting you up to become a commissioned officer in the United States Air Force,” said Capt. Allison Chisholm, the unit of admissions officer for A&T’s Air Force ROTC. “When you go to a recruitment offices, those people are trained in enlisting people.”

Chisholm said that students who plan to commit to the Air Force take ROTC each semester from their freshman year. At the end of their sophomore years they go to field training, a four-week camp that trains the students to lead. Field Camp is formatted to show their strengths and weaknesses.

After graduating, students go to train for their specialties, Chisholm said, she went that route. She was a ROTC student; in her training she became a finance officer. She said she went away for three months to Texas to learn finance the Air Force way. Chisholm said throughout one’s career and for different ranks one will go through additional training for their specified job.

“The ROTC makes you a very marketable person,” Chisholm said. “There is monetarily wise a pay difference of about $1,500 from enlisted people and officers.” “All fortune 500 companies know that you (have) the discipline and you have the professionalism and they know that you have been through different types of training. They know you are a leader, so it’s very marketable in the outside world.”

Chisholm graduated in 1998 from A&T with a bachelor of science in business and economics. She is married and has two children, she said, the Air Force has been very beneficial because of the medical benefits received. Aside from her degree at this university she has a master’s from Troy State University.

Chisholm has been in the Air Force for nine years. Her father was in the Army and came in an enlisted man then became an officer; she said she has great respect for enlisted service members.

Was ROTC the right choice for her? “It was the right choice and I didn’t believe it would be the right choice but I enjoy the people the camaraderie of being on active duty and the responsibility placed on you,” Chisholm said.

Capt. Paul Croom is the Public Affairs officer for the 4th Marine Corps District which includes Delaware, Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, Ohio, Maryland, Eastern Tennessee, Kentucky, Detroit, M.I., and Washington D.C. When asked about benefits of going through the ROTC he said, “If you were to apply and be accepted to receive the ROTC scholarship that would cover or pay for all of your undergraduate degree.”

“If you were a sophomore in college and went to your local selection office and said you want to become a Marine officer they would point you towards the platoon leader course where you would do six weeks of officer candidate school between your sophomore and junior year and six weeks between your junior and senior year. Then if you successfully complete both of those training regimes when you graduate college you are eligible to accept your commitment as a 2Lt. in the U.S. Marine Corps,” Croom said.

In this program, the student has no commitment to the military but has the option to join. They also receive payment for their time in the officer candidate school. He wouldn’t release a figure but said it was a couple thousand dollars.

Croom continued to talk about the advantages of joining the military through the ROTC and some of their better opportunities. Croom said, the Navy ROTC program which is a Department of the Navy fund, offers scholarships to people which covers full tuition at one of their listed colleges or universities, all colleges/university educational fees (Tuition, room, board, athletic fee, etc.), a stipend for text books, they provide all uniforms and provide a substance allowance for each academic month.

Through this program there is an eight-year commitment, four of which have to be on active duty, he said. The commitment also depends on how you enlist or accept commission.

Croom said if one signs up for the GI Bill they put in $1,200 and get back $26,000 and if one puts in an additional $600 they receive a total of $30,000. They also receive tuition reimbursement while in the military and afterwards they are still eligible for the GI Bill. He said the GI Bill is a great investment that some people don’t even take advantage of.

Croom, 30, has been in the military for seven years. He spent two years enlisted and the past five years as an officer. He graduated from the University of Colorado at Boulder with a Bachelor’s in Mass Communications. He said he grew up a military brat and is now stationed in Cumberland, Penn.

Sarah “Penny” Torrence is the VA Certifying Officer at A&T. She said that to apply for benefits, one must bring in their certificate of eligibility, which is paperwork that is done at the district office in Decatur, Ga.

They are then asked for proof of a major, letter of acceptance and any transfer credits from other colleges. Once she has this, she puts the information into the system that certifying officials use. She then said the forms that one fills out to receive benefits differ depending on ones status; veteran or active duty, reservist, or dependents.

Torrence said after the paperwork is submitted it takes about 45 days to receive benefits. Torrence said veterans have up to 10 years from the day that they leave the military to use benefits, 36 months of the GI Bill. Dependents receive 48 months of benefits.

With benefits, some service people are entitled to “kickers” for signing on for additional years, she also noted the tuition assistance programs.

“Kickers add more money to amount that your given, one could receive $300 when there stipend $1,300 so they would get $1,600,” said Torrence.

Kickers can be offered to active duty, reservist and National Guard, for going above and beyond service requirements.Leroy Mikell III, a junior print major and the A&T Register’s photo editor from Columbia, S.C., said he had no complications applying for his benefits, “You sign up for the GI Bill your first day. You fill out an eight-page form and send it in.”

Mikell said he got to leave the Army a few months early so that he could attend school on time.

He said “all commitments; two, four and six years are a full eight-year commitment.” He is now a civilian who the Army can call back if needed for the next 17 months.

Jimmy Cobler, 1st Sgt. (Retired), a senior at A&T from Martinsville, Va. said he took a different route to completing his degree. “I was full time in the Army so I took classes when I could, one or two at a time depending on where I was stationed.”

Cobler took advantage of the tuition assistance and the military paid for his classes through the years. When he came to A&T he took advantage of The American Council on Education College Credit Recommendation Service (CREDIT), an agreement that turns service experience into college credit.

The program works with universities and applies what one does in the military to skill they would learn in the classroom.

Cobler is now receiving the MGIB for retired veterans and is not receiving any scholarships from the military, but he said that from all the year of taking courses and with the credit he entered A&T as a senior and is graduating in May. Cobler is planning to continue his education and go grad school on his remaining GI Bill.

Cobler also spoke about EArmyU, an online correspondent course program. The military provides a laptop computer and the materials for taking the course to active-duty, personnel.

Cobler is a 21-year veteran; he is married with two children and is an active member at his church Integrity Community Church in Burlington, NC. He was previously a student at Patrick Henry Community College, City college of Chicago and Northwestern State University in Natchitoches, La.Was the military was the right choice for him? “Absolutely,” Cobler said.

“I think it’s the right choice for any young American, it gave me the skills necessary to be successful in whatever I chose to do and I would recommend it to anybody.”

The military can be a great choice with the proper research. This is a commitment-based world. Every commitment is eight years with a minimum active duty time of two years, after active duty status that time the military can call you back to duty for the rest of your commitment.

If one is unsure about what they wish to do in life, the ROTC can be a guiding force allowing one to find you, like Capt. Chisholm did.

If you cannot commit to anything then the Military may not be for you, but it may inspire you to commit.

Everyone is different and come to their conclusions differently there are infinite opportunities in this world and Aggies the choices you make are your own.

• Marvin Powell