I just finished my freshman year at a top engineering school. I am considering leaving ROTC to hopefully go Guard/Reserves and if that doesn't work out then try getting a slot through OTS.

I would rather fly for the military "part-time" and work a normal civilian job. I also like the Guard because I can apply for a pilot slot at squadrons that fly the airframes that I want (fighters.. ) I would also apply to OTS just in case I don't get picked up by a guard or reserve unit.

Here's some stats:

GPA: 3.54 in Computer Science Engineering
PCSM: Haven't taken TBAS
AFOQT: P 99, N 99, Q 99, V 45, AA 85
Flight hours: 70 w/PPL; gonna start instrument soon
PFT: 100's on all

I have quite a few ECs from high school, such as three sport athlete for 4 years. Trying out as a walk-on for football team this year. Many leadership positions. I will also be working at an FBO 20+ hours a week to pay for school since I will be losing my Type I scholarship, and it will help get me a deal on flying time. I am also pledging a frat in the fall.

I just feel by leaving ROTC to go Guard, it will affect me negatively. I have yet to talk about my cadre about this but I feel if I explain what my end goal is they will be more understanding on my form DD785.

Am I really hurting myself by leaving ROTC to go Guard? I want to fly fighters (yes officer first, I know), but I feel by going active duty a lot is up in the air right now (UAV's, not getting a slot at all and then serving non-rated, etc..).

Definitely go guard if you can.  I was in the exact same position as you 6 years ago.  I was scholarship freshman year but got out cause I wasn't exactly sure if I wanted to stick with a technical degree (ended up with a CE degree anyway) and cause I didn't like ROTC (a few reasons, but mainly I wasn't excited about playing AF for 4-5 years and then not knowing what I'd actually end up doing).  I decided I wanted to do a real job in the AF while going through college (this is my own humble opinion, I know a lot of guys who really enjoyed ROTC and I couldn't be happier for them).  Plus, if I'm lucky enough to make in into the officer corps, I'll have some prior enlisted experience that I'm hoping would make me a better leader.

I joined the local Guard unit as a jet mech and have enjoyed doing some real mission work on the weekends and in the summer while going to college.  Most of college will still be paid for (I actually worked it out one day and for the hours I worked in a given year I was earning well over $50/hr with all the benefits and such).  Now, I'm nearing the end of my enlistment, I've had some great opportunites to see some cool stuff, go some cool places, do some real work, live a regular college life (mostly), and get some good face time with the guys who make the selections when it comes to apply to be a pilot (which I just got selected to be!).  Sounds like it'd be a good fit for you, too, wanting to fly part time with a civilian life on the side.  A lot of guys actually make it work just flying part time (Guard bumming).

If you think you're serious about doing it, give the recruiter a call, visit the unit, and get a tour of the place.  Talk with some of the guys in the AFSCs you think would be fun (I had no mechanical background and had decided I wanted to learn how to work with tools, so maintenance was a good fit for me), and get a feel for what you'd be doing, then go from there.

Let me know if you have any other questions/concerns.  It was a tough decision for me to make cause I wasn't sure if I was ruining my chances by quitting ROTC, but I don't think anyone is going to look down on you if you quit so you can enlist with the hopes of still becoming an officer some day.

Good luck!

Hacker brings up some really good points and may have a better perspective than I do.  The guard isn't the silver bullet for everyone.  It has its share of drawbacks.

You're on the right track though.  Get both sides of the story.  Keep talking to folks and make sure it fits you (both enlisted and commissioned).  Definitely swing by the unit and talk to some of the pilots.  I waited way too long to make it over to ops to get to know some of those guys cause I thought they'd bite my head off.  They're regular guys who were at one point in time in your shoes.

Posted By Joshrk22 on 10 Jul 2009 05:14 AM
I'm gonna' make one last effort to talk to my cadre about going through ROTC and commissioning into the Guard.

I know for a fact you cannot commission from ROTC into the guard.  Once you sign your sophmore enlistment and esspecially after you sign it after F.T. and again if and when you get an ROTC pilot slot you are on Active Duty's books and AFPC won't let you go. I know a guy who was bored and pissed about the year and a half wait between commissioning out of ROTC and starting UPT that he started rushing guard units (after he found out about them).  He got hired by the Mass F-15 unit and had approval from their commander and his old AFROTC commander to transfer his commission to the guard and attend UPT with an F-15 follow on and AFPC told him no way.  They aren't even letting AD folks palace chase until their entire Active Duty Service Commitment (ADSC) is up which is Ten years after training so almost 13 by the time you count a year and half wait for UPT and a little over a year for UPT.