Originally Posted by Adlerdriver

My daughter is where you are and is considering AFROTC. My wife and I both got our commissions via AFROTC.

A big question is are you looking for a way to pay for college. If that’s the case, AFROTC is a great option if you can earn a scholarship. It also gives you a way to immediately begin working towards a commission in the USAF. Yes, you will be going on active duty. As much as you hear complaining, much of that is being done by older pilots who are deciding to leave or stay on active duty after more than 10 years of service. Your first 10 years or so in the USAF, flying as a pilot are a pretty good way to spend your twenties. With the ROTC path, there’s also no guarantee you’ll be able to get a pilot slot. There’s more of them available then there will be at one specific ANG unit, so your chances are probably going to be increased. But, you do run the risk of graduating college, being commissioned in the active duty AF and not on your way to pilot training. I flew with guys who did their first 3-year assignment on active duty as a non-pilot and then managed to get selected for pilot training at that point. So, there are some chances even if things don’t work the way you want while you’re in ROTC. There just aren’t a lot of guarantees when it comes to starting down the road to earning a set pf pilot wings. If you really want a shot at them badly enough, you’ll cast the widest net possible, which may mean taking a chance via ROTC.

There is no AFROTC equivalent program for the ANG. You can’t join a unit as a 19-year old high school graduate and start attending college working toward a 4-year degree on their dime while also working toward receiving a commission as an officer. Someone wanting to join the unit as an officer and go to pilot training is typically going to show up after college with their degree already. The benefit there is, they either get selected for exactly what they want (officer training followed by pilot training) or they don’t. There’s no risk of getting stuck on a path you don’t want.

Another ANG option is you can enlist in the unit straight out of high school, go to basic training and tech school for your specialty and receive education benefits, but that doesn’t guarantee you’ll become an officer or a pilot. At some point, with your foot in the door at that guard unit, you would need to make your desires known and hope to be selected 1) to go to officer training and 2) to get a pilot slot. It may come down to bad timing or perhaps someone above you decides you’re aren’t what they want or you simply get beat out for the few slots available by someone more qualified. The bottom line is, it’s possible you could end up as a ~22-23-year-old enlisted troop in your guard unit and not a newly commissioned officer on their way to pilot training. Not necessarily a bad thing, but maybe not where you really want to be.

An important factor in this discussion is the timeline for going AFROTC and going ANG don’t really overlap. If you decide you want to get your degree as a civilian and only focus on the ANG, you are pretty much ruling out any chance at ROTC or active duty flying. That’s because your application window to begin applying for a ROTC scholarship opens this June 1st. If you want to give ROTC a shot, that’s going to happen long before you ever get the chance to show up at an ANG unit (or units) with your degree in hand and begin competing for one of their officer/pilot training slots. ANG can also be an option far into the future if you decide to leave active duty. Many of us here took that route.

My suggestion is you focus your energy on the ROTC path for now. Doing that will not deny you the option to choose ANG later (assuming to you don't go ROTC) after you’ve graduated from college if you really decide that’s only path you want to consider. When it’s spring of your senior year of high school, you may be looking at the option to accept either a full ROTC scholarship or some other college path that doesn’t involve the military at that point. Remember that accepting a ROTC scholarship after you graduate high school doesn’t commit you at that point. You can still opt out after your freshman year of collage if you decide that’s not the way you want to go. Give yourself as many options as you can and don’t burn any bridges until it’s absolutely necessary.