Welcome to the Detachment 910 family!
Your student is about to embark on a journey that will be both challenging and rewarding. For parents it can be a bit confusing. To help you understand the process your student will experience over the next 3 to 5 years, we have provided information here that we hope you’ll find helpful. For those of you with a scholarship recipient, please pay particular attention to the last section. We’re excited to have your students join the Rainier Raptor family and to help them along their journeys.
A Day in the Life of Your Cadet
All cadets take their regular, full-time academic load of 12 or more credits. Additionally, cadets take the AFROTC courses appropriate for their cadet level. As an example, a freshman will take A S 101, 102 and 103 during fall, winter and spring terms. Freshman and sophomore courses are 1 credit each term. Junior and Senior courses require a longer weekly time commitment with each course being 3 credits. The first two years of cadet instruction focus on Air Force traditions and basic leadership knowledge and learning one of the very first steps of leadership – how to follow. Once a cadet becomes a junior the focus will shift to hands-on leadership as they take on increasing responsibility for training the lower-level cadets. Full leadership rests in the hands of the seniors as they create leadership plans and implement them. All of this takes place under the careful instruction of our highly knowledgeable and skilled officer advisors.
Cadets are also required to work out as a group twice a week (and encouraged to work out on their own outside those times) and attend Leadership Laboratory (LLAB) once a week. The workouts develop their bodies and LLAB develops their leadership skills. The workout sessions and LLAB are completed prior to 8 a.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays. This makes for very early mornings for your cadets. Cadets have opportunities to engage in extra-curricular activities such as Blue Dragon Honor Guard and two philanthropic organizations, Arnold Air Society and Silver Wings. While we encourage cadets to participate, they are cautioned that academics must come first. They cannot commission if they don’t graduate and meet other AFROTC standards.
The best indicator of success for cadets is solid time management skills. For first-year cadets, it is critically important to their program success that they quickly learn to balance school, AFROTC, extra curricular activities and the myriad other activities that consume their time. While many cadets come to us with a level of success with time management, they are not used to being on their own or the higher-level skills required in university settings. We strongly encourage them to enter slowly into college life as they gain their footing. Again, if they fail to succeed academically, they cannot complete the program.
Important Steps in Your Cadet’s Progress
Paperwork, uniform fittings and creating their peer groups are the very first steps that occur for every cadet. Settling into this new way of life is challenging and one of the most important steps for your cadet’s success. One of the hardest moments for you comes as your cadet is entering college and the AFROTC program. Once your child becomes a cadet and is 18 years old, we are no longer able to discuss your cadet’s progress either academically or in the AFROTC program. We wish we could, but Air Force regulation and federal law known as the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) require that all schools receiving funding under the U.S. Department of Education must maintain student privacy. We suggest that you keep in strong communication with your student.
Every cadet must attend Field Training. Typically, this happens the summer between the sophomore and junior years at Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama. Continuation in the program depends on competition and selection for an Enrollment Allocation, and successful completion of Field Training. Factors that contribute to earning that allocation include GPA, physical fitness test results, medical certification, SAT/ACT or Air Force Officer Qualifying Test (AFOQT) scores, and leadership qualities as observed by the cadre. Having earned a scholarship does not automatically guarantee acceptance into Field Training. Depending on the needs of the Air Force, it is a highly competitive process. All cadets should strive to be well-rounded and meet all requirements.
If your cadet has not yet contracted in freshman or sophomore year with acceptance of an offer of scholarship s/he will do so prior to Field Training. Contracting is the moment when they make a real commitment to an Air Force career. Contracted cadets will be sworn in as Airmen in the Inactive Reserve. Another important moment in a cadet’s junior year is when s/he formally decides which career opportunities to pursue. The Personnel Selection Process (PSP) starts in winter term with forms listing their top choices and ends with the selections announced in spring term. Many cadets do not receive their first choice but, if they are open to the possibilities and adventures, the career field they are given can open avenues they never even dreamed of.
Finally comes senior year. By this point the nervous, uncertain young cadets have stepped up to become strong Air Force officers, ready to lead from day one. Spring term comes and senioritis sets in. They learn where their first duty station will be, and they count down the days. Commissioning happens within days of the cadets’ final grades posting, verifying they have met all graduation requirements. At the Commissioning ceremony they swear their oath of office, pin on their gold bars and 3 to 5 hard years of learning and planning become reality. We promise you that this will be one of the proudest moments of your life.
Academic Standards
Your cadet must maintain academic standards to continue to receive scholarship funding. This means maintaining a minimum term and cumulative GPA of 2.5, passing A S class with at least a 2.0 term GPA and s/he must be registered for 12 credits a term. Failure to maintain standards will result in suspension and may, ultimately, require termination of the scholarship.
When to Pay
Unless otherwise directed by his/her AFROTC advisor or the Program Coordinator, do NOT pay the AFROTC portion of your cadet’s tuition. If s/he is attending a school requiring payment at time of registration, your cadet should contact lharring@uw.edu at least 1 month prior to registration to initiate payment by AFROTC. Please DO pay tuition in excess of your cadet’s scholarship cap. Fall term cannot be paid prior to the 45th day of the term per AF regulation. Please ignore all notices from the UW that you and your cadet will assuredly receive.
What Scholarship Will Cover
Scholarship funds are used for tuition and tuition-related expenses and are paid directly to the cadet’s educational institution. If funds are available; lab fees, mandatory fees (like bus pass at UW), etc. may be paid. Federal law prohibits duplication of federal aid. Cadets receiving federal sources of aid, such as the Pell Grant, will have those sources applied first. It is a regulation that AFROTC scholarship funds pay last when multiple federal funding sources are available to the cadet. If you plan on using VA benefits to offset college attendance costs, please email lharring@uw.edu. All scholarship recipients should notify their financial aid office about their scholarship status
What Scholarship Will NOT Cover
Scholarship funds may not exceed the cap for the type of scholarship offered. Funds are never allowed for non-mandatory fees such as club fees. Late fees are not covered. Scholarship funds will not pay for repeat courses. UW students must maintain a minimum of 10 new credits per term for scholarship as tuition is a flat rate for 10 – 18 credits. All other cadets must maintain 12 new credits per term. A repeat course that causes the term enrollment to exceed 18 credits will be the responsibility of the cadet.
Textbook payments are made via direct deposit on a quarterly basis after academic standing is verified. No receipts necessary and they do not wait to buy their books. Scholarship suspensions also mean loss of textbook funding.
All contract cadets receive a stipend at a rate established by HQ twice monthly. Contracted freshmen and sophomores do not receive stipend between end of spring and start of fall terms. Contracted juniors and seniors receive ongoing stipend from either fall term of junior year or contract date (whichever comes later) through 600 days. This often results in the stipend ending prior to their commissioning date, usually in late May of the commissioning year.
Freshmen and sophomore cadets who are suspended will not receive stipend for the term of suspension. Junior and senior cadets continue to receive stipend whether or not they have an active scholarship.