FAQs

For Parents

For High School Students

For College Students

Active Duty

A person who is active duty is in the military full time. They work for the military full time, may live on a military base, and can be deployed at any time. Persons in the Reserve or National Guard are not full-time active duty military personnel, although they can be deployed at any time should the need arise.

The Reserve

The purpose of the Reserve is to provide and maintain trained units and qualified persons to be available for active duty in the Armed Forces when needed. This may be in times of war, in a national emergency, or as the need occurs based on threats to national security. Their presence can be called upon to serve either stateside or overseas. The primary job of the Reserve is to fill the gaps in stateside service positions when the active duty forces ship overseas. Members of the Reserve are required to participate in training drills one weekend a month and two weeks per year.

National Guard

While federally funded, the National Guard is organized and controlled by state. However, in times of war, the National Guard can become federalized and deployed. The National Guard engages in a number of activities. During local emergencies, National Guard units assist communities endangered by storms, floods, fires, and other disasters. As with the Reserve, the National Guard requires training drills one weekend a month and two weeks per year. 

1. Begin the school session.
2. Take the Army Fitness Test (AFT), usually with in the first two weeks of classes.
3. Once you pass the AFT, your name will get submitted to activate your contracting benefits.
4. You sign your contract and a short ceremony to get sworn in by the professor of military science (PMS) usually during lab.
5. You will receive the first stipend payment and benefits in 30-45 days.
6. The process (steps 1-3) reoccurs every school session, until your contract benefit funds are exhausted.

Enrolling in the ROTC Basic Course (the first two years of college) does not obligate you to serve unless you receive a scholarship. If you received a four-year ROTC scholarship, you must agree to serve four years full-time as an Army Officer after you graduate and then either extend your contract for four more years or serve four more years with the Individual Ready Reserve (IRR) where you’ll return to civilian life but need to be ready to help in a national emergency. If you received ROTC scholarships, you will potentially have a four-year full-time or eight-year part-time employment contract.

Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday morning, cadets conduct Physical Readiness Training for an hour before other college classes start.

On Tuesday mornings, cadets will participate in a 3-hour leadership lab run by select MSIIIs and MSIVs.

Depending on the MS Level, cadets will receive one to three, 1-hour classes from cadre:

MSI - Monday
MSII - Monday and Wednesday
MSIII, IV, V - Monday, Wednesday, and Friday

The Army ROTC scholarship covers tuition and fees, a textbook allowance, and a monthly stipend during the academic year.

Army ROTC students on scholarship also receive a room and board scholarship (provided by the University of Portland) during all years the student is receiving the scholarship and living on campus.

High school seniors are able to apply for three or four-year scholarships at the national level. College freshmen and sophomores who are interested may apply for two or three-year on-campus scholarships, which are conducted at the beginning of fall semester and the end of spring semester. More information can be found at GoArmy.com/rotc.

The stipend is provided to contracted cadets for personal living expenses of $420 per month.