DD was in Air Force ROTC sophomore year in college - with the plan to get accepted into their program with the summer - and they would pay her costs and she would get a monthly stipend during junior and senior years of college; she had the misfortune of being in the year that the budget cutting was going on, so she did not go into field training. The fall also had slim opportunities for Navy - they only accepted 43 into that program nationally. However she now is working for VA Hospitals as a RN/BSN. Seems rather odd with the nursing shortage and projections that this would not have been ‘spared’ of the budget cutting.
ROTC and military branches love high achieving athletes. However you still can never count on a ‘blip’ disrupting the apple cart. That happened to FSIL - he had to take out loans rather than complete cadet program in college because someone didn’t give him a favorable rating for getting into field training. He still went into the Army, but with the student loans, and not forgiven either.
So plan A, B, C…good luck and let us know what works out!