<p>I’m wondering if ROTC lightened the service requirement. Back when my older cousins and I were in college, taking an ROTC scholarship or continuing past sophomore year meant one incurred a minimum of a 5 year active duty/3 year reserve/inactive ready reserve commitment. </p>
<p>If the military ends up paying for law or other types of grad school, it was 2 years added-on commitment for each year of law/grad school paid for by the military. At least, those were the rules as explained by several military folks as of the late '00s. </p>
<p>What is the obligation to the Army after graduation?
All Cadets must contract by the beginning of their junior year. This means that they have made the commitment to enter into the Army after graduation. Most contracted, scholarship Cadets are obligated to the active Army for at least 4 years. Non scholarship contracted Cadets must serve 3 years in the active Army or 8 years in the Reserve Component as a drilling part time Officer.</p>
<p>Ok. Sounds like they did lighten the minimum service requirements. </p>
<p>It was 5 years active duty/3 years reserve/inactive ready reserve when my older cousins and same-aged friends/colleagues did it. And it applied regardless of whether one was a scholarship winner or not so long as one continued ROTC on the first day of one’s junior year. </p>
<p>Doesn’t the fact that this thread was made support this is a unique attention-grabbing achievement badge? Would this thread be made if she was going to attend Toledo Medical School? I’m sure there’s some social justice motive with all of the recent military sexual assault stories. A commitment to the military positions her for law school, politics, State Department, international business, and on and on. And of course the Chuas now have something interesting to toss around when all of their friends brag about their offspring headed to medical and law school. Status points. It’s akin to spending your holiday in a third world country while everyone self indulges by popping over to blasé France or Italy. David Brooks’s son is fighting in Isreal right now. Nobility and virtue are totally in right now.</p>
<p>“Doesn’t the fact that this thread was made support this is a unique attention-grabbing achievement badge?”</p>
<p>Among the Yale Law faculty? No, it doesn’t show that at all. The two posters on the thread who are personally acquainted with that crowd think you are off base (pardon the pun). You don’t get any social justice points at Yale for joining any branch of the military. Period. JAG attorneys are just as likely to be defending accused rapists as prosecuting them.</p>
<p>I’m not sure why you’re so invested in minimizing this young woman’s achievements and suggesting that she is committing to put herself in harm’s way for not much money in order to impress her parents’ friends.</p>
<p>Not necessarily. This thread is also a reflection of the old adage “Dog bites man isn’t news whereas Man bites dog IS NEWS.” What’s considered noteworthy, interesting, and unusual in some contexts will attract interests and discussion.</p>
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<p>Yes for the same reasons. </p>
<p>Granted, the context may be more along the lines of her following through on pursuing medicine considering she’s a D of two law profs and the law school is not high profile/prestige along the lines of say…Johns Hopkins or Harvard. </p>
<p>I am sure if she planned to go to Harvard or Yale Law everyone would say that she is just doing it because she is conforming. That’s because of projection. Many people can’t accept that many Asian kids study what they study because they want to study it, and not because their parents told them to. It’s really lack of exposure and diversity. I mean, how many close Asian friends do non-Asian people here have?</p>
<p>I actually thought of this myself. In the old days, the armed services was almost a necessary prerequisite to political aspirations. Today, this is much rarer, but it may be even more valuable because of the rarity.
In my book, though, if she’s willing to put herself in harm’s way, she deserves whatever advantage she gets careerwise as a result. </p>
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<p>I don’t think VanGlenn mentioned anything about the parents explicitly. It may be that this decision was influenced by the value system ingrained by the parents. </p>
<p>Those entering the JAG are very unlikely to ever be in harms way. They might choose to go into Civil affairs and could possibly, POSSIBLY get sent to a place with risk, but according to DH, who must have apparently been a trend-setter, doing ROTC at a very liberal school back in the 70’s when it was ANYTHING but trendy, “you’d have to work at it” to get sent to a position in harm’s way.</p>
<p>^ Yes. My friend’s son has asked to be sent to Afghanistan. His parents, of course, are worried to death, but recognize it is his choice and what he wants to do. </p>
<p>@VanGlenn - I find your comments incredibly cynical. I cannot imagine that many people (if any) would join the military for the sole purpose of giving their parents bragging rights at parties or to garner some extra attention. It seems to me that there are many easier ways to do that. I take her at her word that she wants to give back to the country. She seems intelligent and thoughtful enough (understatement) to make this decision for the “right” reasons, and it’s presumptuous for anyone to quarrel with this. </p>
<p>Quite honestly, I posted the link because I thought others would be interested in reading about what she’s been up to, and because I was surprised that she’s already graduating…it seems like her mother’s book came out just a couple of years ago.</p>
<p>" I cannot imagine that many people (if any) would join the military for the sole purpose of giving their parents bragging rights at parties or to garner some extra attention."</p>
<p>I agree. The one thing that gave me concern when choosing to send my son to the high school he went to was that JROTC was mandatory. The fact that it is a Catholic (LaSallian) school and we are Jewish I didn’t care a wit about. But, the JROTC made me very uncomfortable. However, I recognized very quickly it was good for him at that time in his life so got over my uncomfortableness pretty quickly. </p>
<p>A smart person is often aware of the ways in which a move, even an non-traditional one, can advance their career or status. However, it doesn’t necessarily mean that was the overriding factor in the decision. </p>