Anyone doing or have a family member that has gone this route. My son is wanting to sign at 17, basic this summer, then advanced training after senior year, start college in that fall. Then he was interested in doing ROTC in college.

He is very smart. Should do well on testing.
Wants to do Infantry.

Is there a better way to go?

I had corps buddies that did the Simultaneous Membership Program (SMP) back in late 90's. They loved it and when they commissioned they were able to go Active Duty without an issue. They also got credit for their time in the SMP (for pay not retirement) when they commissioned. I don't know if that is still the case. However, would be a good idea to explore. Also, can't remember if they got scholarship money or just their monthly stipend. Still, as fish they were pretty popular buddies because they had cars and beer money!

This is the route that I took during college. I knew that I wanted to fly, so I enlisted into a Houston based Aviation unit my sophomore year, went to Basic in between sophomore and junior year, ROTC camp the next summer, and then commissioned through ROTC. Decided to stay in that Guard and fly here in Texas though. Let me know if you have questions!

I have a couple of cadets running around my unit, and they seem to enjoy the experience.

Any particular questions I could answer?

The split option and SMP programs are not the same thing.

About the split option:

Certain combat arms (Infantry, Armor, Cavalry) are OSUT (One Station Unit Training) which means that there is no difference between basic combat training and AIT (Advanced Individual Training). There were two guys in my Armor OSUT who got the total shaft because they went to a standard BT and then shipped the next summer for OSUT and had to go through the whole thing again.

I'm not really sure how you can ensure that this doesn't happen to your kid or if it would even matter, but it is something to ask.

My son did this. Enlisted at 17 in the TANG. Went to Benning for 11B boot camp between his JR and SR year of high school.

Returned to HS and drilled with his TANG INF PLT all year.

Between his SR year at HS and Fish year at A&M, he went to AIT at Benning.



Side note... he told me well into his Fish year that the drill SGTs at Benning were tougher than the Pissheads in the Corps.

I did split op in 1995. I'm not sure my experience will help. Finished ait on a Monday, was doing registration in college station on Wednesday, started class on the next Monday. I got offered a txng scholarship my first semester and turned it down... Not wanting to double down on the army...I was kind of tired of it. I spent time in a horrible reserved unit, and a great one. Three years later I was accepted into dental school and was offered an hpsp scholarship, followed by nearly ten years active duty.

I refraded 18 years after enlisting at age 35. I was a long way from retirement and have no benefits too show for it. The 5 reserve years had a significant effect on my active duty pay.

That said, I am a better man, and am far more successful in life for having spent my time in the army. Not all of my peers can say that. A few of them are no longer with us to say anything. The military is very beneficial to a young man's growth, but it doesn't come without cost.