AROTC MSIII year

[Cavguy]

I second my old comrade tankersteve.

Fail your classes and you will limit your options, as I put in a different thread. Looking back at long term effects my (low) undergraduate academic GPA impacted my options far more than any ROTC superlative that I spent inordinate amounts of time on. You need to graduate with a 3.0 or higher if you want to open some doors to cool jobs post-company command. I worked out well anyway, but it would have been nice to have been able to do some of the cool fellowships which require a decent academic record. By the time I corrected with grad school the window had closed for this.

Doing well at camp, again, recommend tankersteve's option. Learn to brief well. Get critiqued giving opords and plans. You don't have to be the fastest/strongest but you can't be the slowest or dumbest. Know the FM 7-8 tactics and battledrills. Develop some laminated OPORD/TLP cheat cards to carry in a small binder for field OPORDs.

Learn to delegate during MDMP. Assign roles and responsibilities to your peers for things like sandtables, rehearsals, note taking, etc. Being able to prioritize/deputize/supervise is key. When not in command/key leader, help others succeed and look good. It will pay off when you are in charge.

Although it has changed a lot in the 14 or so years since tankersteve and I were cadets, your branch selection comes down to GPA, camp performance, and your PMSs assessment of you. Allocate your time appropriately.

[tankersteve]

Niel,

Good to hear from you. Hope you are enjoying your location. I am soon to be a month out of heading home.

Yes, it has been a long time since camp. As Niel said, help your peers out. One tip I remember, that may not be relevant, but take it for what it's worth.

Squad missions are a common building block before platoon missions. When you are only leading a squad, vice a platoon, you can pick 'weaker' peers to lead fire teams. It is only an Army squad, with just 2 fire teams, and much of what is going on, you can lead directly. This builds up some confidence in your 'weaker' peers, and makes you look like a good guy, getting them involved. They will be better for the experience, and hopefully work harder in and out of the leader posiitions when you need a hand.

The key to this is pick a stud for compass or pace counter. If you don't get to the objective, you are a fail right off the bat.

Now, as a platoon leader, I would pick stronger cadets for squad leader positions. A squad has to have a decent leader. Pace counter/compass is still pretty important.

Is this gaming the system? Maybe but making smart decisions when delegating and working with subordinates is something a new LT should be able to do.

PT, land nav, and academics are still real important. Read about Army stuff. Learn to shoot (it won't matter for branching, but no one wants the new LT who can't qualify with his weapon - get private instruction if you have to!) Have fun, and pay attention to the prior service guys (shameless plug). Don't listen to that crap about it doesn't matter what branch you serve in. It sure does! Branch Armor!

Tankersteve

[Old Eagle]

As much as I like to disagree with treadheads, both Cav Guy and Tanker Steve are spot on.

PT and land nav are critical functions for new LTs. Get your unit lost a coupla times and you'll be in a deep hole.

Go to the gym and start working on cardio and core strength. Because of the mountains here, part of my aerobic routine is to strap on a ruck and work the stairs. As I posted elsewhere, wish I had figured out the core strength thing while I was still humping a ruck for the Army. I now hump one for the county here in the mountains, and I can tell you that my ability to hump serious loads has increased markedly since going on a core routine.

Consider joining a local orienteering club if there is one. They make land nav and cardio fun. If there isn't a club, get a partner (never go into my backcountry solo) and just go out on public land and work on your skills.

Learned a neat OPORD trick in Ranger school (unofficially from an NCO, not part of POI): As you listen to/read the next higher order, plant excerpts from that order straight into yours -- you can edit later. Higher's para 2, mission, goes into your para 1, "mission of higher headquarters" Your unit's order in para 3 execution becomes your para 2 mission. Missions of other units usually slide into para 1 also, etc. Streamlines the MDMP so you have more time to focus on the important stuff. Of course, you all have probably changed the order into something that none of us old timers would recognize.

Second everything else posted earlier.