Can I transfer from Guard to Active through ROTC?

Being prior service will exempt you from the first two years of ROTC, so stay in the Guard, use your GI Bill, most States also offer tuition assistance, and join ROTC your Junior year. At that point, you are competing with everyone else in ROTC for the active slots. You will have some advantages, more military experience being the most important. SMP does not tie you to a Guard or Reserve Contract and it allows you to gain experience in a real unit. So if that is the ultimate goal, my advice is to bust your butt in your current unit so you have good evals and performance records and then expect to do the same at ROTC. Be aware that it still doesn't guarantee an active slot or a choice of branches.

Don’t worry about starting enlisted in the guard and not joining as a freshman MSI cadet— I actually went the same route as you. Enlisted in the guard, joined ROTC my junior year, and was awarded an active duty contract the same year. While being prior enlisted helps with the military knowledge aspect, it generally will not make you more competitive for an active duty contract slot, which from my understanding is your ultimate goal. I would get in touch with your enrollment officer as soon as possible and ask him/her about the assessions breakdown for the year. Basically, it’s a rubric Cadet Command creates in order to rank you against every other cadet. Generally GPA and APFT score are weighed most heavily, with extracurriculars, community service, leadership experience, etc filling up the rest of the rubric. Once you know the OML (order of merit), you can use these this time to prioritize the things that will make you most competitive for a contract. Best of luck, and maintain regular correspondence with the ROTC Program you’re trying to earn a contract with.

PFC,
I commissioned from ROTC a few months ago. I enlisted and went to basic training after my freshman year and contracted "open"/non-scholarship during the beginning of my sophomore year. If you want the option to go active duty, especially already being in the Guard, DO NOT sign a GRFD scholarship, even if they pressure you into one. The GRFD tells cadet command that you will commission into the guard or reserves for extra money. I chose not to sign this because I wanted the option to go active duty. Originally, I was selected for Active Duty and received a branch I didn't want. Thankfully, I had been in an aviation unit for three years and received a flight spot from them, so I was able to transfer out of active duty back into the Guard. BLUF: If you want the option to become an active duty officer while already being a member of the Guard, ROTC is a great way to go about this. However, in order to be selected for active duty, you need to focus on your GPA, PT, and demonstrate leadership qualities. If you do those 3 things, you will have no problem being selected for active duty. Just be aware that you may have repercussions for not completing your national guard contract when you commission active duty. For example, Ohio paid 100% of my tuition and if I went Active Duty I would have had to pay back a portion of that. If you have any questions about being a SMP cadet please don't hesitate to message me. Good luck.

-Luke