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Living in a society where college students are older now than before, I'm curious as to how old one can be and participate in ROTC while in college. Granted, some people would not benefit from it if they are too old, but How Old is Too Old?
Posted 9 y ago
Responses: 13
For an ROTC scholarship, you cannot turn 31 by the end of the year in which you graduate/commission. This is Federal law and non-waiverable. For non-scholarship cadets, you must under age 39 on the day you commission. Cadets graduating between 35 and 39 years will require a waiver from the ROTC brigade commander.
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SSgt Steven Day
Question on that, Col Thompson: I'm 37 with a Masters degree and 9 years of honorable Air Force AD time. Can I return to collage taking two ROTC classes at a time and no other classes, then get commissioned next year?
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SGT (Join to see)
So is that less than 39, or through the age of 39 and less than 40? What if you turn 39 and then graduate 2 months later when you are still 39?
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What you start running into into is that when commissioned you must be able to complete 20 years of active federal commissioned service to be eligible. The mandatory retirement age is 55 unless you have a waiver from the SECDEF. Chaplains,62. There are periodic policy changes where they tighten or loosen the max age for commissioning depending on accession needs.
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I think it comes down to whether or not you would still meet the age maximums for being an officer in whatever service and career field you are looking to join. Other than that I say go for it! Just like once commissioned, the old and young can learn from each other and the diversity of experience makes the unit stronger.
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