By Glynn Guerra |Staff Writer|
The AFROTC (Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps) is a voluntary four-year program that students can enter if they are interested in joining the Air Force after graduation.
Student Valentina Aproda explained the benefits of joining AFROTC and the opportunities it provides students.
In order to join, you do not initially have to be a student at CSUSB to join. In fact, Aproda is a student from UCR.
You are only required to have a 2.0 GPA, be a full-time student, and have at least three years left of college.
Once you join, you will be enrolled as a student at CSUSB and be required to take aerospace classes for the AFROTC program. You will still be able to take your normal college classes and graduate from whatever school originally enrolled.
There are no commitments or contracts to join right off the bat, you will only make a commitment to the Air Force once you are a junior or once you are a “300” as they call it in AFROTC.
After you graduate you will be ranked as a second lieutenant and you will be assigned to a job based off your “dream sheet,” which is where you list six things that you would be interested in doing, your experience in the field and the base of your preference.
“I was interested because I wanted to become a pilot, that was always a dream of mine so I thought I’d check it out,” said Aproda. “I’ve never done anything military-related and I loved it!”
AFROTC offers many opportunities to students who join the program like scholarships and internships.
There are also programs that AFROTC offers such as Project O, which is a language program held over summer where you can do things such as travel to other schools where you will learn a year’s worth of foreign language.
The AFROTC is constantly having recruiting events on campus and other places that students can go and get information about AFROTC.
They host many events throughout the year such as military appreciation day and “sports days.”
The AFROTC is also a great way for networking and making lifelong friends.
“You’re going to become close with some of the people that you meet at AFROTC and make friends for the rest of your life,” said Aproda. “Since we will all become Air Force officers, we will all eventually see each other again and we’ll remember each other.”
Not only does the AFROTC offer endless opportunities and possible lifelong friendships, it is also a great way to gain professional training development, team building skills, and leadership skills.
If you are interested in joining the military, AFROTC is a great place to start. They can help you gain information about what it means to be in the military.
Even if you aren’t interested right away in committing to it, it can still provide you with lifelong skills.
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