Military, ROTC, & Service Academies

Military Enlistments & Commission Information

Please stop by the Career Center and speak with Ms. Jasmine Yeh at Email Ms. Jasmine Yeh, the Career Center Specialist, about her active duty military and federal government experiences!  She offers honest, no-bars-held conversations that will have your best interests in mind.  Make a meeting reservation HERE, before you talk to a recruiter.  Let's work out what you want, your career and personal goals, and where you want to be 5 years (or even 20 years) down the line!

A career in the military can be very rewarding and educational.  The military offers a stable paycheck, a guaranteed job, travel, shopping discount benefits, free healthcare and housing/rent for you and your immediate family (if you're married), college money, training opportunities, etc.  To find out more about what today's military can do for you, please go to Today'sMilitary.com and Join Military to discover job opportunities in the various military services.  Additionally, to figure out how your military job will transition to a civilian or federal government career, use MilGears to search for jobs by service branches.  There are lots of websites out there that provide the same type of information.  However, if you need help figuring out something, feel free to stop by School Counseling/Career Center to get help from Ms. Yeh.

Military recruiter visits are listed in SchooLinks under the "School Events" tab on the homepage. Recruiters generally visit the school once a month during the lunch blocks. You can stop by their table outside the Cafeteria.  To see the calendar of when they will be here, please visit our Calendar page here.  By student and/or family requests, recruiters could also meet with a student in the Career Center, for more in-depth talks.

As of June 2023, each service is offering multiple enlistment and quick-ship bonuses.  Check out the individual service's official website for more details.

Direct Links to each service's recruiting site:

For information on Reserved Officer Training Corp (ROTC) and Service Academy information, please utilize the navigational links to the left.  These programs are for the commissioning of officers into military service.

General ASVAB Info

The Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) is a great career exploration tool. It includes tests and activities that help you identify your interests and provide information about your Verbal, Math, and Science and Technical Skills. The ASVAB test is FREE and administered at your local military recruiting offices, military entrance processing stations (MEPs), and local high schools. To find out more about ASVAB, go to the Official ASVAB website.

Additionally, not all ASVAB tests are created the same.  There are actually THREE (3) versions of the ASVAB test!  Read about it at Military.com, and find out how the three tests differ. Not all tests are used solely for enlistment into the military.  Additionally, if you can't make it to any of the listed ASVAB tests listed below, you could also schedule the test with military recruiters.  

For more information on the ASVAB and test prep, visit these sites:

To register for the ASVAB test given at select Loudoun-area high schools, please go here to register.

Military Dependent Scholarships

Did you know that there are special scholarships if you're a military dependent (kid or spouse)?

Come to the Career Center to get a list of scholarships that are JUST FOR YOU!

Related Links

Military Recruiters for RVHS

ROTC

"The Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC) is a college cadet program offered at more than 1,700 colleges and universities across the United States that prepares young adults to become officers in the U.S. Military.  In exchange for a paid college education and a guaranteed post-college career, participants, or cadets, commit to serve in the Military after graduation as officers. Each service branch has its own take on ROTC.  Each ROTC program offers either a 4-year or 2-year scholarship, covering 100% of tuition, books, fees, room and board, and a monthly stipend.  Yes, you read that right.  A monthly stipend - so you're getting PAID to go to college, all the while college is already paid for.  What company is going to offer you paid college expenses, while PAYING you to go to college, and offer you a guaranteed job after you graduate for at least 4 years???

Check out the links below to find out more information on ROTC and notable programs in the state of Virginia and around the country.

Official ROTC links: Air Force ROTC  /  Army ROTC  /  Navy ROTC (Career Options: Marine Option, Nursing Option)

** ROTC Scholarship application deadlines **

** To get a hold of a ROTC representative for your university, please contact your university's assigned Military Recruiter by looking at the Contacts information on their ROTC webpage.  They are your first contact. **

Service Academies

Service Academies

Why Service Academy?

If you have aspirations of serving your country and having a fulfilling career in the United States military as an officer and a leader, the Service Academy route might be for you!  There's no better way of getting tons of real-life experiences in a no-cost (read: FREE!) college setting.

However, preparing for entry into a Service Academy usually takes years - ideally, you start thinking about it when you're in the 8th grade, take all of the "right" preparatory classes and participate in lots of sports and extracurricular activities from 9th through 11th grade, attend the summer camps offered at the Academies to show your interest, and finally apply to the Academies during your Junior year after begging your Congress man/woman for a nomination.

Is all of that really worth it?  Depends.  Depends on what you're looking to get out of the Service Academy experience versus the typical college experience. Check out the links below to find out more about each of the five (5) service academies, what they can offer you, how to "demonstrate your interest" during their summer camps, and how to apply for admission during your Junior year.

If your goal is simply to commission as an officer into the armed forces, there are other options

  • Graduate from a 4-year college, apply for commission, go to and graduate from Officer Candidate School (OCS) or Officer Training School (OTS)

  • Graduate from a 4-year college and completed at least 2 years of ROTC

  • Enlist into the military, military pays for your 4-year college while you're on active duty, apply for commission, go to and graduate from OCS/OTS

  • Finish your enlistment in the military, exit the military, graduate from a 4-year college, apply for commission, go to OCS/OTS

  • Become a Contract soldier with the Reserves or National Guard in the Simultaneous Membership Program (SMP).  You’d be a National Guard soldier while in college - getting school paid for, getting a paycheck, and getting federal/state benefits.

Point is, there's more than one way to become a military officer.  Explore your options by talking to Ms. Yeh in the Career Center!

LINKS TO EACH SERVICE ACADEMY

Service Academy Summer Camps for High School Students

RELATED LINKS

Check out the links below for resources on how to apply, ideal application timeline to start preparing for and applying to the academies, and things you should consider.