How does it work really?
Tried reading about it and just seem to get more confused..
Do we have ROTC in Singapore? I thought it was NCC?
The US Military is quite the exception in the world in that, unlike most militaries, they require their officers to undergo college as a prerequisite to commissioning. The ROTC, which stands for Reserve Officer's Training College, essentially is found in many campuses in the US whereby males and females enroll at a college and the ROTC and receive training while they take classes. If they score well enough (GPA and all) and get a good grading as an officer cadet, they may be offered scholarships from the military, in return for service. Many officers subsequently sign-on. Also, because they are in reserves, they can be called upon to fight in wars, such as in Iraq. They either serve a tour of duty after graduation in the National Guard, or just end up in the reserves. (though I think they do serve a tour of duty at least).
The US military also has separate academies, most notably the US Air Force Academy in Colorado, West Point in New York, the US Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland which also follow the same system. Officers must get a college degree in addition to getting commissioned. Submarine commanders tend to be nuclear engineers, I might add.
By College, I mean university. In the US, university and college are interchangeable.
If I might add, some famous people who have gone through ROTC include former Secretaries of State George C. Marshall (rose to Army Chief of Staff) and Colin Powell (rose to Chair of Joint Chiefs of Staff), and the voice of Darth Vader, James Earl Jones.