Will Air Force Officer life be better than AFROTC for this frustrated Army Veteran?

Yes, there is an end in sight and a highly rewarding end at that.

I heard a student (not one of my cadets!) say, I swear I am not making this up, "Teddy Roosevelt's soul is in this container" I'm like WTF.

It is difficult being the most mature person in the room. Not only are you older than the students but you've actually been out in the world and lived the things they are learning about in books.

In the big scheme of things, there are worse problems. Focus on your classes and be the best example of what a squared away NCO is really like. Besides the Det NCOs, you are the only enlisted (prior or otherwise) these kids have come in contact with. You have something valuable to offer them.

No, I don't see your point at all. Merit in Afrotc and in the Military is not based on age. If there was an unfair competition for leadership positions that favored younger Cadets then I would see your point; but, you have not made that claim. It seems like you have an issue with military custom and courtesy, that I think would be second nature to a Cadet who had served in the enlisted ranks, rather than the Cadets who competed successfully for leadership positions having an issue with age. If having to defer to a military member who has earned higher rank but appears younger in chronological age is the issue, it may get better because these 20 year old Cadets will no longer look like teenagers in a few years and ages will become blurred and not so much based on chronological age as much as individual genetics and lifestyle, but this obviously also depends on your individual DNA and aging patterns. I recommend recognizing your accomplishments to be one of the few enlisted to become an officer and graduating with a near perfect GPA and don't worry about others accomplishments at a younger age. Showing military courtesy is a custom.

Good Luck!

I see your point I was an air force vet before I went army ROTC so I was older than they were as well and you will not get used to the childishness of it, but you will learn to lead because you will see they need your wisdom and strength. Wow how odd I had a 4.0gpa in college myself until math that is then it went to 3.95gpa temporarily. The yes sir thing is a joke to me, I used to say I work for a living so stop calling me ma'am LOL but seriously I do know what you mean about calling kids who haven't done **** yet being called sir by you when you have already done time. It will flip around after your rank and knowledge beings to show to the leaders of the cadet program/

Not really, because those cadets who were doing that last year, will still be over you, when you get into the AF.

Plus, if no one has told you, there are two kinds of officers in the AF.

Pilots and navigators and everyone else.

And the everyone else, are treated as second class citizens.

The Air Force is not like the Army, officers are not really in leadership positions,

Their job is to push paper.

There is no Air Force version of Platoon leader or Company Commander.

The Squadron Commander is always a Lt Colonel, maybe a Major. There are no real leadership positions under him.

In maintenance, officers do not have a clue, what the enlisted do everyday, they are not trained on aircraft maintenance.