youbuet - I would suggest your friend rather takes the $23k that they have to pay REX upfront for the cadetship, and go for the more traditional route via GA. Even if that means being 'contaminated' by GA and not up to REX's 'high standards'. Then make a plan to finance the rest of the money required for completing his training. 5 years down the line he will have lots of real-world experience and quite a bit of command time. Where will the REX cadets be - no command time and still waiting for REX to get their PICUS up and running.