The upcoming 50th anniversary of the Buccaneer Battalion, ETSU’s ROTC unit, leaves many people thinking, “Huh? ROTC? What exactly is that?”
Reserve Officers’ Training Corps students are like any other college students. They are earning an academic degree while learning leadership skills in the ROTC that can prepare them to become an officer in the Army.
Cadets can play on athletic teams, be in fraternities or sororities and participate in clubs and other activities associated with college. Military science classes are scheduled just like other classes.
The program teaches leadership skills as well as soldiering. Cadets learn communication and management skills. The senior year is spent practicing these skills with the underclassmen. Rappelling operations, M-16 rifle usage, basic first aid, radio operation, squad tactics and survival techniques are also taught.
During the first two years of ROTC, classes are a series of elective courses that carry no military obligation. Activities include leadership labs, physical fitness training and studies of military history and army structure.
The junior and senior ROTC years are available only to students eligible for commissioning into the Army, Reserves or National Guard. The junior year includes continued study of tactical training, rifle usage, soldiering and leadership skills.
The senior year emphasizes the transition from cadet to commissioned officer. Topics for study include organization, counseling subordinates, professional ethics and the functions of a platoon leader.
During the junior and senior year, attendance to the National Advance Leadership Camp is the single most important block of training for cadets. An intensive five-week experience, the training camp is the cadet’s introduction to the active Army.
Cadets can receive a stipend for service in the ROTC. Also, scholarships based on merit for housing, tuition, educational expenses and books are available.
Women are welcome in the ROTC. Twenty-two percent of the cadets are female and about 14 percent of officers in the Army are women.
Obligation to the Army begins the junior year when you contract with the ROTC. An eight-year service with the Army is required upon completion of the ROTC program.
Four years can be spent in active duty and the remaining four in Individual Ready Reserve, which is non-active status with no drill requirements. Service to the Army National Guard or Reserves for six years and two years of IRR can fulfill the eight-year requirement.
Cadets don’t have to cut their hair during ROTC. Neatly trimmed hair with a tapered appearance meets Army standards.
Civilian attire can be worn to class except for drill each week. Sophomores through senior cadets wear their battle dress uniforms, which are the camouflages, each Tuesday and Thursday.
Once a semester, Field Training Exercises are conducted. FTX is designed to enhance leadership skills in a field setting.
ROTC offers many benefits for college students and facilitates entry to Army as a Second Lieutenant. The typical starting salary of ROTC graduates is in the top 20 percent of all college graduates. For more information, call 439-5291 or 439-5288.

Author