University Business - March 2008 - (Page 49) Campus ROTC has gone from a four-letter word during the Vietnam War era to a mainstay on post-9/11 campuses. By Ron Schachter EVERAL DOZEN NORTHEASTERN UNIVER sity (Mass.) undergraduates have gathered before dawn at the Marino Recreation Center for much more than recreation. They run through their calisthenics and rapid-fire sit-ups and push-ups as partners shout encouragement and check stopwatches. Others circle the track one story above the gym floor or duck incoming missiles during a highpowered dodgeball game. These students—clad in standard issue black shorts and gray Army T-shirts—belong to Liberty Battalion, Northeastern’s chapter of the Army’s Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC). Within 18 months of graduating they may well find themselves in a war zone. The group is evidence of the post-9/11 growth of officer training programs at schools nationwide, almost 40 years after ROTC became a four-letter word to many Vietnam War protesters on college campuses. Back in those days, Northeastern counted about 2,800 ROTC cadets, one of the largest contingents outside of the U.S. military academies. “It was a way to stay in college and not go to war,” explains Lt. Col. John McClellan, a professor of military science. He now commands 120 cadets headed to the leaner, allvolunteer Army as second lieutenants. S Serving the New Army Besides their three-times-a-week, one-and-a-half-hour physical training classes, and their regular academic courseloads, today’s Northeastern cadets follow a four-year sequence of military science courses—from an introduction to the Army, to land navigation and military tactics, to leadership and ethical decision making. When they graduate and receive their commissions, many will spend four years on active duty and another four on a list from which they can be recalled. The rest will opt for six years of National Guard service and two years on the recall list. Nationwide, more than 28,000 students (6,000 of them women) are enrolled in Army ROTC at 273 host institutions, either attending those schools or commuting from almost 1,100 other colleges universitybusiness.com March 2008 | 49
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