Army ROTC riding wave of patriotism
BLACKSBURG, Va. — The number of college students in the Army Reserve Officers’ Training Corps has grown 50 percent since the 200506 school year, with the Army outpacing its goals for minting new officers as it sees a surge of patriotism at schools across the country.
The Army is in the waning stages of war and has largely stopped growing, yet its ROTC program is reaching near- historic highs for enrollment.
Partly the result of increased scholarship and recruitment efforts of years ago, the Army has been welcoming the new officer candidates and has been funneling them into active duty and the Reserves and National Guard.
Why are you here?
College campuses, some of which spurned ROTC for years, now are embracing the military programs, as students look for leadership opportunities, financial help and service.
The phenomenon is especially noticeable on Virginia Tech’s campus. Normally, about 110 to 120 students join the Army ROTC each year. This year, about 150 showed up to end- of- the- summer training, making it one of the largest classes the university has seen since the VietnamWar.
Col. David Chase, who oversees the program, was stunned. There was no clear reason for the increase, so when Chase had everyone gathered in an auditorium, he asked: Why? Why are you here?
There wasn’t just one answer: Many students have parents or relatives in the military, and some came here after not getting into a service academy.
Others were enticed by the possibility of scholarship money and a job after graduation. Some were looking for leadership training that could bolster their résumé, or they wanted the structure and rigor of Virginia Tech’s Corps of Cadets.
And then there were a lot of students looking for a way to serve their country.
“‘ Serve’ is a word that kept coming up,” said Chase, who spent more than 20 years in the Army and has been at Virginia Tech since 2010. “This generation we are getting in here is so patriotic. … They were 6, 7 years old on 9/ 11, and they have grown up during the war on terror. They’ve seen the unbelievable support for service members.”
Following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, the Army saw national ROTC enrollment jump from 28,470 during the 20002001 school year to more than 30,800 two years later. But as the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq waged on, the number steadily dropped to a low of 24,312 in 2005- 2006.
Around that time, the Army increased its goal for the number of new officers and pumped more money into scholarships and recruitment. Enrollment has been steadily ticking up since, reaching a high of 36,474 during the past school year.
Army surpasses goal
The Army says it is now outpacing its mission, after years of falling short of meeting its commission goal or barely beating it. During the 2011- 2012 school year, the Army commissioned 5,880 officers and reservists, surpassing its goal of 5,350. That number is expected to increase in coming years, as large incoming classes mature.
Meanwhile, the number of commissions from the Navy and Marine Corps ROTC has increased, but enrollment is steadily dropping. Air Force ROTC enrollment has fluctuated, but the number of commissions has held fairly steady.
“I’d like to know what the Army is going to do with all of these people, because the Army is shrinking,” said Michael O’Hanlon, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution who specializes in U. S. defense strategy. O’Hanlon said the Army statistics appear to show the growth the Army was aiming for, and he said the numbers likely will stabilize.
Army officials say students can choose between active duty or serving in the Reserve or National Guard, though not all students who want to serve on active duty are selected for it. The Army varies that number, depending on the service’s needs.