ROTC program offers classes now, army later

The Army Reserve Officers’ Training Corps at SCSU, along with the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University, makes up the Fighting Saints Battalion, numbering about a hundred cadets.

The ROTC program is a program offered for degree-pursuing students who wish to join the army after graduation.

They are expected to be enlisted in the army as second Lieutenants after their graduation and will be contracted with the army for anywhere from four years to eight or more.

Students can enroll in the ROTC program by getting a scholarship out of high school, enrolling in the Leadership Training Course while in college or by joining the army and then enrolling in the Simultaneous Membership Program.

“All three ways lead to the same end point, and that’s becoming a second Lieutenant in the United States Army, either in the National Guard, the Army Reserves or active duty,” said Kevin Breuer, Cadet Battalion Commander of the Fighting Saints.

The Leadership Training Course, or LTC, is a course for students that are halfway through college and interested in being contracted into the ROTC.

It is a course designed for potential cadets to catch up on what they might have missed in a four week program in the summer.

Students usually join the LTC between their Sophomore and Junior year.

The course is held in Fort Knox, Ky. and students are free to decide if they wish to join the ROTC or not after the course.

“It’s a great program to see what the army is like without having to sign your name at the bottom,” John Ghobarti, Cadet Public Affairs Officer of the Fighting Saints, said.

“If you’re thinking about the military, if you’re thinking about the ROTC, it’s a good way to feel out the program to see if it’s right for you.”

The ROTC program also offers free military science classes.

The MILS 100 level and 200 level classes are free and students do not have to be contracted into the ROTC program to take them.

“They [The MILS class instructors] understand that they’re [the students are] civilians and they won’t be sitting there yelling at them to do pushups or anything like that,” Ghobarti said.

Cadets in the ROTC program are required to do physical training exercises three times a week, dress in their uniforms on Tuesdays and to participate in monthly drills as well. There are no restrictions on the field of education they wish to pursue.

During their college years, cadets are non-deployable. The ROTC program emphasizes cadets being students first and encourages cadets to pursue higher levels of education than four-year degrees.

The GPA plays a role in the ranking system and higher levels of education raise the opportunity of being promoted past 2nd Lieutenant.

Cadets cannot be deployed immediately after their graduation, either. A minimum period of six months is required prior to being deployed.

After their degrees, cadets can also pursue their masters or doctorates with the condition that they will be commissioned in the army longer.

For more information, call 320-308-3930 or visit http://www.csbsju.edu/rotc