A Thought About ROTC

I heard an interesting discussion of Reserve Officer Training Programs on the radio yesterday.

The panelists seemed to forget that schools and universities are there first and foremost to teach kids things they need to know or that we want them to know.

I graduated from high school in 1955 after three years of ROTC. ROTC was an alternative to physical education, and one from which I learned a lot. Indeed, many of my best memories from high school related to ROTC. The radio program did not address what is now called jROTC. We have a volunteer army, and for millions of high schools students jROTC is a great way to learn things to help make a better decision on enlisting, and to get a head start if they do in fact enlist. I did not do military service, yet I have always valued the things I learned in high school ROTC and feel it was a better preparation for my life than would have been three years of PE. I especially value the contact ROTC provided me with men who had served their country well in combat, an experience that helped me respect those fighting our wars even when I disagreed with those wars and when many others failed to show that respect.

I also had a year of (required) ROTC in college, which I did in a land-grant university. I think it is important that we have a military reserve, staffed by college graduate officers. I think it even more important that college graduates in this country have at least a passing familiarity with the military, how it works, and our military history. Having all the men and women who are fortunate enough to attend land-grant colleges and universities take a year of two of mandatory ROTC might just be a good idea for the country.

Why should the military spend its resources to teach our kids even if they will not join up. Because they take orders from the President and follow policies defined by Congress, and they will do what they are asked if our leaders feel it is for the nation's good.