VMI Letter and the ROTC programs

Special student was a recognized anachronism in the early to mid 2000s-people knew what it meant but did not use it regularly. I have seen "non-com" used a lot the last few days. First time I have ever heard the term. Perhaps because only about half were commissioning during that time.

Through my tenure, if you weren't commissioning you took a leadership lab course your final two years and the classroom ROTC. Peay, as part of his major push on commissioning, changed things after my first class year (and made a big deal about it) and had everyone take the same lab. I think they may have backed off on that a bit? Either way, I would say that this is additional evidence that VMI ought to focus first and foremost on VMI and back off on making commissioning such a high priority.
 
I was there in the mid to late 90's, and the term was ubiquitous.

As the poster above notes, there was a special lab for Special Students during Junior and Senior Year. As far as I remember, it was, certainly colloquially and maybe even officially, known as "Special Student Lab." The class was taught by VMI faculty members (non-ROTC) and covered things like resume-building and job interview skills. I was a contracted cadet, so I didn't take the lab. I certainly had many friends who did.

The term was not derogatory in any way. Quite the opposite, I'd say many "Spec Studs" embraced the term with pride. I suppose it has its origins in guys who were disqualified from commissioning when that was a requirement. By the time I was there, however, it was just a simple term to refer to a non-commissioning cadet.

If they have gotten rid of it, my guess is that it is from Peay's influence. MG Bunting ran the show when I was there.

BTW, the opposite of a Special Student was simply called "contracted" (or, if not yet contracted, "contract-seeking").
 
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I'm a Citadel grad and I know at this point they are not following VMIs route though there has been a big shift in the size of the various detachments, when I was in school in the 70s Air Force was the most popular choice for anyone not wanting to go in the military and had the largest enrollment of the three programs, now the majority of cadets are in Army and we in fact have the largest AROTC detachment in the US (1,300) partly because they offer the most commissioning opportunities. The Marine Corps is more selective being the smallest DOD service, the Navy and Air Force only want technical majors at present and the Air Force is already downsizing so the opportunities have diminished greatly though The Citadel gets more commissioning slots than all other schools because of the size of their detachments.
We dont have anything called "special students", 40% of grads go into the military but the school doesnt exist just to commission military officers. The top flight education, the alumni network, the reputation and opportunity to obtain skills that cant be learned at a civilian college are a big draw for anyone who wants to be succesful in any career field
 
Hopefully, a short explanation of the letter:
Army ROTC allows a non-commissioning cadet (absolutely no intent or action toward commissioning) to take PT and conduct field training for the first 2 years of Military Science training. After that, beginning the 3rd year of Military Science courses, the cadet must either be contracted through Army ROTC or must be taking the appropriate actions toward contracting through ROTC for the Army to conduct PT and field training with them.

The AF, Navy and Marine programs are somewhat more restrictive for the first two years. The cadet must at least indicate some (at least a 1% willingness) toward considering commissioning and then take some of the appropriate steps leading to an ROTC contract, but without having the obligation to contract, in order for the services to conduct PT training and other field training. After the first 2 years, the programs are all practically the same.

Some part of this is the budget and resources available among the programs, the overall rigor of the programs, the opportunities to commission among the programs and the overall VMI "commonality of purpose" that provides the Corps of Cadets with ROTC designated time during the standard week and throughout the semester for ROTC specific cadet training.

As to "special student", the term has been around for quite some time, but derives from the AFROTC program. Army refers to the same cadet as "non-commissioning".
 
How do you get a commission into the Coast Guard if they don't have an rotc program at vmi? sorry if this is unrelated I'm new to the forum and sort of unfamiliar with how it works...haha.
 
ryker2012 said:
How do you get a commission into the Coast Guard if they don't have an rotc program at vmi? sorry if this is unrelated I'm new to the forum and sort of unfamiliar with how it works...haha.
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The Coast Guard has its own commissioning program similar to OCS. The cadets I know who have gone on to serve in the Coast Guard all participated in NROTC, since it was the most readily applicable curriculum. But it's definitely not the most common branch to commission in at VMI.

I know there was a guy in the Class of 2008 who was in the USCG Reserves as a Keydet, and he coordinated with his connections to actually put on a USCG FTX (field training exercise) a couple of times while the rest of the Corps did their FTX stuff with the other branches. But I don't think this happens every year, and it took a considerable amount of outside work on his part to make it happen.

Are you interested in joining the Coast Guard? If so, I know an '83 Alum who would be happy to talk with you.

Welcome aboard! Always happy to have new folks join the forum. :smile:

Good luck,

Jackie M. Briski
VMI Class of 2009
 
The Coast Guard offers a program called the" Direct Commission Selected School Program" (DCSS) which is offered to graduates of the SMCs (plus Prairie View A&M for some strange reason:confused:).

Information about this program can be found here: http://www.gocoastguard.com/find-yo...rtunities/programs/direct-commission-programs
A Coast Guard recruiter will visit VMI in the fall and spring to talk about this program with interested cadets.
 
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