Many days you can see them walking around campus with uniforms on, books in hand, looking like they’re ready to march off to war, but are more likely just heading to the Ivy Room or Olin. They study the art of war, but also sit through the same boring lectures and pass out in as many uncomfortable chairs as the rest of us. Three afternoons a week, they fall in at Barton, but in the evenings they get lost in the crowds of Collegetown. They are the ROTC cadets of Cornell — soldiers of the future, students of today.
Since the beginning of Cornell University, students have trained for service in the U.S. military high above Cayuga’s waters. Through good times and bad over the course of the past one hundred and forty years, this campus program, under many different names, has offered Cornellians an opportunity to serve their country while learning at one of the best institutions in the world. Today, ROTC continues to offer students this chance with some pretty sweet perks in exchange for time and dedication.
Walking through Barton, you see offices for all three military branches — the Air Force, Army and Navy — offering plenty of choice for ROTC cadets. Ezra Cornell would be proud to know that of the Ivy League schools, Cornell is the only one with a long-standing relationship with the all that the military has to offer. It’s very suiting for the “any person, any study” mindset.
But that’s not all you’ll see at this refurbished airplane hangar from 1915. Depending on when you show up, you might spot rows of grey-shirted students lined up doing calisthenics with an intensity you’d never see at any half-assed gym class. Or maybe camoed cadets learning how to ambush Iraqi insurgents with a toothpick and some shoestring (well, maybe not the shoestring).
From the outside, it looks like a lot of work and certainly one heck of a commitment. On top of going to classes, studying for tests and doing all the other things that Cornellians do (or sometimes do half of the time), these cadets also put in a minimum of six hours a week training. They also often put in much more than that when you add in studying tactics and other ROTC responsibilities.
That may not sound like much time, but think of all the great things you could do with six hours. You could write a really good essay. You could run a marathon and a half. You could watch twelve episodes of your favorite sitcom. You could even paint a self-portrait.
Although it may be true that ROTC students already have a job waiting for them upon graduation serving in the military (for an eight year commitment), this doesn’t make schoolwork any less important. Graduating seniors get the pick of which field they want to enter and they location they work in, but whether they get their first choice or their tenth depends on a grading scale that ranks students on community service, ROTC performance and GPA.
“I have to compete to build my ROTC resume, but also compete in the classroom with other Cornell students,” said Phil Caruso ’08, an Air Force ROTC cadet.
To many ROTC students though, it’s all worth it.
According to Army ROTC cadet Jennifer Speeckaert ’08, the program teaches you to be a leader and a better person. Following in her brother’s footsteps, she signed up her senior year of high school to serve her country as a first generation American, she said.
Most people that signed up stick with it, said Major Bryan Miller, of Cornell’s Army ROTC. Last year, the Army program lost less than 10% of its freshman class, he said.
“It’s just not for everyone,” said Miller.
It seems there must be something about those cadets that join and stick with it all four years. According to Miller, the program looks to recruit leaders, athletes and scholars, and those are usually the people who make it through.
So what about recruitment? Why do these leaders, athletes and scholars sign up in the first place?
“There’s not really any one reason why people join, it’s more of a conglomeration of things,” said Miller. “Some people feel that they want to serve something greater than themselves … for some, scholarships draw them … to others it’s an adventure.”
In Caruso’s case, a desire to go to a great school and serve in the military brought him to the Air Force recruitment office. With a full-paid scholarship and a chance to fight for his country, the ROTC program was the perfect option, he said.
In addition to paying tuition and giving you one heck of a resume booster, Cornell’s ROTC programs also offer full-paid trips to train in the wilderness of Alaska, jump out of helicopters and learn about other cultures in foreign countries. Speaking from experience as a 10th year officer who has served all over the country and the world in places like Iraq, Korea, Kuwait and Germany, Miller said that these ROTC trips are just the beginning for a full-time recruit.
“There are so many places you can go and things you can do in the Army,” he said. “For me it was about traveling, I wanted to see the world.”
While it sounds like one a heck of a good time traveling and collecting postcards for the ol’ scrapbook, it’s not a walk in the park. Aside from the hours of training, cadets are also expected to live by a strict code of conduct that many college students aren’t too keen on.
For a lot of Cornellians, coming to Ithaca is their first time away from mom and dad, so partying and irresponsibility are at the top of the “to do” list (somewhere around not failing out). But for those who join ROTC, there is a level of maturity that must be maintained in and out of uniform.
“We still do have a very good time though … what it does is just make us a little smarter about it,” said Speekaert. “It makes you into a better person.”
With all the ROTC programs have to offer, a rich history with Cornell and dedicated cadets like Speekaert and Caruso, it looks like Barton Hall will continue to enrich the lives of many students and contribute to the diversity of the Ithaca’s East Hill.
