Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps

Origins

In 1926, the U.S. Department of the Navy established the Naval Reserve Officers' Training Corps. Its purpose was to produce a reserve of qualified officers who would be needed for a possible rapid expansion of the military in the case of an unforeseen emergency. The original units were at the University of California, Northwestern University, University of Washington, Harvard University, Yale University, and Georgia Institute of Technology.

Modern System

Under the modern U.S. Navy ROTC system, graduates become active duty officers rather than reserve officers. The Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps commissions individuals into either the United States Navy as an Ensign or United States Marine Corps as a Second Lieutenant. (The two ranks are equivalent; the U.S. Navy and Coast Guard use different names for the officer ranks than the U.S. Army, Marines, and Air Force.) While attending college, these prospective officer candidates are known as Midshipmen. Whereas Naval Academy Midshipmen are on active duty, NROTC Midshipmen are in the United States Navy Reserve but are on active duty for periods of training during the summer. The primary difference is that NROTC Midshipmen attend college normally, but do NROTC activities on the side, whereas Naval Academy Midshipmen attend the U.S. Naval Academy, which is a much more regimented, military environment than a civilian college.

Joining the Program

The majority of NROTC Midshipmen join the program immediately after completing high school. Those Midshipmen are either Scholarship or College Program Midshipmen. Scholarship Midshipmen are those who applied to the Navy for an ROTC scholarship (during their senior year of high school, or during early college studies). The Navy pays tuition for Scholarship Midshipmen, but does not pay for room and board. In addition to tuition, the Navy pays a monthly stipend during the school year. As of 2006, the stipend was $250 per month for first-year Midshipmen, with a $50 increase each year after that (i.e. $300/month for sophomores, and so on). Because of the technical nature of the Navy, students with a technical major, such as engineering, science, or math, are more competitive for the scholarships. College Program Midshipmen are those who join Navy ROTC without being offered a scholarship. They will eventually be either offered a scholarship by the Navy or dismissed from the program. Midshipmen are either Navy or Marine Option. Marine Option midshipmen have been granted a Marine Corps scholarship. Students without a Marine scholarship who want to be Marine officers often join ROTC as Navy College Program Midshipmen. Then, while in ROTC, they attend Marine training and apply for Marine Option status (All Midshipmen who are officially Marine Option receive the scholarship).

Some NROTC students had served as enlisted men or women in the Navy or Marine Corps, and then were accepted into an officer program. They retain their enlisted rank and pay while attending college. They are not referred to as Midshipmen; instead they are called either Officer Candidates for the Navy or MECEPs (Marine Enlisted Cooperative Education Program participants) for the Marines.

The Program

During the school year

Most college NROTC units are only a part-time commitment during a student's course of study at a university or college. There are three basic parts to a student's ROTC commitment in a typical week:

One or occasionally two days a week are set aside as uniform days, where the midshipman spend several hours attending military training such as inspections, close-order drill practices, and training lectures (either by officers attached to the NROTC unit or guest lecturers). The training is usually in the late afternoon after most classes have ended for the day, or in early mornings before classes. It is common for Marine Option midshipmen and MECEPS to have an additional training period for Marine-specific training.

Usually one to three physical training sessions are required in a week (depending on the specific NROTC unit), generally early in the morning. It is common for Marine Option midshipmen and MECEPS to have additional physical training days.

In addition to those activities, there are regularly scheduled classes in Naval Science that must be taken in ordered succession each year on top of the usual college load. The classes are in Naval history, Naval engineering and weapons, leadership and ethics, and other areas. Besides Naval Science classes, the Navy requires its Midshipmen to take certain calculus, physics, and political science classes taught by the college, and the Marine Corps requires certain history classes for its Midshipmen.

There are other miscellaneous activities scheduled occasionally; some are voluntary and some are mandatory.

During the summer

NROTC students who are on scholarship participate in a summer cruise with the active duty Navy, to get hands-on training with real Navy personnel and equipment. After freshman year Midshipmen either travel to San Diego or Norfolk for CORTRAMID (Career Orientation and Training of Midshipmen). The Midshipmen spend a week in each aspect of the Navy (Surface, Subsurface, Aviation and Marine Corps) to help them decide where they want to go with their career. There are 4-year, 3-year and 2-year NROTC scholarship programs available, which pay for tuition, books, with a modest living stipend and active duty service commitment after graduation. For a new Surface Officer the commitment is four years, while Aviation can last as long as ten years. Students on scholarship are required to maintain status as full-time students (normally 12 undergraduate hours or more per semester) during the regular academic year. Failure to do so can result in the student being placed on academic probation. Two straight semesters on academic probation can result in dismissal from the program. It is still possible to get an officer's commission through NROTC without being on scholarship, in that case the active duty commitment is only three years.

There are very few "full-time" college ROTC programs in existence anymore outside the US Service Academies, but some notable full-time programs include Virginia Military Institute, The Citadel, the Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets, the Corps of Cadets at Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas, the Norwich University (Military College of Vermont) Corp of Cadets in Northfield, VT, and the NROTC unit attached to the Regiment of Cadets at the State University of New York Maritime College in The Bronx, New York.

All six of these full-time cadet programs have NROTC programs whereby participants can become Navy officers. Full-time ROTC means that the midshipman is normally housed together with other midshipmen in barracks-like dormitories, the uniform is worn at least 5 days a week, and regular morning and evening formations are mandatory. Such full-time programs provide a more regimented existence that more closely simulates enlisted military life; they tend to be more demanding than normal college ROTC programs, in that they require extra commitments of time, physical and mental energy, etc. above and beyond most normal ROTC programs. Some officer candidates are drawn to these programs, which often have a rich historical tradition behind them, as well as for the camraderie and networking opportunities that aren't as extensive as with normal NROTC (or ROTC or AFROTC) programs. Other students prefer standard NROTC programs, which allow them to focus more of their energy in to academics rather than being limited by a regimented military life.

Both kinds of college NROTC programs, standard & full-time, have their advantages and drawbacks that must be weighed carefully by individuals considering the best path for them to a Navy officer's career. Some individuals decline ROTC participation altogether and attend Officer Candidate School (OCS) after graduation instead. Some students prefer this route in order to enter certain Navy officer fields that are not usually open to NROTC graduates, such as Naval Intelligence. This is because the NROTC program (like the Naval Academy) is the main officer candidate program for Unrestricted Line Officers; For example, Naval Intelligence officers are Restricted Line Officers and so are normally commissioned through OCS or for Naval Academy graduates or NROTC participants who for some reason are disqualified from becoming unrestricted line officers.

As of 29 April 2005, President George W. Bush signed a bill to rename United States Naval Reserve to United States Navy Reserve (Public Law 108-375). [1]

See also

• NROTC official page, by US Navy
• NROTC section of Navy.com
• ROTC
• How to Win Rotc Scholarships: An In-Depth, Behind-The-Scenes Look at the Rotc Scholarship Selection Process (Paperback)

by C. W. Brewer, ISBN 1882897471 , Lost Coast Press (July 1, 2000)