This is the first in a series of articles about my experience of joining the Army while I was a senior in high school, traveling around for seven months while training, my return to academic life and balancing out the soldier and the scholar within myself. This first article discusses the ROTC program here at Canisius and introduces the reader to some Army terminology.

I’m sure many of you have noticed students walking around campus in Army uniforms and wondered, “what the hell is going on?” No, martial law has not been declared, nor are there terrorists hiding in tunnels underneath Old Main. Those students you see in camouflage, or rather, don’t see, are members of the Golden Griffin Battalion Reserve Officer Training Corp, more commonly known as ROTC. By the way, the proper pronunciation of that acronym is by quickly spitting out the letters, not, ROT-SEE. They are students just like you, however, they wake up at an ungodly hour to conduct PRT (Physical training) and attended ROTC classes and a Thursday afternoon lab which focuses on different training events. So far this semester the labs have covered a variety of topics including land navigation, hand and radio communications, drill and ceremony, proper shooting techniques, cold weather survival, and my personal favorite, first aid. In the mornings, PRT is usually structured around a specific aspect of physical fitness. Tuesdays usually feature some type of strength training; on Wednesday, we do either long distance running or sprint repeats and Thursdays are functional fitness with a teamwork based game or fun activity.

So, are your classmates really, “in the Army?” Well, that answer, like most things in the Army, is overly complicated. There are a few categories of Cadets,and the majority are in the Army, in one way or the other. The first category is the uncontracted Cadet. These are usually freshmen or sophomores who are in the program but have yet to sign a contract with the government. They are taking the classes but have no obligation to show up to PT/ Lab nor do they owe the government any time following graduation. A student may take two years of ROTC as an uncontracted Cadet. However, starting in your junior year, if you wish to continue with the program you must be offered a contract. This means that you have signed an official agreement with the government that, upon successful graduation you will serve as an officer in the United States Army for at least a specified amount of time, usually four to six years. An officer in the Army is basically the planning side of the Army. All Officers have at least a bachelor’s degree and are considered the “managers” of the Army. Think of it like this, your Officers, having such ranks as Lieutenants, Captains, Colonels and Generals are the planners, whereas your enlisted men, the privates, specialists, and sergeants of the Army are the doers. Officers are paid more and may not do as much of the physical or grunt work, but they are responsible for much more than the enlisted side and are asked to think in very different ways and take things into consideration that many would not even consider. A contracted Cadet is one that has signed a contract with the government, indicating that they will serve as an officer upon graduation. Often a contracted Cadet is offered a scholarship through the ROTC program, they can range anywhere from a full four-year contract, which are quite rare, to the more common two and three year contracts. Should a Cadet take the money from the government, and then dropout or fail to meet the standards of the program, or are kicked out for many various reasons including the use of illegal drugs and felony convictions, they must pay their scholarship back. Thus, there is a great incentive to do the right thing and meet the requirements. Luckily, here at the Golden Griffin battalion, which is based at Canisius but also includes, UB, Buffalo State, Medaille, Daemen, D’Youville, Hilbert and ECC, there are great cadre and leadership who set Cadets up for success. Cadre are the senior noncommissioned officers, (master sergeants) with upwards of eighteen years of experience in the Army who train and instruct the Cadets in all aspects of military life. The SNCO's are assisted by the Officers in the program who lend their experience as they have been officers for many years, and provide an insight into the life of a Second Lieutenant, the rank bestowed up a Cadet upon completion of the program. The last category of Cadets are those enrolled in the simultaneous membership program or more commonly called SMP Cadets. These Cadets have gone through basic combat training (boot camp) and some, but not all, have gone to Advanced Individual Training (think of it as a trade school where you learn to do the job you signed up for) and now serve in either the Army Reserves of the National Guard in a unit. These SMP Cadets are also enrolled in college and wanted to go from the enlisted side that they currently are in to the officer world. As they are already enlisted and have an obligation to their unit they go from doing whatever their job is, i.e. cook, mechanic, medic, logistics specialist, artilleryman, infantryman, to shadowing an officer during drill weekends and learning how they do their daily jobs. SMP Cadets bring in great experience to the ROTC program and many non-SMP Cadets look up to them and draw from their experience. I am a prospective SMP Cadet, however, as per Army regulation, I cannot contract until my Sophomore year and thus I, for now, have no obligation to do anything but attend class but I still try and make it to as many PRT sessions as possible as well as all the labs. So, back to the original question, are they soldiers? Well, technically, only the contracted cadets and the SMP Cadets are soldiers. They must follow the special laws that apply to those in the military. Both SMP Cadets and regular contracted Cadets rose their right hand and swore to defend and uphold the constitution of the United States of America against all enemies, both foreign and domestic. These young students have made the decision to be something greater than themselves, and bring a lot to the table. Even for non-contracted Cadets who end up leaving the program after their sophomore year, the lessons and experiences they had will stay with them for the rest of their lives.

If you are interested in this lifestyle I recommend signing up for the MLS 102 class for the spring semester, there is no prerequisite for it, and the instructor, MSG Wood is one the most intelligent and experienced men I have ever met. By the way, taking this class does not mean you are in the Army and now owe Uncle Sam many years of your life, it is just a three credit class that is designed to introduce you to the Army. The course is offered MWF 8-8:50, TR, 1:00-2:15 and Wednesdays from 3-5:45. The lab is Thursday 3-5 and PRT is run Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 5:50AM-7AM.

In my next article I will discuss more on my personal experiences in the Army, from the moment I swore in to going through the Initial Entry Training composed of reception, BCT and AIT.