What is the current impact of "No More Urban Officers" and the potential "uneven" ROTC program on our Army?

LTC Thomas Tennant — Fri, 01 Apr 2016 09:57:36 -0400

No More Urban Officers? How an Uneven ROTC May Change Our Military

Big-city campuses once produced superstars like Colin Powell. Today, those programs are dwindling -- which may lead to a whiter, more rural military.

Response by LTC Thomas Tennant made Apr 1 at 2016 9:58 AM

LTC Thomas Tennant — Fri, 01 Apr 2016 09:58:52 -0400

My thanks to PFC Al Sethre for posting this article earlier this week. Frankly, the article and the comments struck a nerve and cord for me. I remember this article from 2012. It is even more relevant now. The greater North Eastern and New England schools have become even more liberal and student participation in programs like ROTC have become harder (if not prohibitive).

The main reason the article resonated with me is because since the 1970's I have witnessed the retreat of ROTC from our college and university campuses. It is in effect fading away into irrelevancy. We, as a military community and the ROTC Program in particular, have ceded the academic battlefield to the liberal progressive left one campus at a time. Like our current ineffective GWOT and ISIS, we are losing battle for the hearts and minds of future leaders because of an apparent lack of strategy and leadership rooted in the lack of political will.

This is not a "marketing issue", which some have postulated. Lack of good marketing is frankly a too easy explanation and belies the historical failure to push the land grant colleges to live up to their land grant status. The benefits extend beyond the initial land grants into current DOD and other federal government funding and support. I believe most student loans and grants are also tied to the land grant provisions as well. So while within the student body of any given institution there will always be the constant tensions associated with a NE liberal educational environment, marketing is just part of the solution. But without a conscious leadership decision to aggressively apply that pressure needed as well as address the marketing and social issues, the ROTC program will continue to dwindle in the NW and other liberal academic institutions of learning.

On a personal level, I have watched the ROTC program ceding the battlefield to the liberal leftists since the 1970s. It coincided with the end of the draft and advent of "All Volunteer Army" which were both driven by political necessity. I watched it first hand at the University of Vermont (UVM) when campus administration allowed the Anti-War protesters lead by John Kerry's "Vietnam Veteran's Against the War" take over the "old field house" where ROTC was located. They even tried to break into our arms vault which was and still is a federal crime. In the end, ROTC was moved several times throughout the years until it is completely off the main campus. Each move was a compromise with the ever increasing demands of the leftist student activists. They were egged on by their mostly openly socialist/communist political science professors. So much for diversity and academic freedom at UVM; it died in the early 1970's with the campus sit-ins and repetitive occupations of the ROTC department offices & classrooms.

Instead of holding the UVM administration accountable and making them live up to the original land grant charter, the ROTC Program caved every step of the way. The current off campus location was the result of a compromise so the UVM students could still attend and receive credit for the ROTC courses taken. The activists at the time wanted ROTC relegated to being an "extracurricular" activity vs being an academic course of study for graduation credits. Now that the ROTC footprint is gone from the UVM campus, I fully expect the academic credits will be gone as well. And this onslaught was happening throughout the NE and Northern liberal land grant colleges. But this is not the half of it, today even more cadets have to spent a lot of time and money to travel to ROTC training and unlike the USMC commissioning program they have no other options. (Note: USMC "cadets" train extensively during the summers and various academic breaks throughout the year)

In the case of UVM, it's science and technology departments received heavy defense research grants and support. A good percentage of the students are receiving "student defense" loans and grants. I did as well and as an alumnus, I can safely say they still do even today. At every step of the way, DOD could have easily pulled them until the program was fully reinstated. But when I was there it was the Nixon-Ford-Carter period in our history, and the political will to make those moves was not really there. Today the excuse given is we are deep in the GWOT and Obama's DOD is staying mum on the issue.

Now, after almost 38 years of commissioned service, I am seeing some potential and inherent dangers in this stratification within each ROTC class. We are gleaming our future Army & Reserve leaders from an increasing less diverse academic population. Inner Northeastern urban colleges are more and more under represented with each passing ROTC class and I personally think it could weaken the officer core coming out of ROTC. At the same time those institutions of higher education and champions of diversity are cutting out a vital segment of intellectual thoughts and perspectives. The intrinsic value of ROTC which represents a more conservative approach to leadership and character building than currently offered on most campuses. It is and was an existential threat to the progressive liberal thought and leftist teachings. I know this first hand having had to listen to a senior grad student named Bernie Sanders (yep the one in the same candidate for president) expound upon this topic in one of my advance political science classes.

Bottom line and net effect to me is a "Lose-Lose" deal and this needs to be an issue for senior leadership.

Response by SSG Ed Mikus made Apr 1 at 2016 10:01 AM

SSG Ed Mikus — Fri, 01 Apr 2016 10:01:43 -0400

There are many country changing issues going on within our military education systems right now. admittedly i have not read all of the article LTC Thomas Tennant is speaking of, I know there have been many issues with NCO and Officer leadership miss matches as more enlisted people have higher degrees.

I think the real issue is the lack real threats that we Americans experience and the belief that everyone loves everyone and bad people just need people to be nice to them.

Response by COL Jon Thompson made Apr 1 at 2016 10:15 AM

COL Jon Thompson — Fri, 01 Apr 2016 10:15:44 -0400

I don't see the article link so I am not sure what is meant by "no more urban officers." Please provide a link to the article so I have a better understanding. I think there has been an imbalance for years on who has the propensity to serve. This is the same for recruiters and ROTC programs. I think this is also part of the growing disconnect between military and civilians. My primary concern is that we have enough high quality Soldiers and leaders to defend our nation. I don't really care where they come from or what their backgrounds, race, etc., are.

Response by Sgt Aaron Kennedy, MS made Apr 1 at 2016 10:16 AM

Sgt Aaron Kennedy, MS — Fri, 01 Apr 2016 10:16:49 -0400

I think we can mitigate it through things like Direct Commissioning programs and Enlisted Commissioning Programs. Although ROTC is a great program, and it does appear to be imbalanced to the point of "disproportionate representation" (Geographic to the point of where it is affecting Ethnic and Racial), we can use our other Commissioning avenues to offset it because we are aware of it.

As an example, the Service Academies have a nomination process through Congress, the VP and the Pres. Since it each Congressman (specifically Rep) gets 5 Nominations, and those are allocated by Population, therefore Urban Areas should get higher representation. Areas like NYC, Chicago, LA, and their outlying sprawl "should" be receiving "Service Academy Graduates" a higher rate (assumption on my part).

Furthermore, Direct Commisions are awarded to Law & Medical Students. Those can be targeted to Urban Areas (where the large Law & Medical Schools are... and where the Debt is).

We can offset this.. if we want to.

Response by LT Erik Frederick made Apr 1 at 2016 10:48 AM

LT Erik Frederick — Fri, 01 Apr 2016 10:48:19 -0400

This isn't just a problem for the military. It is a problem for our society. I live in New England and am amazed at how few people I meet in my day-to-day life not only haven't served, but tell me I'm the only one they know who has served. This creates a very real disconnect between voters and those who do the fighting and dying in in the conflicts our elected officials involve us in. It also creates an unhealthy disconnect between those who serve and those who do not.

Response by CAPT Kevin B. made Apr 1 at 2016 12:50 PM

CAPT Kevin B. — Fri, 01 Apr 2016 12:50:41 -0400

I'm looking more at what the result would be, which may be a plus. So the overall ROTC output gets diminished from uberliberal schools meaning what's left is typically more moderate and less contaminated. What's wrong with that? ROTC students can do their thing in a more welcoming environment. In the extreme case, it can lead to a nasty social class division. Funny thing is the liberal school population tends to have more physical violence response to views they don't like or in one case "Trump Chalk" causes head cases that need trauma support counseling; boo hoo. The Education Department is pretty worthless but should drop the hammer on schools and their sponsoring states by pulling funds away and putting them where the national interest is best served. Bottom line, at some level it might be a good thing.

Response by LTC John Shaw made Apr 1 at 2016 1:46 PM

LTC John Shaw — Fri, 01 Apr 2016 13:46:54 -0400

There are Urban officer programs but there is not as many and they have been reduced in the NE. We need to hold schools accountable and remove federal funding if they don't allow ROTC

Response by Lt Col Jim Coe made Apr 1 at 2016 4:26 PM

Lt Col Jim Coe — Fri, 01 Apr 2016 16:26:46 -0400

I was an AFROTC graduate from a small university with a smaller ROTC program (12 grads in my class) in the central US. Almost everybody at that university was a commuter. Most ROTC cadets concentrated on the military during their "aerospace education" classes and on drill day. The rest of the time they were like all the other college students. Mandatory uniform wear was for drill only.

As a Pilot Training Instructor I found little difference among the pilot students based on their commissioning source. A lieutenant from Texas A&M, or the Air Force Academy, or the University of Colorado were all equally likely to succeed or fail at becoming a pilot. I suspect the other Services have similar experiences with their incoming lieutenants and basic courses. The military tends to become a great equalizer.

Response by Cadet 2LT Private RallyPoint Member made Apr 1 at 2016 4:42 PM

Cadet 2LT Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 01 Apr 2016 16:42:48 -0400

I know that as a cadet my opinion is worth its weight in dirt, but as someone contracted in an ROTC program in the northeast that is split between several schools, I don't really see what the issue is here.

Is the argument that the Army is not demographically representative of the American population? This has been an issue that the entire military has faced for a very long time, and is certainly not exclusive to northeastern ROTC programs. I also don't see any causative link between the prevalence of Caucasian enrollment and the need to commute to ROTC programs. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that there is nothing wrong with the Army's demographics, just that this article doesn't really do justice to the issue that it presents.

Do commuter students have a harder time forming meaningful relationships with local cadets? Absolutely. My ROTC program mainly consists of two separate schools, and even though there is only a couple of miles between them geographically, the gap between the social networks of one and the other is extremely evident. Any time you have different backgrounds and experiences from somebody else it is a challenge to develop a professional and personal working relationship with those people. This, once again, is not exclusive to ROTC. In any walk of life like-minded will have an easier time forming relationships than people from different backgrounds, that's just human psychology. I can't imagine that this issue is any better outside of the northeast where distances to and from schools is an order of magnitude larger.

The point is that ROTC in this case is a red herring for a much more fundamental issue in the United States, where members of the military are increasingly insulated from the general populace due to having an all volunteer military. That is an entirely different can of worms which many people have written about, and I feel is a more accurate predictor of the issues our military faces in regards to demographics and composition.

Response by SSG Trevor S. made Apr 1 at 2016 10:58 PM

SSG Trevor S. — Fri, 01 Apr 2016 22:58:20 -0400

There is an easy solution to the location demographic concern. Mandatory service would end all racial, location, income, and gender demographic disparity. Short of that, we need to realize this is a volunteer military and it will attract recruits as the recruit's needs see fit.

Response by SFC Stephen Carden made Apr 2 at 2016 12:07 AM

SFC Stephen Carden — Sat, 02 Apr 2016 00:07:16 -0400

Why should the military be proportionate to the country? We are less than one percent of the population. Is it even possible to have every demographic represented in such a small sample? Even if there is no officer recruitment from urban areas like NYC, there are still plenty of enlisted folks who come from those areas. Some of these enlisted will go to OCS. I would rather have an officer who is a former enlisted OCS graduate anyway. I think ROTC programs are great opportunities for those who want to serve as an officer and can't make it into service academies, but would the Army survive without them? Absolutely. If you want a more diverse officer corps, then start culling candidates from the enlisted ranks. We have the education these days. It's not like it was in the pre-1980's Army.

Response by Cadet PFC Private RallyPoint Member made Apr 6 at 2016 6:47 AM

Cadet PFC Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 06 Apr 2016 06:47:10 -0400

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