Prompted Post #5: A look into ROTC

There is no better organization related to my field than the one I am actively involved in. As I mentioned in my "Meet the team" post, I am a student cadet in the Army Reserve Officers Training Corporation (ROTC) here at Michigan State. This means that after college, I will be commissioned as an Officer into the United States Army.

Our ROTC program is known as the Spartan Battalion and we are consistently ranked among the top ten programs in the country. This is because all the cadets here are motivated and want to learn. We have physical training every Monday, Wednesday and Thursday at 05:40 as well as a class which can be taken at various times and a lab which meets every Thursday where we learn to become officers in the United States Army. From day one this program was specific about a few things, the most important one being that we represent the United States and we should act accordingly. In other words, we should be respectful, kind, and the best us we can be in order to give off a good impression. People look at us and think one of two thing, we are the Army people playing dress up, or we are in the Army, both of which are false. We are here to learn about being in the Army and to hopefully earn a spot as a second Lieutenant when we graduated as seniors.

Our main source of communication is through email or the MSU Army ROTC website (http://armyrotc.msu.edu/). We are in contact with the school by helping out at different events throughout the year such as the homecoming parade or different sporting events. Every Cadet in the program has one of two goals, to become an officer or to learn what is it like to be in the Army. However all cadets receive the same befits in that they will come out of the program with new leadership skills, life skills and overall people skills that can be used for the rest of our lives.  

- Eric