A lot of college students are sharing Winter’s discovery. Two years of war, a slumping economy and an uncertain job market have produced a bumper crop of ROTC applications, especially at schools in the South and the Midwest, the two regions that account for most of the U.S. military’s personnel. Numbers are rising across the board. Since 2001, cadet applications are up 31 percent for Air Force ROTC, 12 percent for the Navy’s college program and 8 percent for the Army ROTC. Of the three pipelines that feed officers into America’s military–the others are the service academies and Officer Candidate Schools–ROTC is the largest. With famous alumni like retired Gen. Colin Powell and Sam Walton, the father of Wal-Mart, it has been shaping the citizen soldiers who lead America’s twin engines of war and industry since 1916.
What does a college curriculum look like dressed in olive drab? For starters, cadets are issued battle-dress uniforms, although nobody’s forced to get “high and tight” haircuts. During freshman semesters, cadets take one weekly course, anything from French and Raven’s Theories of Power and Influence to Kelley’s Theories of Followership. Monthly “leadership labs” give cadets the opportunity to rappel down towers and jump off high-dive boards, blindfolded. Above all, classes use military doctrine and current events to weave leadership through every topic, whether it’s personal responsibility in the wake of the Abu Ghraib Prison scandal, the merit of physical fitness or values and stereotypes. “If you really want to find out what you’re capable of,” says Brock Peters, a newly commissioned officer from Eastern Michigan University, “I don’t think there’s anything that can touch ROTC.”
The bill comes due in the form of service. After graduation, cadets owe the U.S. military eight years, either in a National Guard or Reserve unit or in the active-duty military. Or cadets can take an educational delay and get their law or business degree. But the cost is steep for cadets who sign a commission contract and drop out before graduation. Rulings are made on a case-by-case basis, but students can be forced to pay back the scholarship–or they can be sent straight to the enlistment office. Uncle Sam demands a return on his investment.
