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F
th 6 °f ^ie NROTC program to meet
,e lncrcased demands placed on it to man e ^00-ship Navy depends in large measure °n the fleet itself. The midshipmen cruises cQn create, enforce, or destroy the NROTC .udents’ desire to enter the Navy and make lt a career.
w some years, the Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps (NROTC) scholarship program has been the Cers NavY’s largest source of regular commissioned offiCer ' ' a^so produces a significant number of reserve offi- Nav hr°u®*1 *ts nonscholarship college program. As the grou^ ^Ursues its goal of 600 ships and 15 carrier battle f]e Ps’ number of new officers needed to man the Pect (T'" ^F0W acc°rdingly. The NROTC program is ex- pr . to Provide its share by increasing its output by ap- aboi ,Ttely ^0 officers per year. This means a growth of offi ^rom an annual commissioning of 1,100-1,200
chaUerS t0 * >600-1,700 officers.1 This represents a major beenen?e t0 the program. Several changes have already ‘"‘tmted to help achieve these new goals, and other p-1 1Cations may be needed in the future.
0f Congress has approved an increase in the number The U CntS °n four-year scholarships from 6,000 to 8,000. be„ nurnbers will grow in increments of 500 per year, and 1982° XWhCn scholarships were authorized for the
these ^ acaclemic year. Congress further specified that in r6 a^ltlonal scholarships will go to students majoring SchoC;ence or technical subjects. As with the initial 6,000 stu . arships, one-sixth will be allocated to Marine Corps ^ents and five-sixths to Navy students.
second change is an increase in the number of
NROTC units. In the fall of 1981, the Secretary of the Navy announced approval of three new units, two of which opened in the summer of 1982. Both are “consortium” units, which support several institutions as equal partners. These units also established the first NROTC program in the Navy’s two largest fleet bases. The Hampton Roads Unit in the Norfolk, Virginia, area serves Hampton Institute, Norfolk State University, and Old Dominion University. The San Diego Unit serves San Diego State University and the University of San Diego. The third unit, at Virginia Polytechnic Institute, will begin operations with the 1983-84 academic year. In addition to these, a fourth unit will open at Boston University. Four more units will open the following summer and start classes in the fall of 1984: University of Arizona, George Washington University in Washington, D.C., Memphis State University, and Norwich University in Vermont.
In its essential structure, the NROTC program has been remarkably stable for the past 30 years. It includes both four-year and two-year scholarship programs that lead to regular commissions and an obligation of four years of active service. Selection to these scholarships is administered by the Navy Recruiting Command. There is also a nonscholarship college program that leads to a reserve commission and carries a three-year active duty obligation. This program is administered locally by the NROTC units and coordinated by the Chief of Naval Education and Training (CNET), who manages the entire NROTC program. CNET also selects college program students for transfer into the scholarship program to fill vacancies created through attrition. The Navy pays the cost of tuition, fees, and books for scholarship students. These students also receive a $100 monthly stipend for up to ten months of the academic year and active duty midshipmen pay during summer training duty. College program students receive no financial support in their first two years, but in their junior and senior years, they receive the same $100 per month and active duty training pay as their scholarship counterparts. All midshipmen receive uniforms and naval
science textbooks without charge. While the professional naval science courses have been continuously updated to reflect the technological advancements that have transformed the Navy during the past decades, the subjects themselves have changed little. Courses still address naval orientation, naval engineering, naval weapon systems, sea power and naval history, navigation and operations, and leadership and management. Students may apply for the Marine Corps option, take Marine Corps-oriented professional courses in their junior and senior years, and receive commissions in the Marine Corps or Marine Corps Reserve. Aside from the addition of a sail training program for all midshipmen, most of the program’s major features have remained the same since 1947.2 Yet, within this sta | technical and nontechnical majors among scholarship recipients or, more importantly, if it will affect the educational profile of the officers who join the fleet fro® NROTC. (This illustrates a problem inherent in <he NROTC program: most changes take four or more years to reveal their true results, and the policymaker who directs a change is often gone from the scene long before we know the impact of his orders. This lack of “instant response invites frequent tinkering with the system and equally f®' quent frustration when the system does not react immediately. Thus, aggressive recruiting this fall for potent® nuclear power candidates will not produce additional old' cers at nuclear power school next summer or even the summer after, that.) |
bility, there have been subtle changes—principally in the emphasis placed on the non-naval science curricula pursued by the NROTC scholarship students. In 1976, Chief of Naval Operations Admiral James Holloway directed changes in the selection process that tended to increase the scientific and technical content of the overall program and to increase the proportion of Navy scholarship students who majored in engineering and hard sciences. Marine Corps scholarship recipients and college program students were still allowed a wider choice of majors. These changes were controversial, but the dire predictions voiced at the time have not materialized, and the program has endured.3 Admiral Holloway’s policy mandated that 80% of the students on scholarship must major in engineering or hard science fields. This created concern that the officer corps would soon become too technically oriented and lose the leavening of intellectual breadth provided by officers who have studied the humanities. After seven years under that guidance, the Secretary of the Navy has now quietly authorized a modification to the 80% rule. To avoid reinforcing the perception that the Navy is interested only in science and engineering majors, the most recent scholarship selection board was tasked to select students who attained scores of 1,250 in the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) or 56 in the American College Test (ACT) regardless of the students’ intended majors. For applicants whose scores fell below this level, the board was still instructed to favor students indicating plans to pursue a technical major. The high-scoring students, while free to major in other than scientific fields, are still required to take the year of calculus and the year of calculus-based physics required of all scholarship students. They are also required to devote half of their electives outside their major to scientifically oriented courses. The immediate effect of this change in guidance has so far been imperceptible. In the 1982 selection process, 89% of the principals and 83% of the alternates said they intended to major in engineering or other sciences. In 1983, those proportions were virtually identical (88.5% and 83%). However, when the students completed their applications, they knew that the selection process had long been biased in favor of the technical majors, and a good many may have claimed technical majors while harboring plans to shift to other, nontechnical fields once they actually began college. It will take a few more years before we know if the new guidance will alter the balance between | Another potential change in the basic curricula is under study in a pilot program at a few selected NRO1 colleges. This program specifies certain “core” courses that each student must take and offers a wider choice o courses to supplement this core. This plan is still in a developmental stage, and results will not be available to several years. , A more significant change in the NROTC program s ability to produce sufficient officers is a congressional f mandated shift of the service obligation point. Until this year, NROTC midshipmen incurred no obligation for ac tive military service until they entered the advanced phase of the program at the start of their junior year of college In essence, the first two years were a free ride for those on scholarship; they could drop out after having had two m years of scholarship and owe the Navy nothing. As a re suit, the program had experienced a significant attrition rate (31%-37%) after the sophomore year. In an effort ® reduce this costly attrition, Congress directed that, beg)0 ning with the class entering in fall 1983, the obligat®^ point for students on scholarship will be the start of 1 sophomore year, thus reducing the free ride to one year' (College program students are unaffected, because the service obligation does not begin until they start to rece) their $100 monthly stipend in their junior year.) The i® pact this will have is the object of much speculation. Som predict a reduced attrition rate as students stay on to ga*^ the benefits of the scholarship; others foresee increas losses that will demand higher future enrollments as com pensation. Both sides have persuasive points, but on; time will tell which view is correct. Over the next few years, however, the changed obhga tion point will have major implications for enrollme goals. During the summer of 1984, the program will exp^ rience a double attrition: the rising juniors of the class ^ 1986 will reach their obligation point at the same time the rising sophomores of the class of 1987. Depending " the attrition rate for the class of 1987, this means that t system will have to enroll between 3,200 and 3,600 freS men in scholarships in the fall of 1984 to fill the autho ized 8,000 scholarships. Freshman enrollments over past four years have ranged between 1,630 and 2,j ’ therefore, the magnitude of the recruiting task is g*arin^| There is no assurance that the Navy can attract a suffid number of talented students, and there is also some con |
| .. ■ > i i,____ ...li ht‘f |
stud Un'tS' c°pective capacity to handle that many
susta'11 S ^VCn brightest optimists foresee a need to stud " 311 annUal 'npUt of aPProximately 2,450 to 2,500 reauentS l° ^ scholarship positions and to produce the for num^er °f graduates. Clearly, the opportunities are imme^ ^ ^reat’ anc^ the challenges for the system
propoSC/^ assoc*ated with the new obligation point is a currem? l° a^ter summer training cruise regime. As summ ^ organized, the scholarship student takes three essent^ri ,Crutses - The first is spent on board ship in an gaged'3 en^stecl environment, and the student is en- •ntend *? enf|steti~type work assignments. This cruise is wjth th !° ^*VC ProsPective officers a personal familiarity and w C IV'n^ 3nC^ w°rlring conditions that enlisted men career00160 exPcr’ence- The second summer is devoted to variou °Pportunities and introduces the midshipmen to the fine S ,War^are communities, such as aviation, subma- finaj ^ ace warfare, and the Marine Corps. The third and collepCrUlSe ^an(* onIy cruise for the nonscholarship this t' Pr°^ram student) is another seagoing cruise, but This *me midshipmen perform junior officer duties, and i FUlSe Provides firsthand experience in the problems ssues the students will address in the senior year naval science course in leadership and management. For some, such as those destined for the aviation program, it may provide their only surface ship experience as a junior officer.
Unfortunately, despite its good intentions, the first cruise—the quasi-enlisted experience—has also proved to be the low point of the entire NROTC experience for many students. It has not effectively motivated them toward continuing in the program and becoming officers in the Navy or Marine Corps. Many are frankly turned off by it. What is worse, the new obligation point means that immediately after this frequently unstimulating experience, the student will be asked to pledge himself to three years in the NROTC program followed by four years of active naval service. Under these circumstances, the pessimistic
Eight new NROTC units have been approved since late 1981. Two of these are consortium units—the Hampton Roads Unit and the San Diego Unit. The high student interest in the Hampton Roads Unit—swearing in ceremony at Old Dominion University, below—suggests that many potential candidates for the NROTC program are ready to participate if the opportunity is offered close to home.
views concerning attrition rates at the obligation point seem warranted.
To avoid this predicament, the professors of naval science have proposed, and CNET is considering, a plan to modify the training cruise agenda. Under the new plan, the first cruise would include some “enlisted experience,” but it would more closely resemble the career opportunities cruise, providing exposure to the various warfare specialties. This should bring the students to the obligation point with a considerably better taste in their mouths. The second summer would offer several options: the student might choose to attend summer school or work rather than go on summer training, or he may choose to attend a “specialized” training program such as the Army “jump school” or the Navy Basic Underwater Demolition/ Swimmer course. It might also become the principal opportunity for a sail training cruise, which is currently an alternative for either the first or third cruises. The final cruise, just before the senior year, would remain a seagoing cruise providing hands-on experience in the duties and responsibilities of junior officer billets. If implemented, this summer training plan could enhance retention at the obligation point, retain essential sea duty experience, and add flexibility to the “optional” summer.
The scarcity of training billets, especially for the at-sea cruise, might itself bring about revision of the cruise program. The number of scholarship students has not yet reached the target of 8,000; yet, it is already becoming difficult to find room for midshipmen on board ships. The fleet manning level is up (the Naval Military Personnel Command now speaks of “billet shortages,” evidently a euphemism for excess manning), thus space is tight. Fiscal constraints limit operating time for ships, yet studies show that the most effective training cruises are those that include 25-50% underway time. These factors combined may further influence some rearrangement of the entire cruise program.
Currently, NROTC program benefits are payable for only four years. At many colleges, it is not possible to complete the requirements for a degree—particularly in the engineering fields—and also complete the naval science curriculum all within four years. Students facing this problem are forced to take a semester or two of leave of absence and attend college without any Navy assistance or stipend. Pending congressional initiatives would authorize a fifth year of benefits for students who must, for reasons beyond their control, attend college for more than four years to complete their degree requirements. If approved, this change should make the program significantly more attractive to students who cannot finance a fifth year of college on their own.
Growth of the NROTC program, and particularly its increasing presence on campuses with large populations of black students, such as Hampton Institute and Norfolk State University, will also enable the program to contribute to the Navy’s minority officer strength. With a goal of 11% of minority officers by 1988 (6% black, up from 2.8% in 1982), strong NROTC programs at these traditionally black institutions will enable the service to commission an increasing number of black officers. Efforts to
increase the number of black students awarded NROT scholarships have been hampered by at least two barriers- The first is that black students as a group tend to have lower SAT scores than other students. The Navy has no been able to find a reliable technique for offsetting this situation, so fewer black applicants qualify for scholar ships on the basis of test scores. Moreover, an unusual) high proportion of black applicants for NROTC scholar ships fail to complete the application process and thus can not be included among the finalists considered by the se lection boards. The one factor missing from mos applications is SAT and ACT results. Whether this is oe cause the students never take the tests or because they tak the tests and decide the resulting scores are too low to enable them to compete, the outcome is the same: t number of black candidates eligible for consideration|S small. There are other problems involved in minority re cruiting, including the scarcity of effective role mode and perceptions within minority communities that t Navy and Marine Corps do not offer real career opportw11 ties at the officer level to minorities. Getting more min°r ity students onto the NROTC scholarship rolls now cou be an effective step toward setting these problems to re in the long run.
A chronic difficulty in the NROTC scholarship progra affects women. The number of qualified women aPP j. cants generally exceeds by a large margin the number scholarships available for them. This is the result of ma ; influences, including excellent retention rates anl° ^ women officers, but it is especially driven by the fact t there are only a limited number of billets for women ho ing regular Navy and Marine Corps commissions. To g°^ em the number of regular women officers commission through the NROTC program, the Chief of Naval Oper^ tions has established a policy of limiting scholarships to ^ women per college class (55 in the Navy option and 1 * 1 the Marine option). The competition for these 264 schoia ships is extremely intense, and many very good fen1 candidates miss out. They can, of course, enroll in college program, obtain a reserve commission, and subse quently seek a regular commission through the augmen tion process, and many do so. But the Navy and Marl Corps also lose some very talented female midshipmen the process. The prospects for relief in this area are sb ’ and continuing end-strength limitations on the s®rVlC will probably demand continuing enrollment restrict!0 for women.
The fleet and Broadened Opportunity for Officer Sc e tion and Training (BOOST) program have become ^ creasingly important sources of NROTC scholarship ca^ didates. Fleet candidates compete in the nati° scholarship competition at both the four-year and the t ^ year levels. In many cases, these candidates are junior- middle-grade petty officers who bring to the NROTC P gram a substantial knowledge of naval traditions, mm ‘' discipline, strong leadership, and invaluable practica perience. Given the need to increase NROTC enrollmen fleet candidates may be a prime source for additional tn shipmen because they bring with them much more academic capabilities.
The NROTC goal for incoming freshmen in 1985 will be difficult to attain because the point when an NROTC student incurs a service obligation has been moved forward one year. As a result, in the summer of 1984, two classes will suffer their largest attritions at the same time.
V RECRUrtlNG c
°rs to . OST program sends both recruits and fleet-saii- Pfogra*111 l?tenS’^e<^ preparatory course at San Diego. This chan„m • 3S uni^er§one a number of administrative dems Slnce its inception. Today, 80% of BOOST stu- demic^6/11'1101^65' ^ student at BOOST whose aca- in (l Per‘°nnance meets the standards for being a finalist Sc°re of"o'°11^Bol^ship competition (combined SAT ttdgqu , | and is otherwise physically qualified and NROTr ^ adaptable, can be assigned to a four-year gradu t sc^°iarship. In its early years, many BOOST y°nd thCS entcred NROTC units at colleges that were be- rateandCfr acac*ernic ability. The result was a high failure match th CW 8raciuating officers. The program now tries to ^acad6 Stu^ent s choice of NROTC colleges to his or in thpd £rn*C aPtltude, and the result has been an increase lcge g*QQ ^er BOOST graduates who remain in col- status - . students who have achieved commissioned
their in^ St'P ^ew’ ^ut number currently succeeding in graiT1 sh1101^ an^ Senior years is encouraging, and the pro- ’tt'norit °Ws.^0°d prospects for augmenting the number of NROTC m'^s^'Pmen who gain officer status through
ernpha .^^TC program has traditionally placed strong receiveIS h” aca^em'c excellence. NROTC midshipmen than th SUbstantially more scholastic and social counseling m0nitoe'r. civilian classmates, and their performance is colleg , mucb rnore closely than is that of the typical 1113,1 De ptUC*ent- The 8°al is to ensure that each midship- to NR(yrpinS UP t0 Potential. The junior officers assigned time in • un*ts as instructors spend a large part of their knowi ^u,dance and counseling. They are charged with atlci no ^ n0t 0n*^ wbat each student achieves in both naval student naval courscs’ But also for assessing what each estimat 't t0 acbieve- A student who falls short of his Sessions ^°tentla^ receives counseling, supervised study The ’ an^’ ^ necessary, remedial instruction. NRo-ppVast rnajority of the students enrolling in the spheres qPro8ram today is from the highest academic 19^3 w- Toa' set for the scholarship selection board in have a tc tbat principal scholarship selectees would ^ithouCih*eVe^ comBined SAT scores of 1,250 or higher, the nr'^ tb'S 80a' was not met, the average SAT score for l982 Th'Pal selectees was 1,260—up from 1,232 in uted to • 6 exceBence of the candidate pool can be attrib- a number of factors, and since most of them are likely to change in the future, current success does not necessarily suggest future improvement.
Clearly, attitudes toward military service have altered greatly over the past decade, and the youth of today see military service as a much more acceptable pursuit than did the youth of ten to 15 years ago. We can hope that this public esteem of military service will continue—or at least not return to the depths of antimilitarism that marked Vietnam and the post-Vietnam era—but the Navy cannot depend upon such a favorable environment to guarantee a continuing flow of students interested in Navy or Marine service and NROTC scholarships. Indeed, the demographic structure of the United States, with its declining pool of college-age youths, will make it more and more difficult to sustain NROTC recruiting.
Just as today’s students perceive the military in a more favorable light than their predecessors did, so the students of today have personal goals and values that differ from those of the recent past. They are more concerned with preparation for future careers than were their predecessors. They have been described as materialistic and achievement-oriented rather than idealistic, and perhaps with some justification. The uncertain economy of the last few years has reinforced this trend, and many students today see the NROTC program as a way to ensure a job at the end of college. This situation will surely change as the economy makes its inevitable comeback; the balance may even reverse itself, and we may find ourselves once again in hot competition with the civilian sector for the best students. Such a development will erode the current attractiveness of NROTC scholarships and make it difficult to meet the desired levels of enrollment and commissioning.
Prevailing economic conditions also aid the NROTC recruiting process indirectly, as many families simply cannot afford the steadily growing cost of college. A program that offers a scholarship covering the preponderance of the costs of a college education is bound to be welcomed. Even students who do not win scholarships on their first attempt frequently enroll in the college program in the hopes of a second chance to earn a scholarship. An improving economy may reduce this favorable influence; but since the cost of higher education will probably continue to rise, the NROTC scholarship will remain tempting for all but the wealthiest of prospective students. Of course, the value of an NROTC scholarship depends upon the tuition rate, which varies widely among institutions. At state universities with relatively low fees, the scholarship may lose most of its allure as affluence returns. But at major private schools with a high-technology emphasis and comparably high costs—the very colleges whose graduates are sorely needed in a high-technology and nuclear Navy—
the NROTC scholarship will continue to represent a genuine and attractive bargain.
What, then, can one conclude about the NROTC program and its ability to supply the naval services with officers in the future? The needs of the services—more officers for the growing fleet and for the Marine Corps—are clear. The demand for greater minority strength in the officer corps is equally clear. The question is, can the NROTC program fill the needs? Increasing the number of scholarships should help, assuming we can find enough talented students to accept them, as should increasing the number of units. The high level of interest in the new unit at Hampton Roads has suggested untapped resources in some geographical areas. Many enrolled in the new unit have stated that they probably would not have entered a Navy program if it had meant going to college in a different area. These midshipmen must be considered net gains to the program, not a mere relocation of students from old units to new ones. The easing of the 80% engineering/ science policy may have some favorable impact, but it affects only students with the top academic scores; moreover, the real-world demands of the naval services dictate sustained emphasis on the sciences and engineering.
The new obligation point will certainly have the most disruptive consequences in the short term. Unless the reform of the first-year cruise can significantly reduce the obligation point attrition rate, it will be extremely difficult to maintain current standards, fill the NROTC scholarships, and achieve the necessary number of incoming freshmen in 1985. A shortfall in 1985 will tend to perpetuate itself and perhaps even develop a bow-wave effect that will aggravate the shortfall in the outyears. Since improved economic conditions are likely to diminish the attractiveness of the NROTC program at about the same time this shortfall hits, the situation is especially discouraging. Adding tuition benefits for a fifth year should be helpful, but it will not affect enough people to be a decisive factor in increasing NROTC enrollment. Careful management of the BOOST program, sensible placement of BOOST graduates, and increasing the fleet input in the annual scholarship competition can contribute to meeting program goals, but they cannot solve the whole problem. Awarding more scholarships to women could probably reduce shortfalls significantly, but that decision cannot be reached in isolation. It can be made only along with other decisions about the overall role women will play in the future of the naval services and the associated decisions concerning end strength, assignment limitations, and development of satisfying professional career patterns.
The NROTC program can certainly make an import3111 contribution to minority officer strength, in part by adding units at high-quality minority institutions, and in part w recruiting more .minority candidates. Given the demo11 strable variance in standardized test results among maj°r ity and minority applicants, the Navy may be well advise to develop alternative assessment methods or reduce tn influence of test scores in determining eligibility.
Finally, the Navy might fill its scholarships and perhaps sustain the desired output of officers by reducing eligm' ity standards across the board—a step that should not taken without the most careful consideration of all its in1 plications. Such a decision would have ramificati°n* throughout the officer training and education process, could also lead to a drop in professionalism in our opera tions, in our readiness, and in our capacity for respon<J|n| to the unanticipated with coolness and competence- might erode all that makes our Navy and Marine Corp* strong. After all the improvements are identified and 3 the beneficial modifications are carried out, the NRU1 program must still continue to focus on producing the be officers to fill the needs of the Navy and the Mar'ne Corps. Quality must take precedence over quantity- K 1 far more desirable to bear the inconveniences of operaticshorthanded with skilled professionals than it is to pay tn price of blunders by the ill-suited and inept.
1J. Ronald Denney, speech to the Association of NROTC Colleges and Unive ties, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, 7 November 1982. ^
2R. D. McWethy, “U. S. Navy Sail Training Update.” Proceedings. Febn> 1983, pp. 115-118. y
^Edward N. Bouffard, “NROTC: Quo Vadis?” Proceedings, July 1977, PP- “j 42; “Comment and Discussion,” Proceedings, October 1977, p. 68 and Pr°Llt ings, November 1977, pp. 82-83.
Captain Sutphen graduated from Brown University in 1957 in NROTC scholarship program. After tours in the USS Clarence K- son (DD-668) and USS Sturdy (MSO-494) and command of the Fairview (EPCER-850), he received a PhD in political sclenCjI1 international affairs from the Fletcher School of Law and DiplomaC7 ,, 1967. Captain Sutphen also commanded the USS Endurance (MSO-4 , and USS Kilauea (AE-26) and attended the Army Command and Gen®r^ Staff College, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. He was assigned to the 01 of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (International Security Affairs) - faculty of the National War College, and was the CNO/VCNO Decis* coordinator and executive secretary of the CNO Executive Board. InJ ,, 1982, he reported to Norfolk and assumed command of the NRO Unit, Hampton Roads.
_____________________________________ Namesake________________________
Trained as a boatswain’s mate during World War II, Dad now has the distinction of owning one of the more “squared away” houseboats on the Ohio River; her railings impeccably hand-wrapped in white twine, and her bulkheads covered with memorabilia, mostly from Navy days.
One such memento is a picture.of the USS Wyman (DE-38), the first ship on which he served and a ship which, quite by coincidence, bore my mother’s maiden name.
“How he likened me to this ship,” Mother recently reminisced with friends while she and Dad were entertaining on board ship. “Her name, her beauty, the peace she assured. . .”
“Yep,” said Dad, interrupting in the playful spirit so much a part of their 43-year marriage, “she was quite a destroyer.”
Willets Prosser, Jr.