By Carrie PorterThe Daily Northwestern
“Are you OK murdering people?”
It’s not easy answering tough questions. Andrea Kaltenbach, a Weinberg sophomore in Northwestern’s Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps, knows first-hand. It is especially disturbing to her when the murder accusation comes from a friend.
“It was someone who knew me pretty well,” Kaltenbach said. “I wasn’t mad at her, just really disheartened that someone could be so uneducated about the role and purpose of the military.”
Resting in her chair, Kaltenbach is the picture of an average college student. She studies history and lives in her sorority house, Alpha Phi.
She appears indistinguishable from her peers, but when Kaltenbach is confronted with questions about her participation in the NROTC, the differences become apparent.
Although students involved in the ROTC at Northwestern said many students don’t understand or recognize their participation, they are proud of the uniforms they wear and the hours they keep while living otherwise “normal” college lives.
Currently 49 students from NU and Loyola University form the battalion for the NU Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps unit. Established in 1926, NU was one of the first six universities to host the program, along with Harvard and Yale.
Anti-war sentiments of the Vietnam era threatened the presence of the program, which has reported decreasing participation in recent years. While 16 students enrolled for the class of 2008, only nine students signed up in the class of 2010.
The program allows students, who are referred to as midshipmen, to receive military training in a civilian environment. Many participants said they chose NU over schools such as the Naval Academy because they wanted a more well-rounded experience.
“I didn’t go to the Academy because I wanted to surround myself with people who don’t think like me,” Kaltenbach said.
As part of the Navy program, students can also choose a Nurse option or a Marine option. The Marine Corps entered the program in 1932 and has different requirements for midshipmen, such as two extra physical training sessions per week.
On campus, there also are five students involved in ROTC for the Army, which trains at the University of Illinois at Chicago, the host university for about 17 Army units around the area.
A JUGGLING ACT
Army ROTC cadet Nathaniel Han will graduate this year with a degree in economics and the rank of second lieutenant. The Weinberg senior and the four other cadets travel to UIC five days a week for physical training, along with lab and classes. This schedule includes waking up as early as 3:30 a.m. on some days and remaining in Chicago for night classes on other days.
The typical week for an NROTC member doesn’t involve as much travel as the Army program but requires 15 to 20 hours per week. Midshipmen have weekly lab, drill practice and physical training as well as their academic classes. Fitting in the additional classes requires early morning practices around 5:45 a.m.
“You get a lot less sleep than everyone else,” said Trevor Burns, the unit’s battalion commander. The Weinberg senior will graduate in June with degrees in history and political science. In addition, he will leave NU as a Marine Corps second lieutenant before heading off for six months of training.
Burns chuckles with amusement when he describes the double-life of an ROTC corps member.
“There are definitely times when you are at a bar, look at your watch and realize that everyone else will be waking up at 1 p.m. and complaining about class, while in three hours you’re going to be in boots running five miles in a field,” Burns said. “You develop a sense of humor about the whole thing.”
According to Kaltenbach, NROTC requires an amount of sacrifice that separates midshipmen from the average student.
“ROTC is very demanding as a lifestyle,” she said. “Between early practice, Colorguard and volunteering, it takes a lot.”
The Colorguard team’s duty is to present the flag during the national anthem. They perform at events such as Chicago Bulls games and NU football games.
In addition, midshipmen from both NU and Loyola travel to compete in Drill Team competitions, where they are evaluated on their knowledge of military service, rifle bearing and confidence.
On Feb. 16, NU’s Colorguard team took first place at the Mardi Gras Drill Meet at Tulane University and second place in the platoon inspection event.
Volunteering also is a large part of ROTC; midshipmen are involved in the Marine Toys for Tots program and high school tutoring.
“The military is an extension of the American population, and so giving back keeps them connected,” said Capt. Jim Otis, the commanding officer at the NU NROTC unit.
But all of the responsibilities can prove daunting for the midshipmen who must balance them with academics.
“It’s hard to explain to a professor that I’m not just tired in class because I went out last night but because I have another career going on,” Kaltenbach said.
Weinberg sophomore Stephanie Hille, Kaltenbach’s fellow sorority member and floormate, said she usually wakes up when Kaltenbach returns from morning drill or physical training practice.
“Her day is so much longer and fuller than a lot of people’s are,” Hille said. “But she stays so focused and on top of things.”
Donald Redding, a McCormick sophomore and NROTC midshipman, agrees that being involved with the program puts a strain on academics.
“It’s just a matter of how you use your time. I’ve developed pretty good time management skills,” he said.
A DIFFICULT WORLD TO EXPLAIN
Although many ROTC students learn to assimilate into civilian campus life, they face questions from their peers that are rooted in misconceptions about the military.
“The first time I sit down with someone, they look at me like I have a funny haircut and ask me what I’m doing after I graduate,” Burns said. “When I tell them, then they give you another funny look.”
Redding said that sometimes people censor what they say around him because they assume he will hold a certain view. Because the scholarship NROTC provides requires active-duty service after graduation in exchange for four years of NU tuition, many assume its participants agree with the military decision-making behind Iraq and Afghanistan.
“I wouldn’t want to serve in Iraq or Afghanistan. It’s not something I would wish upon myself or anyone else,” he said. “At the same time, if that’s what they ask of you, then you go.”
Kaltenbach said NU students often equate the military’s role in American politics with the decisions of the current administration.
“A lot (of) times, especially because there are supporters and dissenters of the war, people look at those in the military as mindless, that they don’t have the ability to think for themselves,” she said. “It’s an institution that has been around a lot longer than the current administration.”
Although midshipmen are not permitted to discuss their political beliefs, Kaltenbach acknowledges that she “may not always agree with the specific task assigned.”
Like Kaltenbach, Burns thinks of the military as separate from the current political agenda.
Dressed in army fatigues, he sits at a table in the NROTC Noyes Street Unit, leaning in attentively for questions.
“The military goes and does its job regardless of government policy,” Burns said. “It is professionalism. You are a professional.”
Kaltenbach said she thinks that the time commitment and obligations required of midshipmen are also difficult for NU students to understand.
“You have to know why you are doing this because it is hard at Northwestern without much support,” she said.
WHY THEY SERVE
Despite dealing with grueling schedules and the misunderstandings of their peers, the program’s participants say they joined out of a desire to be a part of something bigger.
Kalten
bach joined NROTC out of an interest in “service without regard to self-interest,” something she said the program emphasizes. To demonstrate this, she mentions the Navy’s motivational list of priorities as “ship, shipmate, self.”
Redding is fulfilling a lifelong dream. After seeing his cousin graduate from Navy boot camp in eighth grade, Redding knew the military was something he wanted to pursue.
“I’ve really just wanted to serve my country ever since I was little,” said Redding. “The history of the United States and the people who have served is something I have a lot of respect for.”
Burns looks to his experience as a chance to do something extra. Like Kaltenbach, he said the chance to “give back” was a motivating factor for joining NROTC.
“Someday I’m going to work in a civilian job, too. It’s just before that I’m going to serve,” he said. “I’m going to end up at the same point as everyone else. But I’ll always be a Marine.”
STRENGTH IN THE uniform
Since joining, Burns said the pride he feels when he puts on his uniform is a reason for sticking with it.
“I am definitely looking forward to that day when I get commissioned and actually become part of the real Navy Marine Corps,” Burns said. “I am incredibly proud to wear the uniform and appreciate the opportunity to represent the Marine Corps.”
Midshipmen also view the uniform, which they wear around campus every Tuesday, as a way for others to acknowledge their presence on campus.
“People who may never meet people in the military are forced to see the guy in discussion class wearing a uniform,” Burns said. “You can’t avoid that.”
Redding said he notices other students’ reaction to his uniform. “When I put on a uniform, people look at me differently,” he said. “They don’t look me in the eyes.”
For Kaltenbach, however, it’s the acknowledgement she receives from others when she’s not in uniform that she uses to address misconceptions.
“Honestly, I take it as a compliment when I’m out socially and people say, ‘You’re in ROTC? I never would have guessed,’ because I’m redefining ROTC stereotypes,” she said. “I get a lot of satisfaction out of knowing that.”
Reach Carrie Porter at [email protected].
