Northwestern is one of over 1,700 colleges and universities nationwide to offer the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps program. Split into Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force and Space Force branches, ROTC is a pathway for those interested in military service.
Prior to joining Air Force ROTC at NU, the only exposure McCormick freshman Mitchell Kaszuba had to anything military-related was the Boy Scouts. He first considered ROTC during his senior year at Naperville Central High School and applied to NU’s Air Force ROTC to get the traditional college experience along with Air Force training.
Every Thursday, Kaszuba drives with four or five other students to the University of Chicago, where they meet Air Force cadets from other local colleges to participate in physical training. All the cadets who meet at a particular school form a Detachment, with the group meeting at UChicago comprising Detachment 195.
“The worst commute that I know of is a student that goes to Northern Illinois University in DeKalb,” Kaszuba said. “They’re waking up at 1 or 2 a.m. to go to UChicago. It’s brutal. I have a ton of respect for people that do it.”
The day spent at UChicago only makes up half of AFROTC’s weekly training sessions, with Mondays spent at NU. While Kaszuba finds the biweekly sessions easy in the fall, they ramp up as the year goes on. To prepare for the end-of-year Physical Fitness Assessment, which consists of everything from push-ups to a timed 1 1/2 mile run, cadets typically train with high-intensity workouts with their Detachment members. More casual activities like dodgeball are thrown in to mix up the rigorous regimen.
Navy ROTC cadets follow a similarly tight schedule. While physical training still begins early around 5:50 a.m. Wednesdays and Thursdays, Navy ROTC has the benefit of training on-campus alongside Loyola University’s cadets. Navy ROTC also offers unique opportunities, including a yearly required summer program that begins before freshman year.
Working over summer break may not sound like a plus to most, but Weinberg junior Julia Davis looks forward to her ROTC summers. Training season lasts roughly a month, and Davis said she takes part in everything from on-site submarine training to being a Top Gun pilot’s wingman for a day.
“Last summer, I was in Hawaii for a month and we went out to sea for two weeks,” Davis said. “It’s the people that keep you there and make it fun.”
Summer training also prepares Navy ROTC cadets for five years of service after graduation through a commission. Davis hopes to be a Surface Warfare Officer during those five years, leading a division of sailors.
McCormick sophomore and Navy ROTC cadet Michael Jin was also grateful for the leadership opportunities Navy ROTC has given him. He finds that he has to use leadership skills for most Navy ROTC tasks, whether it’s leading freshmen in rifle practice or checking off the grocery list to prepare for an alumni tailgate.
NU’s ROTC sections are always involved around campus, but generally keep to themselves. While Davis has friends from different branches, an Army-Navy cadet basketball game was the only time she could remember officially meeting with ROTC cadets outside Navy ROTC.
ROTC demands a high level of discipline, but many cadets don’t think it fits the “bootcamp” stereotype. Weinberg sophomore and Air Force ROTC cadet Helen Pacheco said her personal misconceptions that the military lacked space for diversity were quickly proven wrong.
“I came into the program thinking there would be a lot of people that think alike,” Pacheco said. “It was quite the opposite. There’s a lot of discussion in terms of disagreement. You get along and grow close to the people that you work with.”
There is one opinion that cadets don’t debate: it’s pronounced “ROTC,” not “rot-see.”
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