Serving at Dawn: ROTC Bravo Company ROTC

By Alexander C. Dubois

EASTON – The orange light from the street lamps illuminates the camouflaged uniforms of the group gathering in the parking lot. They pass the time with small talk, checking their equipment as they begin to form into rank. At 6 a.m., the group is called to attention.

At 6:05, weapons are distributed. Each cadet takes a rifle from the back of a truck parked nearby, breaking the silence of the morning air as they call out the weapon’s number. The rifles, only replicas, are a strange sight against the backdrop of the sleepy Catholic campus behind them. 

 At 6:10, the cadets are given instructions and march from the library parking lot, past the tennis courts and up the hill leading behind Donahue Hall.

“When I get to Heaven, St. Peter’s gonna say, ‘How’d you earn your living, boy? How’d you earn your pay?’” The cadet leading the march begins a traditional Army cadence, or marching song, each line repeated by the group behind him.

In a few years time, these cadets at Stonehill College will march down the same hill as part of a graduation ceremony.

The best way to understand the experience of ROTC cadets is to spend a morning observing them. The Reserve Officers’ Training Corps – ROTC – is an Army program affiliated with colleges and universities around the country. The goal is to develop cadets who learn the leadership qualities of an officer while earning a college degree.

These cadets are part of Bravo Company of the Charles River Battalion. The company includes cadets from Stonehill, the host school, Bridgewater State University, Curry College, Massachusetts Maritime Academy and Massasoit Community College. Out of the entire company of 35, eight cadets are Stonehill students; one freshman, four sophomores, one junior, and two seniors.

As they move across campus one early morning, the camouflage of their uniforms seen next to the purple of their alma mater, the unique experience of these eight cadets is easily understood. As soldiers, they learn to salute, handle live firearms during select trainings, and must pass an Army physical fitness test.  As students, they must fulfill the same curriculum requirements as others. They must maintain a 2.0 GPA; for those who drop below 3.0, weekly study halls are mandatory.

“The Army is meant to be a profession,” said CPT Lindsey Elder, program officer and assistant professor of military science at Stonehill. “We’re big on education, but we try not to be in competition with it. It’s about finding a balance”.

Elder, an Army officer for the last 10 years, was a member of the ROTC program at UMass Amherst while serving in the Massachusetts National Guard.

“Being an ROTC cadet first and coming back, I think I’m a better assessor now of the ROTC program,” Elder said. “ROTC cadets have to be motivated. They have jobs and other real-life things. You prove to yourself how much you can handle. I think it helps you even more.”

John Smoot, 20, of Hingham, Mass., is a sophomore at Stonehill currently completing his second year in the ROTC program. For him, ROTC offers a number of opportunities.

“If you properly take advantage of it, you’ll get huge values out of ROTC your peers can’t get from regular school. In general, you learn how to take responsibility for yourself and, in my opinion, you’re much more prepared for the real world,” Smoot said.

ROTC also offered him a second chance at serving in the military.

Smoot initially tried to enlist in the Marine Corps. Due to a medical condition, he wasn’t accepted, Smoot said. A number of his friends entering into ROTC programs told him that the ROTC was looking for candidates, and, more importantly, would be willing to look into getting him a medical waiver. After applying, he was offered a three-year scholarship to Stonehill College through the ROTC program.

“It’s not about the free tuition for me,” Smoot said. “I love the Army and I’ve always wanted to serve my country.”

While an ROTC scholarship can help with tuition costs, for Smoot and many of his fellow cadets, the desire to serve preceded the possibility of financial aid.

Sophomore cadet Ryan Forte, 19, of Franklin, Mass., hoped to get into the Air Force Academy. When he didn’t, and when he didn’t hear back from the Air Force ROTC, Forte turned to the Army where he was offered a four-year Army ROTC scholarship to Stonehill. Like Smoot, the program offered him a second chance.

“I decided to select Stonehill,” Forte said. “I finally had the opportunity to serve my country as an officer.”

For other cadets, the decision to join ROTC came after college began.

Taylor Viotto, 20, is a sophomore at Stonehill from Washington, N.J., who joined the program during the first week of his freshman year.

“I have always wanted to serve in some form of the military. Growing up it fluctuated between the branches until my senior year in high school,” Viotto said. “It was then that I decided I would attend college and go through Army ROTC. On the first day on campus I walked over to the detachment. I signed the papers right away.”

The Army ROTC program, alongside academies such as West Point and the Officer Candidate Schools, are meant to graduate commissioned officers. The goal of every cadet, including the eight currently attending Stonehill College and the 27 others in Bravo Company, is to graduate with both a college degree and an Army commission. 

The future of ROTC, however, may be towards a smaller program, said Elder.

“In the past, if we have 30 people that were healthy, happy and passing all the requirements, we would have 30 lieutenants,” she said. “Now, we can be even more selective.

Future classes could see a size cap, setting the limit of possible cadets. Until then, the program is being more stringent on allowing cadets time to bring things like their GPA or physical fitness scores up to the requirements.

“Now, knowing there is not the need for the amount of people we already have, they will just be disenrolled if they cannot meet a standard,” said Elder.

Last year the company commissioned 22 cadets. This year they expect to commission 24, Elder said.

For Stonehill cadets like Smoot, Forte, and Viotto, the future is full of possibilities.

“I don’t fully know how my Army career will turn out,” said Forte. “But I do know my experiences with ROTC will benefit me. I will develop the leadership skills needed to be an officer in the Army, in whatever field it may be.”

For them, graduation from Stonehill College will come with more than a degree and a walk across the stage. These select few, to be commissioned as Second Lieutenants in the United States Army, will have serve in the military for eight years.

“Getting commissioned at the end of my senior year is really only the beginning of my learning experience,” Smoot said. “When I get assigned my platoon I’m going to want to remember to know my place. I’ll be a young guy expected to lead guys that know more than me and have been through a lot more.”

Young, Underemployed, and Optimistic

By Kyle Mayer

For those parents out there who think they have been hit hard by the recent recession, take look at what your children will have to deal with.

According to a study by Kathryn Edwards and Alexander Hertel-Fernandez from the Economic Policy Institute, the unemployment rate for young workers has increased by 7.1 percentage points from December 2007 and January 2010, raising it to 18.9 percent at the start of 2010.

This statistic shows that thousands of newly graduated college students could be without a job for an extended period of time.

“I have thought about not having a job once I graduate, and it’s going to be tough to find one,” said Stonehill College senior Aly Chadbourne.

“There aren’t enough jobs for our parents now, so how are there going to be any for us?” said Chadbourne.

Today’s young adults have it dramatically harder than their parent’s generation to reach their financial goals, such as paying off college debts, buying a home, and raising a family.

According to a study conducted by the Pew Research Center this year, 82 percent of Americans think that finding a job for young adults is harder than for their parent’s generation.

In that same study, about 75 percent of the public says it is harder for young adults to save for the future, as rent and college payments have skyrocketed recently.

“One significant hardship faced by current college graduates and the generation coming up after is the incredible cost of a college education. I am not sure we will be able to sustain this model with students graduating so deeply in debt, especially if the job market continues to be so sluggish,” said Stonehill College Communication Associate Professor Anne Mattina.

With high rent costs, tuition bills causing college debts to soar, and high unemployment rates, young adults may find it extremely hard to save for their futures.

“I’ve talked about this with my parents and friends, and it’s basically impossible for us to save money for the future right now. We’re going to have to live off of our paychecks each week, instead of putting some money aside for later,” said Stonehill College senior Ryan Fitzgibbon.

According to BestCollegesOnline.com, for tuition payments in 1973, tuition for one year at a private college averaged to $9,876, and at in-state public schools, just $2,175. In 2009, the average tuition has nearly tripled, as private colleges are around $25,143, and in-state public universities average $6,585.

For young adults, bad times don’t always squash optimism.

“I feel pretty okay about my future,” said Stonehill College senior Doug Wilkins. “I have a job lined up, and I’m applying for graduate school as well, so I feel pretty positive about the next few years.”

According to the Pew Research study, nearly 88 percent of young adults between the ages of 18-34 say they have enough, or earn enough money now, or expect they will in the near future.

“Luckily I found a job, but it did take a little while,” said Stonehill College graduate Lauren Tenaglia. “And almost all of my friends feel pretty good about where they are in their jobs right now.”

In a new survey of 842 young adults by Demos, a U.S. based research and policy center, found that almost 69 percent of 18-34 years old American’s believe the American dream is “still achievable.”

“I believe they recognize the reality of the road ahead but are facing their futures with generally positive attitudes,” Mattina said. “As a culture, we are pretty resilient, and believe that all things are possible if you work hard enough.”

According to the Pew study, there is a connection between college enrollment rates and employment decline in young adults, “A greater share of young adults are enrolled in high school or college today than at any time in recorded history.”

This jump in enrollment rates has a large impact on the employment decline of this age group, as there just is not enough time in the day to be fully enrolled at a school, and have a well-paying job.

“I have a job here at school, but it’s nothing crazy,” said Stonehill College senior Brett French. “I work at the Spoco, so it’s not high paying, but I don’t think I, or anyone else for that matter, would be able to sustain a full college education accompanied by a full-time job.”

One aspect that has remained constant throughout the years has been that once a job is attained, job satisfaction is still relatively high.

According to the Pew study, job satisfaction among young adults is relatively high, similar to what it was prior to the 2008 recession. For those young adults who are currently employed, most are pretty satisfied with their jobs.

“I am very satisfied with my current job,” said Stonehill College graduate Peter Mayer. “It is a well paying job in an field where I can branch out from, if I need to. I can take advantage of a lot of future opportunities that are presented to me.”