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CAMPUS

The Norwich Guidon
Feb. 12, 2004

Integration of naval battalion and ROTC raises concerns

By John Higgins
Norwich Guidon staff writer

The Norwich University Corps of Cadets is not often asked its opinion regarding school changes. However, it seems to have conveyed dissatisfaction concerning some proposed ROTC changes, namely, the combination of the naval battalion and the ROTC program.

"The Naval Battalion is a branch of the ROTC for Navy and Marine shipmen on campus," said Jason O'Neill, a 20 year-old environmental science and Geology major from Woburn, Mass. "It's separate from the Corps of Cadets, and it has its own chain of command structure. Right now, it's for anyone who wants a commission in the military."

Lt. Michael Brosky, assistant professor of Naval Science at Norwich University, said, "at this stage, the integration is just a proposal. We proposed it to the commandant's office and, actually, to the president. Since then, we have kind of been waiting to officially hear back from them."

O'Neill said, "I know that it got past the commandant. I know that President Schneider wasn't too big on the idea, but he did pass it on to the board of trustees. However, most of the students are against it."

"The idea is that we would like to make the Naval Battalion a unit within the Corps of Cadets; i.e., one of the battalions within the Corps of Cadets, itself," Brodsky said.

"We have four battalions in the Corps of Cadets, and what they want to do is just make the Naval ROTC its own battalion in the Corps of Cadets," Brodsky said. "What they want is for everyone in that freshman company to be Naval ROTC, and all their Cadre to be Naval ROTC, or at least that's the idea.

"It wouldn't change the way that the battalion does business, except that all the people in the first battalion happen to be involved in the Navy program," Brodsky explained. "What that means is, when students are up doing the Corps of Cadets activities, then they come down to do their ROTC activities, they're operating on the same chain of command, instead of playing musical chairs, if you know what I mean."

"As it stands now, they have a chain of command with the Corps of Cadets, and they have a chain of command Battalion-type structure within the ROTC program," Brodsky said. "So it tends to make more confusion, and it makes it so leaders within the Naval Battalion don't have as much vested in their supporters as they do in the Corps."

"So we wanted to have that situation down here in the ROTC, as well. We kind of thought it would be good, because they would all have something in common: everyone is either being commissioned in the Navy or Marine Corps." Brosky said.

"What sparked this integration proposal was, at the beginning of the first semester Col. Anderson, who is our commanding officer, saw a need to kind of reduce confusion. He saw that as it is now, with this dual command system, there is a lot of unnecessary confusion and redundancy in the student's daily life," Brodsky explained.

"They will have a formation in the morning with the Corps of Cadets to just get accountability. We have to have another accountability formation," Brosky said.

"So why not combine the two, and say ‘all right, well, we're going to have you do your attendance right away and go from there right into PT and give you an extra 20 minutes during the day.' Everyone at Norwich knows time is of the essence, especially for those in the Corps of Cadets, and especially for the freshmen, who are just trying to scrape by and do all the things they are supposed to do, anyway. So we kind of see it as a real benefit in that respect," Brosky said.

Brosky said there were members of the current ROTC program who "gave us input and advice, but there were limited numbers, and it wasn't an open forum, because that's just not the way the military works, but we did consult some of the students."

"We weren't asked what we wanted, but we were informed," O'Neill said. "We were given a briefing about it, but only after the wheels already started turning.

"The president has decided that the only way that this will pass is if all the other ROTCs go along with it, as well," O'Neill said.

"Instead of having the corps as we have it now, we would have an Army Battalion, Navy Battalion, and Air Force Battalion on The Hill. Instead of having the Corps of Cadets and the ROTC, it would all be one unit, but the Air force and the Army aren't too big on it."

O'Neill said that the current ROTC arrangement "helps you get to know all the other branches, so not everyone you're talking to is Navy; they all have different experiences."

Brosky said most of the resistance has come from "the change in tradition and the feeling that it might isolate them from the rest of the Corps of Cadets, which is one of the main reasons the integration has met resistance." O'Neill said the way that the change will be felt is that the freshmen who are going to be in the Navy will be sent into a Navy company their freshman year, but if they change their mind, and they don't want to get commissioned or they want to go into a different ROTC company, they would get kicked out of that company, and they would get separated from their rook buddies."

Brosky explained that "the change would affect all the kids in the Corps, in that you would have the Corps of Cadets and a Naval Battalion, so the idea, there, is that the leadership billet that's in the Naval Battalion will be held by kids with a Navy ROTC scholarship or in our Naval ROTC program.

"I guess it does affect the rest of the Corps in that it takes a bunch of billets and segregates them out and away," Brosky said. "On the same token, it takes all those individuals out of competition for the rest of those billets, so it's kind of a wash, because everyone in the Naval ROTC is also in the Corps of Cadets," Brodsky said.

O'Neill explained that "it's a good idea on paper, but I don't think it's going to work too well, because we don't have enough upperclassmen, and because not all the upperclassmen in Navy want to be cadre, and they would have to be in order to make this work.

"So upperclassmen in the Navy wouldn't be able to have a job anywhere in the school except in the Naval Battalion," O'Neill said. "I don't think that's a good idea, and I'm pretty sure the Board of Trustees will turn it down."

Brosky emphasized that "we see a need for those types of changes; we see a need to streamline their military training.

"The whole reason for being in a ROTC is to actually get a commission and serve as an officer in the military in whatever service you're in," Brosky said. "I think that where some of the concerns comes from the fundamental way it would operate in that those in the Navy would be in a certain platoon because of their affiliation with ROTC, and that's it. People seem to have concerns, because it might disrupt the whole rook buddy thing."

But Brosky also said that "being that this is quite an Army-centric school, which is fine, you know that's what Norwich is; the Corps of Cadets, anyways, is Army-centric.

"Why not add a little bit for someone that is seeking a Marine commission or a Navy commission that might otherwise entice them to come here when they might write it off, because it's an Army school," Brosky said. "We presented it to the Commandant and his staff just about a week prior to Thanksgiving, and then we presented it to the Commandant's staff in addition [to] the president during final exam week."

As far as Brosky knows, Schneider has taken the idea to the board of trustees. Since the presentation to the president, Brosky said he has not heard anything from them.

"My understanding is [Schneider] is going to consider whether or not to even bring it up to the board of trustees," Brosky said. "Civilian students probably wouldn't notice the change, because we are not going to have them run around with Sailor outfits. They're all going to be doing the same things that they always do in respect to daily activities. The only difference is, one portion would be composed of Navy ROTC people."

The Norwich Guidon is a twice-monthly student newspaper distributed at Norwich University. It provides laboratory experience for students in the Communications program. Claims asserted by letter writers, editorials and other articles do not represent the positions of Norwich University. The Norwich Guidon welcomes signed letters to the editor. They should be no longer than 300 words. Unsigned letters will not be printed, but names may be withheld upon worthy request. All letters are subject to editing for length and good taste. Mailing address: The Norwich Guidon, Communications Center, Norwich University, Northfield, VT 056632. www.norwich.edu/guidon. If you have any questions or comments about the paper, please contact Professor Ken Bush at kbush@norwich.edu.