There are 23 students in the College's Reserve Officer Training Corp. As cadets, they spend one or two hours in military courses, two hours in leadership lab and two hours in Physical Training (called "PT") each week, according to Sergeant Terry Damm, the local ROTC instructor.
Students who complete the four-year program and a six week advanced camp at Fort Bragg, N. C. are commissioned as Second Lieutenants in the U.S. Army.
"We need ROTC," Damm said, because about 80 percent of the army officers come from ROTC.
Almost all cadets receive a full college scholarship for four years, and in return owe the army eight years of service.
There are more than 100 topics for classes, including military skills, customs and courtesies, weapons, tactics, military history, land navigation, cold weather survival and first aid. "Classes can get tedious but I think any two hour class would," Margaret Pinzuti '95 said.
All the cadets must learn basic soldiering skills. "We train as if we would be in the infantry," Bjorn Kilburn '95 said. "You have to know how to defend yourself."
Cadets practice with an AR-15 assault rifle, a civilian version of the M-16 model used by the Army. The weapons training "reminds you of why you're in ROTC," Brandon Del Pozo '96 said. "You realize how this could be dangerous."
Their camouflaged uniforms are called "BDUs," short for battle dress utility, and they come with a camouflaged patrol hat and leather boots. Cadets are required to polish their boots and keep their uniforms ironed. "It's important to look professional," Del Pozo said.
The leadership training is more important than the infantry training, Damm said.
"They're not taught to fight," Damm said. "They direct other people's activities to form a coordinated effort."
Randy Poulin '97 said he was surprised by how little battle training there is. "I expected a lot of gung-ho military," he said, "like running around in the woods playing Rambo."
Cadets rehearse practical scenarios in the woods, but are often forced to use sticks and pine cones instead of guns and grenades. Dartmouth's ROTC program is "marked by a lack of equipment and resources," Del Pozo said. "The military is not going to give that kind of resource to something that might not be here next year."
An AR-15 rifle costs $800, he said.
Cadets practice crossing "danger zones" where the enemy might be hiding, such as a road crossing. They stop traffic and practice crossing in groups of two or individually. Del Pozo said being allowed to halt traffic always thrills the younger cadets.
The physical training is not as tough as many people believe. Cadets must maintain minimum standards for a two mile run, pushups and situps. "To me it's minimal," Kilburn said.
Pinzuti said developing camaraderie and discipline are as important as the actual physical training, because one day cadets will have to lead their own soldiers in physical training.
Between junior and senior year, cadets attend advanced camp at Fort Bragg, where their leadership abilities are assessed.
"Advanced camp determines what kind of job you're going to get in the army," Del Pozo said. Cadets are scored on a 1 through 5 scale. Dartmouth cadets consistently perform above average, according to Del Pozo.
Cadets said ROTC is not what many people believe. "It's not really rank and file, it's more or less laid back," Kilburn said. "A lot of people have the image that in the military, people give you a hard time all the time."
"The objective here is for us to go to school. Our academic careers are foremost," he added.
Damm has 22 years experience in the service and was in the Army Special Forces as a Green Beret. This is his first ROTC assignment.
There are several options for a cadet's future. Many students from Dartmouth's program pursue careers in engineering or medicine. Cadets can get an educational delay to go to graduate school before they enter the service, or the Army can pay for medical school in exchange for additional years of service.
Kilburn was not sure if he would make a career out of the military. "I will wait and see how I feel about it," he said. "I think that the experience will be valuable, it will help me to be a better citizen."
"I don't think I'll make a career out of it," Pinzuti said. "I'm just proud that I'm doing something significant and earning most of my tuition."
