Although Dartmouth's Reserve Officer Training Corps program is low on membership and its supervisor left last spring, Cadet Captain Eric Eckberg '99 says the program will not fold.
"I don't think it's going to die," he said. "I don't think it's possible."
Eckberg said ROTC membership has always been low at Dartmouth for a variety of reasons. After three members dropped out of the program this term, he said, it currently has six active members, three of whom are freshmen. There is no required minimum, he said, although the ideal number of members would be between ten and 20 people.
"The more people, the better," Eckberg said.
ROTC at Dartmouth is an extension of a program run through Norwich University, a private military academy, Eckberg said. Usually, one staff member from Norwich University is assigned as a permanent supervisor for Dartmouth's ROTC program, he said.
Until this spring, Captain Paul Lehto, was assigned to teach at Dartmouth for one-and-a-half years. But after Lehto left, officers from Norwich began coming to the College on a weekly rotating basis to teach the main ROTC classes. Captain Doug Shemenski, a staff member, said Eckberg teaches supplementary classes to "round out the training."
While it would be possible to require Dartmouth ROTC cadets to drive to Norwich for their training, he said, it is more practical for Norwich cadre members to come to the College once a week.
He said this arrangement also has the positive effect of rotating the whole staff of the cadre at Norwich, allowing more staff members to interact with Dartmouth students. Shemenski said he enjoys working with the cadets at the College.
"We are dedicated to supporting the program down there," he said.
The United States Army regularly provides students with flat-rate scholarships of $16,000 a year, Shemenski said. If students come to Dartmouth with these scholarships, he said, the Army is required to provide training for them.
"As long as there are students, we will make an effort to teach them," he said.
If the current arrangements turn out to be impractical because of weather conditions, and if Norwich University has more people available, he said, the program will send a permanent staff member to replace Lehto in teaching at Dartmouth. However, the first person available for such a position will not come to Norwich University until next May.
Currently, the only permanent staff member at the College is Lynn Oelgart, who works as an office assistant in the ROTC offices in Leverone Field House. Oelgart's work includes taking care of paperwork for ROTC and serving as a link between Norwich University and Dartmouth's ROTC program, according to Eckberg. She also makes sure the cadets are supplied with uniforms and equipment, he said.
The program also offers summer ROTC classes at Dartmouth for those students who were off-campus for a term, Shemenski said. Eckberg said he hopes to recruit four students per class for ROTC in the future.
"I'm fighting tooth and nail to get people involved in the program," Eckberg said.
