College Times

Media Credit: Ryan A Ruiz

John Orsini enlisted and served in the United States Army for nine years. Now, Cadet Orsini is one of 140 cadets in the Arizona State University Reserve Officers’ Training Corps, a program that pushes enrollees toward becoming an officer.

The ASU Army ROTC program, which also includes cadets from Phoenix, Mesa and Scottsdale Community colleges, as well as Grand Canyon University, paves the way for students to become leaders.

“I think a lot of people look at it as if we’re just out there marching around, crawling around in the dirt not really learning anything, just learning how to shoot a weapon,” Orsini says. “It’s a lot more than that. It’s learning how to interact with people, how to make decisions; how to lead is the biggest thing and how to take care of soldiers.”

As a cadet, the responsibilities on a weekly basis include an hour of physical training on Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings and two leadership classes – one on Tuesday and one on Thursday.

It is also mandatory for cadets to attend a drill lab Tuesday mornings, where they learn to march, stand at attention, salute and more.

Army ROTC recruiter Major Brian Witcher explains the program saying, “We like to call this the largest fraternity or sorority on campus and it’s really even more than that, because we don’t just hang around with each other and do fun stuff, but we learn to be a team in just about every aspect of college life.”

Students can enter the ROTC at any time during their four years in college and are allowed to take two years of class and physical training with no further commitment to the military.

However, in many cases, joining the ROTC is a commitment. After graduation, cadets leave with a degree and as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Army, soon joining active duty, the National Guard or Reserves for a minimum of three years.

Orsini, who has now completed 10 years active duty, will continue to serve in the Army for 20 years, at which time he will be eligible to retire at age 38.

He says, “I’m a history major and I’m going to try to branch into military intelligence and when I get out I’ll probably be a history teacher or try to work for an intelligence agency.”

Though many individuals are hesitant to join the military, regardless of the incentives, saying they do not want to be the next soldier on CNN, Orsini says he’s indifferent to heading into a war zone.

“It’s one of those things you spend all this time training for and if you have to go, you go and if you don’t, you don’t.”

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