Spartan Soldiers show Enthusiasm for ROTC Program

For students participating in the ROTC program, their days start at 5am every day of the week. They put on their PT (physical training) clothes, meet at the intramural field, and begin training. The morning exercises for ROTC students are much more than just a quick workout though. They start out doing pushups and sit ups, followed by a 4 mile run. For an average person a 4 mile run every morning could really slow down the rest of your day. Not for an ROTC cadet however.

Not only do these students have to deal with the physical aspect of ROTC, but there are also numerous classes that must be taken every week. Classes for the ROTC program include such topics as leadership, how to lead squad movements, learning attack formations, land navigation, and even a lab in plant park where cadets must be wearing their ACU’s (army combat uniform)

Not everyone can join ROTC however, there’s an intense screening process to make it into this elite group of students. There are two ways in which to enter the program. The first is being recruited from high school, you must show outstanding physical capabilities, and have at least a 2.8 GPA to be considered for the program. The second way to join is by applying once already in college. If you show an enthusiasm for the position and also fulfill the physical and scholarly requirements you can be accepted. Joining the ROTC is huge achievement as the government will then completely pay for tuition, room and board, school book purchases and on top of that $1200 a year and a monthly stipend starting at $300 all the way up to $500 if the student participates up through senior year.

The University of Tampa offers one of the most accomplished ROTC programs which rank among the top 95% in the country. There are currently around 118 male and female students in the ROTC program, and they seem to enjoy it and get a lot out of the program. When Sophomore Spencer Boyd was asked about what his experience has been like participating in over a year of the ROTC program he responded, “I love it. I’ve made a lot of strong connections with the other kids in the program, and I plan on making this my career when I graduate from college. I could see myself in the army for the next 20 years.” When asked how it affects his campus life by having to wake up so early and dealing with extra classes Spencer replied, “It really doesn’t take up too much of your time. Yea at first waking up at 5am is stressful, and some days you’ll wake up still sore from yesterday, but I’ve never once doubted myself or thought about giving up. “All said with a calm and confident tone.

When fellow cadet Courtney Tauscher was asked what it’s like being a female in a dominantly male program she responded, “I really just see it as a challenge. There’s only a few girls in the program with me so it kind of turns into a competition between us to see who’s the ‘best girl’. Like it seems like the guys don’t really expect as much out of us and think we get it easy because we have different PT tests and stuff, but we really want to show them we can do just as much as they can.”

If interested in the ROTC program, all information can be found in the ROTC building, located between the UT pool and Stadium Center.