Because of hurricane relief efforts in the South and the war in Iraq, Ohio's Army National Guard units could be called to service at any time, interrupting the quarter for Ohio University students in the military.
The registrar's office was unable to provide a number of OU students serving in the National Guard or the Army Reserve, but recent events like the war make a call-up more likely. A call-up could result in students having incomplete classes or withdrawing from the university, said Mike Wickham, assistant registrar at OU.
Generally
the last time this really happened was when the Iraqi war started Wickham said. We had call-ups then.
Students called to active duty any time during the quarter can withdraw with a full tuition refund. If a call to service comes past the fifth week of the quarter, students can get incompletes if their instructors agree, according to Ohio University policy.
If finals week has started, students who can complete their finals are permitted to, and those who cannot are given incompletes, according to OU policy.
National Guardsman and OU senior Tracy Roberg was called to hurricane relief in Louisiana on Sept. 23 but ultimately did not go. Roberg said she requested to stay behind because she would be a year behind if she missed the start of her internship.
In the Army you just never know what's going on
Roberg said. My commander told me if it was a question of any longer than 30 days (in Louisiana)
I would have gone.
Roberg's fianc+
Furlong said. It's not like the fake Army. You have to get your bachelor's before becoming an officer.
Students automatically have a job when they graduate, becoming active-duty officers in the National Guard or Army Reserve. About 70 percent of the active-duty officers are from ROTC programs, Furlong said.
It's a profession. That's your job
he said. The leaders fighting now or doing big things other places come from places like OU.
Some students are National Guardsmen while in ROTC, but they are exempt from deployment, Furlong said.
This quarter, more than 100 of the ROTC students at OU are freshmen, the largest number to date. The increase could be attributed to that class coming through impressionable teenage years with Sept. 11 and the Afghanistan and Iraq wars, Furlong said.
In my opinion
we're slowly moving back to the World War II generation
Furlong said. People are more aware because of the conflicts.
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