Ohio University offers Air Force and Army Reserve Officer Training Corps. Army ROTC is known as Bobcat Battalion and was awarded the 2017 McArthur Award for being one of the top eight programs in the United States. ROTC strives to go above and beyond by building and serving the community.
It’s likely to see the Army ROTC group at football games shooting a cannon or rappelling off Lindley Hall. Major Sophia Pyle, assistant professor of military science, graduated from Ohio University in 2015 and went through the ROTC program herself.
“The rappel lab, it serves two purposes,” Pyle said. “It's a training event for our cadets to help them build confidence. Give them that kind of confidence boost that they can do hard things…It's recruiting and campus visibility."
Pyle said the rappel lab is not a requirement for their program, but there is value in letting students know they can perform hard tasks. In addition to a confidence booster, Pyle said the lab is for community engagement
“Our campus already has a really great reputation of being military friendly,” Pyle said. “This is just to give back to the community and show them that ‘hey, we appreciate all the support that the university gives us. If you want to come, rappel and train with us, do something fun, jump off the building, you can come and do that with us,’” Pyle said.
After recruitment, cadets get scholarships to help pay tuition, room and board. Major John Hansen, the recruiting officer for ROTC, said those are incentives for students involved.
“Your future as an Army officer after college is determined by how well you do at that evaluation course,” Hanson said. “Your GPA and your physical fitness test scores are the next biggest things. And so we incentivize that stuff with university money.”
Hanson said that money supports the cost of room and board, and keeps students “honest,” encouraging students to keep their grades up as well as their physical fitness.
“Our cadets do really, really well nationally compared to everybody else,” Hansen said.
Cadet Blake Walker is a senior studying integrated social studies and a cadet with the Bobcat Battalion. Walker said he had an interest in law enforcement, but wasn’t sure of the career. He heard about ROTC and decided to try it out, ultimately staying in the program because of the reputation and support he received. Walker is now serving in the National Guard.
“The specific reason I really like Ohio University's ROTC opposed to any other program I've seen is how accommodating the program has been for me,” Walker said. “As a National Guardsman, as a teacher and in any other interest I've shown, the program has supported.”
Air Force ROTC, or Detachment 650, has the same incentives, but follows different standards and attends different events. Cadets commission as active duty in the Air Force or Space Force as an officer once meeting the set requirements.
Cadet Nevaeh Cruz is a junior studying sociology criminology. Cruz is in the Air Force ROTC and is considered an AS 200.
Cadets can join up until the last semester of their second year on campus.
“I started last semester as a sophomore,” Cruz said. “I want to work for the FBI and they have a veterans preference. There’s a lot of opportunities in the Air Force itself that would give me the skills that I would need to transfer over into working for the federal government.”
Cruz said all cadets are treated equally, encouraging them to always give their best effort.
“The same expectations are set for all of us, you put in 100%,” Cruz said. “Even if you only have 90% or 80%, you just give it your all.”
Cruz said the environment was easy to feel included in, despite joining late.
“They all welcomed me with open arms, and especially joining late, they made sure I was comfortable and just helped me get through that process,” she said.
Pyle said the community within the Bobcat Battalion is “truly incredible,” and she’s lived through many stages of her life while being in the program.
“People that I met my freshmen year of college, and was there in the dorms with, they are now still my best friends,” Pyle said. “And we’re raising our kids together, and we go to our kids’ birthday parties and do family events. It’s amazing to see that progression and it just goes to show the kind of community that this organization creates.”
Cadet Dylan Stuckey is a senior studying civil engineering and is in the Army ROTC. Stuckey said ROTC prepares cadets professionally, whether you go into active duty, National Guard or elsewhere.
“I think that it is very much a path that prepares you for working in an environment with others,” Stuckey said. “Organizing, being on time, it just gets you into a rhythm that, if you did not ROTC, you would not have until you got to your position.”
Stuckey said ROTC helped him to improve as a student and member of the Marching 110.
“It really improves your character and shapes you up to be someone who can handle a lot more things than a lot of other people,” Stuckey said. “I think that ROTC has helped me tremendously when it comes to organization and just being able to push forward and handle a lot of things.”
