ttt 4A EUGENE REGISTER GUAlfD, Sunday, Oct. 51. 1M2
Bars or Stripes in Texas
Elective ROTC:
Blessing or What?
BY RALPH OLIVE ,
Of the Register-Guard
Back to the Army again, sergeant
Back to tht Army again.
Out o the cold and tht rain. Kipling
Military life has Its advantages, there is no doubt about it.
But for some reason, the sound of the bugle and the manual of
arms, smartly executed, never have appealed widely to Ameri
can youth.
But in recent years it has become increasingly difficult to
escape at least a short hitch. If the young man avoids the Na
tional Guard and the Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC),
there is still his draft board. It takes real ingenuity to keep
from exchanging an Ivy League suit for Army green, shade 41.
This year, freshmen entering the University of Oregon and
Oregon State University found one part time military obliga
tion that had been shouldered by students in the past was no
longer a worry. Compulsory ROTC for freshmen and sopho
mores had been abolished, by order of the Oregon State Board
of Higher Education.
But was this really a blessing? And is a young man wise to
take advantage of this new freedom? Does this mean he is
really bypassing an opportunity that will not come his way
again?
Officers assigned to ROTC units at Oregon and Oregon State
agree the smart freshman is the one who voluntarily takes pen
In hand and registers for ROTC.
And many students feel the same way enough to keep the
program strong, although considerably smaller than in the
past. The UO Army program has 18S freshmen this year, com
pared to 800 last year. The Air Force enrolled 186 freshmen,
compared to 382 in 1961.
If the student completes four years of ROTC, he will go on
active duty as a second lieutenant, or ensign. Otherwise, he has
to take his chances with the draft board. And if he gets caught,
his service will be as an enlisted man, not an officer.
One cynic put it this way: "If you don't take ROTC, you'll
find yourself in a few years walking around some dusty Army
camp in Texas with a Ffc stripe on your arm. If you take
ROTC, and study hard, you'll find yourself in a few years walk
ing around some dusty Army camp in Texas with a gold bar
on your shoulder." , ,
Several of the officers in charge of ROTC instruction feel
the program will be stronger under the voluntary plan. One of
these is Lt. Col. John W. Kocher, professor of air science at
the University of Oregon.
"I'm quite pleased with the switch from the compulsory to
the voluntary program," Kocher said. "To me, it had become
apparent that we would be better off with an elective than
with a compulsory program."
Col. Louis D. Farnsworth, professor of military aid air sci
ence at Oregon, believes it will take two or three years to get
the program into full swing under the voluntary system.
"We've had excellent support from the university adminis
tration," he said.
President Arthur S. Flemming has encouraged advisers to
inform all freshmen of the details of the ROTC program, so
the student will know what his choices are.
Army Capt. Wellington J. Gotschall, assistant professor of
military science at the University of Oregon, feels freshmen
and sophomores who enrolled this year are in ROTC because
they are really interested. Officers don't have to work with
hundreds who are in the classroom only because they have to
be, he said.
And now there won't be such a sharp difference in enroll
ment between the sophomore and junior classes. This was
the big dropout point before, when sophomores had finished
their compulsory service. Men must; qualify for the advanced
program, however, so there will be a drop, even under the
voluntary plan.
"About onc-tourth o the freshman class will graduate with
commissions," Gotschall predicted.
Army Col. Donald C. Landon, professor of military science
at Oregon State, is less optimistic about the voluntary system.
"Under the old program," ho said, "you had a lot of
people on campus in uniform. Now, students may feel some
what hositant about going in ROTC, since not everyone is
doing II."
His experience has been, Landon said, that many students
entered flOTC with the idea they wouldn't like it. Then, after
a few months, they became interested, and went on into the
advanced program, often becoming honor students.
Air Force Col. William E. Boyd, professor of air science at
OSU, thinks the voluntary program will have many advantages.
"This year we got 35 to 40 per cent of the number we had
before," he said.
OSU has an advantage for the Air Force, Boyd said, be
cause "We have the type of engineering students here we
want."
He added, "I'm not concerned about how many we're going
to put in the pipeline at the end. I think it will be at least as
many as before, and it may double."
Both Colonel Boyd and Colonel Kocher noted that the en
tire Air Force ROTC program may soon be revised to a two
year scholarship plan. All cadets admitted would receive
substantial financial aid. The program would begin in the
Junior year.
Oregon Stale has Naval ROTC, but the Navy was not as
strongly affected as the Army and Air Force by the change
from compulsory to voluntary ROTC.
Cmdr. A. V. H. Bacon, acting commanding officer of the
OSU Naval program, said there were fewer applicants for
the Navy's contract program this year, which differs from
the regular program. The rcgulnr program is for a limited
number of qualified students, who have their expenses paid,
and who go into the Navy as regular officers. The contract
program is roughly equivalent to the Army and Air Force
programs, and produces reserve officers.
This year, Bncon said, tho contract program quota was 70,
nd there wcro 80 applicants. Of these, 37 wore enrolled. The
quota is seldom filled, ho said, but last year, when all male
students had to tako somo form of ROTC, the Navy had 122
applicants which meant a wider choice.
The officers agree that a great deal will depend on the
campus atmosphere. If ROTC is successful in creating a posi
tive image, tho program should continue to produce well quali
fied officers for the Army, Air Force and Navy.
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FAST FOTO
Cadets Say ROTC Qood Training
Boi 528X, Eugrn
John D. Jamieson, student
Brigade commander for the
University of Oregon Army
ROTC, is now thinking of be
coming a career Army officer.
But when be was a freshman,
the military life was far from
his mind.
Jamieson, 21-year-old senior
from Mt. Vernon, Wash., said
last week, "I don't think I would
have gone into it if it had not
been compulsory. It didn't en
ter my mind."
Another student, Raleigh
Darr, 10, a freshman from
Springfield, is in a different po
sition. He entered ROTC this
year because he wanted to this
is the first year that men fresh
men and sophomores have not
been required to take the
course.
"I have to go Into the service
anyway," Darr said. "As an of
ficer, I will have that much
more pay, and that much more
rating."
Darr said he was favorably
iris:
Darr
Jamieson
impressed with the ROTC train
ing he had received even the
drill periods.
"Drill is all right," he said.
"You learn quite a little."
Although Darr himself is mili
tary conscious, he doesn't think
this attitude is widespread
among men of his age.
"I don't believe most of
them have thought too much
about it," he said.
Jamieson, although he went
into ROTC because it was com
pulsory, soon became interested
in military subjects. When he
was a sophomore, he decided to
enter the advanced program.
And his interest grew as he con
tinued to study.
"After going to summer
camp," he said, "I got a new
outlook on military life. Now
I'm considering it as a ct-;er."
As a student officer, Jamie
son likes the voluntary program.
He has been favorably im
pressed with the new students
entering the program.
"They're better quality," he
said. "They want to learn.
When it was compulsory, many
of them had no desire to learn."
Unions Authorized
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia W
Ethiopians for the first time
will be permitted to organize
trade unions under an order of
Emperor Haile Selassie pub
lished in the official gazette.
It bars worker and employer
groups from all political activity.
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Nn an pnpineer is iust examining
fVioof a giant pump-up structure resem
JI Ca bling a jack-o'-lantern at Chertsey,
. England. It actually is a highly
Pi imriKin buoyant vessel which is utilized to
X LUllLvrviil transport military vehicles over
water.
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