Officer training a big hit
An Army officer training program at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs is booming this year, its ranks swelled by Iraq veterans and other troops looking to trade stripes for lieutenant’s bars.
It’s still a far cry from the Air Force Academy, but with 70 cadets, the Reserve Officer Training Corps at the college is hitting record highs, even as other Army programs have struggled with recruiting.
“I inherited a great program,” said Lt. Col. James DesJardin, an Iraq war veteran who came to Colorado to shepherd new officers through ROTC. “The beauty of it is we have Fort Carson.”
DesJardin said the program still accepts traditional students who have never served in the military, but lately many of its officer candidates come from the Army’s “Green to Gold” program, which offers enlisted soldiers a chance to go to college and become leaders.
Sgt. John Shemanski went to Iraq with the 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team from Fort Carson and is working on a master’s degree at UCCS. The degree will come with lieutenant’s bars.
“I would like to be on the officer side,” he said. “They have more say in what goes on.”
Shemanski, like some of the other students in the program, remains on active duty and is drawing his full pay to attend classes.
“It’s the best deal ever,” said Staff Sgt. Lesley Wayman, a sociology major and mother of two who said she wants to spend her career in the Army.
The cadets at UCCS are given physical and leadership training along with a modicum of military skills, but their primary duty is to get an education.
Shemanski said he’s had to tone down the gruff leadership techniques he learned in Iraq to adjust to the ROTC environment.
“There’s less yelling,” he said. “You approach things more delicately.”
The ROTC program is the Army’s largest source of officers. College students, many of them on military scholarships, are put through management and leadership courses in addition to their degree program.
Students who complete the program are commissioned with a service commitment of three or four years.
Nathan Schill came into the program with no prior military service. He said even with the hardships of Iraq ahead, he’s not deterred.
“I want to make this a career,” the mechanical engineering major said.
DesJardin said that’s what amazes him about the young people in his program.
“They come in here knowing what’s going on in the world,” he said. “They know what they want.”
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