Students involved in the ROTC program at Ohio State are more inclined to stay involved in the program because of new techniques in teaching this year.

“We’re trying to provide realistic training to the cadets,” said Army Lt. Col. Jack Gumbert, chairman of the Department of Military Science at Ohio State.

When the students go to areas in and near Ohio, they travel in helicopters and Army trucks.

“We move around like they move in the Army,” Gumbert said.

The number of students in the Army ROTC has gone up by 18 students this year, a 14-percent increase in ROTC enrollment.

As a cadet in the basic courses — which includes freshman and sophomore years — students are able to take the Army ROTC courses with no military obligation. Once students progress to the advanced courses in their junior and senior years, if they wish to receive a commission, they must sign an ROTC contract which obligates them to complete the program and accept a commission in the U.S. Army, Army Reserve, or the Army National Guard, according to the Department of Military Science.

Contracted students and national scholarship winners receive a monthly stipend of up to $400 each month throughout the academic year, said Maj. Alan Burley, recruiting operations officer for the U.S. Army.

About a third of students join the Army ROTC for the financial benefits, Burley said. The Army National Guard offers a scholarship that pays 100 percent of tuition, and the Army Reserve offers a scholarship that pays 75 percent.

More students go through ROTC, so enlisting numbers are down, said Fred Kerner, public affair officer for Navy recruiting in Ohio.

“The (Navy) retention rate is very high, meaning people are staying in and not leaving,” Kerner said.

After the Sept. 11 attacks, the national numbers in the Air Force ROTC program went from 13,351 two years ago to 17,500, according to the Air Force.

The Army ROTC’s numbers went from 28,470 to 30, 824 nationally in the 2000-2001 school year.

Students thinking about joining were urged by the Sept. 11 attacks, Gumbert said.

Retention rates for juniors and seniors is up in the 80 percent now where a couple years ago it was probably below 40 percent, Burley said.

“Every single one of our juniors came back as a senior this year,” Gumbert said.

“Christina Kessler has about a 3.8 GPA, runs two miles in 14 minutes, and will take charge of whatever you want her to and do a great job. That’s what we want,” Gumbert said.

Kessler, a senior in fisheries and wildlife management, was uncertain if she would stay with the program when she joined.

“I liked the camaraderie and leadership I found and decided to stay,” Kessler said.

OSU’s ROTC program competes with 87 other programs in the district in the National Advanced Leadership Camp held in Ft. Louis, Wash. each summer. Students must compete in the camp during the summer between their junior and senior year as part of the course.

OSU’s program is first in the district and is at least in the top three in the nation, Burley said.

Basic training is an essential part of military life in ROTC

“We don’t tie our training to the terror alert levels. We do tie our vigilance and our security to it, though,” Gumbert said.

Seven students in the Army ROTC program have been deployed to fight the War on Terror.