While many Jumbos might shudder at the thought of getting up earlier than 9:30 a.m., 10 Tufts students regularly roust themselves out of bed as early as 5:20. They aren't athletes getting up for practice, however. They are cadets in the Army Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC).
Students partaking in Army ROTC receive merit−based scholarships or living expense stipends and are commissioned as Second Lieutenants in the Active Army, Army Reserve or Army National Guard upon completion of the program.
Tufts ROTC cadets have Physical Training (PT) early every Monday and Friday morning at Tufts and take ROTC courses and do more PT every Wednesday morning at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). ROTC cadets wake up as early as 5:20 on Wednesdays to commute to MIT. Tufts ROTC cadets are part of the Paul Revere Battalion at MIT, which consists of about 90 cadets from Tufts, MIT, Harvard, Wellesley, Gordon College, Salem State College and Endicott College.
Sophomore and ROTC cadet Nick Falk said that the reasons students join the ROTC vary from student to student. "It's hard to categorize [all ROTC students] as the same," Falk said. "Some people are doing it for financial reasons … some people are doing it for service … A lot of them are premed students, and the medical corps is a great way to gain experience … There's so many different reasons."
Just as there is no one mold for students in ROTC, cadets say that ROTC participants really aren't all that different from the rest of the student body.
"To be honest, I don't think there's much that really separates an ROTC cadet from other college students," junior and ROTC cadet Edward Chao, who wished to make clear that the cadets were not speaking as official representatives of the Army ROTC, said. "I mean, a lot of ROTC cadets choose this program to have a college lifestyle.
"I was first introduced to the idea of ROTC my senior year of high school," Chao added. "I applied for the United States Military Academy, I got in, and I ultimately decided that I did not want to go into the military Academy, and I felt that I could actually get really good leadership training if I went to Tufts … and participated in ROTC."
Sophomore Karen Castillo decided ROTC might be for her late in her freshman year. "I was just thinking that I was at a point freshman year [when] I didn't feel like I had any focus, and I felt that I needed some more motivation in a way," Castillo said. "I felt like I wasn't really doing as much in college as I should be taking advantage of. Also, my sister is in the National Guard, so she was kind of an influence as well."
Castillo also hopes her time in the ROTC will help her with a career after graduation. "I was also thinking of working in the military after college as a physician assistant, but it's kind of complicated how that works out. Once you're commissioned as an officer, you also have to do training within your branch, and that lasts about six or seven months. It depends on the branch you go into. Then you have a four−year active duty obligation … or an eight−year reserve [commitment]," she said.
Although Falk had been considering ROTC since high school, he decided to wait until arriving on campus to see how he felt about making the commitment. "I didn't contract until my second semester of freshman year … I've believed that service is a big part of how everyone should live their life; I know it sounds corny, but service is a big thing in my family. I have a bunch of service members in my family. So I thought there wouldn't be any better way to do that than serving the country through ROTC," Falk said.
Despite their different reasons for entering ROTC, if they have one thing in common it's that cadets are often "morning people," according to Falk. "I think the main thing is that is the difference between an ROTC cadet and a student here at Tufts is … it seems like many of them are a lot more driven. A lot of them are early morning people … there's no difference based on the intelligence level … I just feel they're just a different kind of person. It's kind of hard to explain."
ROTC cadets also partake in a variety of other events aside from their regularly scheduled training. "We have … training and events through the year. Like last Friday, we had a military ball with everyone from Harvard, MIT, Tufts, with all the services, Air Force, Navy and Army. Then we have field training exercises," Falk said. "We take helicopters over to Fort Devens in Massachusetts."
It was during one of these field training exercises that Castillo first learned how to swim. During combat water survival training, Castillo had to maneuver 15 meters in a pool with a full load of equipment on.
"Doing this without any prior swimming experience was like the scariest thing ever, but I did it, and I managed to maneuver 15 meters, and that's the day I learned how to swim, and I figured that was probably one of the most profound moments in my life," Castillo said.
Although it might not be a common sight to see a student walking around campus in military uniform, ROTC cadets say they feel welcome whether in or out of uniform.
Falk praised his teachers and University President Lawrence Bacow for their support of his ROTC participation. "President Larry Bacow last semester went on a run with us, he came over to MIT, and he basically gave us all a speech about how much he respects what we're doing, about how Tufts is a very service−first oriented school. He said, ‘There's no better service than serving your country,'" Falk said. "In terms of the faculty, they've all been great. My teachers knew that I was in ROTC, and they knew that if I had training, they'd accommodate for that."
However, Falk thinks that Tufts could do more to acknowledge those involved in the armed forces. "I know Tufts stresses to try to take in and learn about as many cultures as possible, but I feel like the military culture, which is a huge culture in the United States, is pretty much overlooked by the student body here in general … That's just what I've been seeing here," Falk said.
Cadets say that while in uniform, they get a variety of reactions from passersby. "I get all different kinds of reactions. A lot of times it's a lot of older people coming up to me and just saying, ‘Thank you for your service, or for your future service.' Some other students will just … say ‘Oh my God, I didn't know you were doing it,'" Falk said. "But it's not like coming back from Vietnam where people were screaming at you, or calling you ‘baby killer' or anything like that. Actually, students have basically been giving me respect and all that, so it's been good."
"I just feel that at Tufts, a lot of people don't realize a lot of people are in ROTC, so maybe [there's] ambivalence," Chao said. "Whenever I go around walking around campus in my uniform, it's like ‘Oh, you're in ROTC.' That's pretty much it."
"Not many people know about the ROTC," Castillo said. "I feel like I have to explain myself a lot. Not many people know about it. I didn't know much about the Tufts ROTC. When I Googled it, I noticed it was part of MIT ROTC, so I wouldn't really say we have that big of an influence here at Tufts."
Although ROTC might not get much publicity on campus, Castillo feels that ROTC has changed her for the better. "When I compare myself from before, I definitely feel I've changed for the better in a way. Now that I'm part of the program, it has definitely motivated me more and given me more focus and definitely helped me try harder than I normally would in other things," she said.
