Need money for tuition, fees, books and living expenses?
ROTC scholarships, provided through the military, offer that and a job when you graduate—and that job is a well-paying career that can take you places and turn you into a leader, according to Capt. Roger Gindlesperger, an instructor in the WSU ROTC program.
Gindlesperger explained that ROTC scholarships offer $5,000 cash and $600 for books each semester. There is also a monthly stipend of $300 given for attending classes. That can amount to almost $57,000 in scholarships over four years.
According to Gindlesperger, the ROTC program offers four-year, three-year and two-year scholarships, depending on how the amount of time each cadet needs to complete for their bachelor’s or master’s degree.
Army ROTC is a Leader Development Program designed to train motivated young men and women in the skills required to become successful U.S. Army officers. The program is designed to help students gain leadership experience through military training and learning mission planning tasks, said Capt. Stephen Feehan of the WSU ROTC program.
The Weber State University Reserve Officer Training Corps, the Wildcat ROTC Battalion, is the place to start. According to Maj. Camille Smith, the Wildcat Battalion was organized at Weber State University in 1971 and has been training leaders ever since.
Second Lt. Chelsey Kellum, a graduate of the WSU program, said since its inception, the Wildcat Battalion has graduated more than 800 officers into the U.S. Army. They are awarded the rank of second lieutenant when they step off the stage at graduation and move into jobs that they have been training for since joining the ROTC program.
Kellum added that In addition to helping to pay for school, the Army ROTC program lets recruits have experiences that most students never have. For example, during each semester, the class gets picked up in a UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter and inserted into a simulated battlefield event where they test out the tactics they’ve learned in class.
Kellum said she graduated debt-free and had a job in the Wildcat Battalion.
“The ROTC program allowed me mentor others and develop leadership skills,” Kellum said. “There’s no other program like this that allows you to develop so much and creates such camaraderie that will last a lifetime. There is no other career that I know of that will pay for your undergraduate degree, give you money for your master’s, send you to Airborne school and then to train in Korea.”
According to the program literature, a bachelor’s degree is required to become an officer in the Army. Depending on previous experience, some cadets may complete the ROTC requirements between two to four years, graduating with a bachelor’s degree and a minor in military science before accepting a commission in the Army, the Army Reserves or the Army National Guard.
Feehan explained that upon completion of the Officer Basic Leadership Course, Army officers may pursue additional specialized training and post-graduate education opportunities. They are likely be assigned to advanced leadership positions and to staff positions.
For more information, contact the ROTC at 801-626-6518.
