Military Review English Edition May-June 2016 | Page 111

ROTC

In the years since
Bush’s address, Cadet
Command has continued refining its training
methodologies and
its approach to leader
development. For
example, all the collective summer training
conducted by Cadet
Command was consolidated at Fort Knox in
2014. New hands-on
training opportunities
became available to all
cadet underclassmen
(Photo courtesy of U.S. Army Cadet Command)
for the first time. More
plentiful opportunities
Army ROTC cadets conduct small boat training 18 July 2008.
for cadets to gain familiarity with other nations now exist than ever before.
positioned to continue providing the talented leaders
Cultural awareness training has become a vithe Army needs.
tal component of the Army ROTC curriculum.
For the seventh time in U.S. history, an ROTCOverseas immersion helps educate future leaders
trained officer serves as chief of staff of the Army.
in ways the classroom cannot. Cadets selected for
Gen. Mark Milley is a 1980 graduate of the Princeton
these opportunities gain first-hand experience with
University Army ROTC program. On 20 February 2016,
different cultures and sharpen their foreign language
Milley was presented the 2016 Woodrow Wilson Award
skills. They work side-by-side with host-nation miliby his alma mater. Princeton bestows the award annually
tary forces, and they have unmatched opportunities
to a former undergraduate whose career reflects the conto learn more about the culture and history of the
cepts in Wilson’s 1896 speech, “Princeton in the Nation’s
nations to which they are sent. In 2014, 1,320 ROTC
Service.” Upon receiving the award, Milley explained why
cadets participated in this experience.25 In the future, he chose to serve in the Army after completing his studies
at least half of all cadets are expected complete an
at Princeton. He offered his views on the importance of
overseas immersion internship.
service: “Service is never about self. It extends to othCadet Command has brought significant improveers—to those we are helping, to those we are protecting,
ments to the high school program, including extensive to those we are defending. This bond created through serrevision of the curriculum. The number of JROTC
vice extends to the brothers and sisters who are wearing
units increased significantly while Powell was chairthe uniform.”26
man of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. With its focus on
Referring to the rights of free citizens, Milley noted
building better citizens, JROTC now touches the lives America’s Army is powerful because it protects “the
of hundreds of thousands of young people each year.
most powerful idea that has ever existed in world
history.”27 As the Army’s thirty-ninth chief of staff,
A New Century of Service
and a product of the Army ROTC program, his words
The challenges currently facing America’s Army
echo the sentiments of countless others within the
are far different from those it had to address when the profession of arms. And it is quite reasonable to believe
ROTC program first came into existence. However, as they would resonate well with Alden Partridge and
ROTC prepares to enter its second century, it is well
President Woodrow Wilson too.
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