35 Seniors in AFROTC May Miss Commissions

Over half of this year's Air Force ROTC seniors may not receive commissions when they graduate in June, Colonel Frank P. Bostrom, professor of Air Science and Tactics, announced yesterday.

Bostrom said this reduction in commissioned officers is in accordance with the Air Force's new plan announced last summer. The plan stated that candidates in the administrative field of the ROTC who cannot or will not pass physical requirements for flight training will, in most cases, not be commissioned as Air Force engineers but will receive a certificate of completion. This certificate will allow the graduate to enlist in the Air Force for a shortened two-year period and will be valid for two years following graduation.

About 33 other AFROTC seniors will receive commissions. Of these, 23 will enter as pilots, five as observers, and approximately five more will serve as engineers.

4000 Flyers

The exact number of men who will be commissioned as engineers is still undecided. Nationally, the Air Force accepts only 1000 candidates in this field, and Bostrom stated that "most of these men come from schools like M.I.T. where practically all the candidates take engineering."

Bostrom said that in the entire nation more than 3000 AFROTC candidates will not get commissions. He added, however, that the Air Force will take 4000 men who can meet the requirements as flyers, and 2750 more as observers.

Army Commissions

Lt. Col. Trevor N. Dupuy, professor of Military Science and Tactics, stated last night that he doubted if any of these men who will not get commissions in the Air Force will be able to obtain them from the Army. "These candidates had the opportunity last fall to apply for an Army commission," he said.

"There may be a chance for this, however, and I don't want to discourage any possible exceptions with a flat no. But the Army, of course, owes no responsibility to these men," he added.

Tour of Active Duty

Chester D. Seftenberg, Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Air Force, explained that most of the men who will receive commissions will first serve a tour of active duty and then return to civilian life as trained members of the Reserves.

Seftenberg, who inspected the University's AFROTC facilities last January, said that while the service hopes many of the commissioned officers will make the Air Force their career, this is not obligatory.