Air Force ROTC: Taps at Vansberg

The Air Force ROTC Program ended here quietly and simply at 6:02 p. m. yesterday in the Vansberg Building as the final eight officers received their commissions as second lieutenants.

"This one will be short and simple," Colonel Wilkinson R. Folk told the gathering of 22 persons. "I won't go into the shameful events that led to the end of the program here. You might say that's 'academic.'"

The room was small and simply decorated. On top of two bookshelves were placards reading, "Stay With It. United States Air Force." There were four blue ROTC flags in various positions and one American flag.

Only a tinge of bitterness crept into the half-hour ceremony, and occasionally there was brief laughter, as when Folk noted that one graduate was on the Harvard Law Review and added, "Even Ed Cox couldn't qualify for that."

Mainly, the persons connected with the program are just sad to see it end and think those who brought about its

Unlike most of its predecessors, this year's class of only eight men is made up mostly of graduate students. Only two are Harvard seniors. They have done well academically; they are Phi Beta Kappa. Folk called them "the cream of the elite."

Afterwards, they still had enough spirit to celebrate, but it was a quite celebration. There were hors d'oeuvres, soft drinks, and champagne in an adjacent room whose air conditioning was a relief to the guests. "It's only appropriate that a missiles man should do that." said Robert W. Anestis, one of the men commissioned, as Folk opened the first bottle of champagne. Folk is with the Intercontinental Ballistic Missile System.

When Folk had been preparing his remarks the day before, his son had said, "Don't worry too much. after all," he told him, "we'll be leaving right away." termination did not consider the alternatives. Folk suggested that the loss of ROTC units at prestigious colleges would "professionalize" the military. "I don't really think it's what we want in this country," he added.

He said later that new units were opening in the South and that the quantity of officers would not suffer. "It's the same input, but it's a different breed of cats," he asserted. "We need Texas Agees, but we also need Harvard eggheads."