ROTC Will Not Require Service

Its hands tied by budget cuts, the Navy ROTC program will no longer require ROTC scholarship recipients to enter active service after graduation and will not pay full tuition costs for all those who win ROTC scholarships.

Until this year, ROTC scholarship winners served four years of active duty after college followed by four years in the inactive reserves.

Now, however, about 100 of the 1200 graduating ROTC seniors across the country will instead serve eight years of reserve duty, said Navy Captain Michael E. Field, who directs the MIT Navy ROTC program.

In addition, about half of the approximately 700 students who receive ROTC scholarships next year will be paid the higher of two options: either 80 percent of their tuition or $8,000.

In the past, Navy ROTC scholars have had full college tuition, books and clothing paid for by the Navy, as well as monthly stipends of $100 during the college semester.

The changes were made because the Navy can no longer afford to pay full active-duty salaries for all of its graduating seniors, Field said.

Single Navy officers in active service in Boston, for instance, receive a starting salary of and $27,600 a year, while inactive reserves are not paid. Reserves can be drafted in the event of war, but are meanwhile free to pursue non-military careers.

The reduction in financial aid could possibly make it more difficult for the Navy to draw top recruits, Field said.

"We have been trying to avoid it," Field said. "We hoped we would not have to do this."

Field said most Navy ROTC seniors on scholarship are choosing to enter active duty, despite the new reserve option. Only one out of 60 ROTC seniors in MIT's program--which includes students from a number of Boston-area schools including Harvard--opted for inactive reserve, he said.

"The Navy ROTC Scholarship Program is a real commitment," Field said. "Students have to take an extra class every semester, attend weekly assemblies, and have compulsory drills for an hour every Monday morning."

These students, Field said, join the Navy ROTC scholarship program and undergo the rigorous training required because they want to serve in the Navy after graduation.

Koma B. Gandy '95, a Navy ROTC scholar, said she wants to enter active Navy service after graduation.

"For a lot of kids, finance was the determining factor in accepting the Navy ROTC college scholarship, but very few people accept it just for the tuition aspect," Gandy said. "Most people take it because there's something in the Navy they want to do."

For some ROTC recruits who relied on a military job after graduation, the non-paying reserve service may not really be an option, said Eric T. Navales '95, also a Navy ROTC participant.

Navales said these ROTC scholars will be left "high and dry" in pursuing a career because many of them have never done summer internships or considered career alternatives beyond theNavy.

"If I were offered inactive reserve, I wouldn'ttake the deal," Navales said.

As for those who choose the inactive reserve,Navales said he finds their situation "amazing."

"Inactive reserves give the Navy their address,and then they can just move away," Navales said."The Navy's paid for their tuition, and books, youknow, but they don't need to serve.

"If I were offered inactive reserve, I wouldn'ttake the deal," Navales said.

As for those who choose the inactive reserve,Navales said he finds their situation "amazing."

"Inactive reserves give the Navy their address,and then they can just move away," Navales said."The Navy's paid for their tuition, and books, youknow, but they don't need to serve.