Web Special: Looking Sharp

On Wednesdays, the first-year cadets start the morning in a small classroom decorated with posters emblazoned with words like integrity, honor, and excellence. There are 15 cadets from different colleges, as well as an MIT pre-frosh applying for an ROTC scholarship. Four of the cadets are women, and it appears to be a racially diverse crew.

Captain Brian Sullivan, who teaches the cadets military science, sits on a desk and sips coffee as he clicks through slides of weapons: M-4s, night vision devices, different kinds of grenades. “Look through the optical device here...you basically can’t miss if you put the red dot on the target,” he says.

He asks the cadets about the roles of each soldier in an army company and the types of weapons each should carry. Often they end their responses with “sir.” When one cadet stumbles, Sullivan tells him, “I’m not letting you off easy.” Patiently, he guides him through the correct answer.

Occasionally, Sullivan jokingly responds to a wrong answer by barking, “Push-ups!”

There’s more laughter between Sullivan and different cadets in a discussion of dates for the upcoming military ball, hosted jointly with Air Force and Navy ROTC. Sullivan reminds the male cadets to get a hair cut if they need one for the ball, to shave and, again teasing, to shower. “Just remember who you represent when you’re wearing a uniform,” he says. “You want to look sharp.”