On a personal note, I saw a group of middle school kids training in the parking lot going into basketball last week. I didn't really notice until my friend said to me that I must not have liked that. I said what and he pointed the kids out marching. When I realized what it was, my heart sunk.
Related: An Army Life
Hear that bugle, kiddo?
Given the amount of war propaganda, and the Globe's recent spate of WWII articles, etc, there is something coming soon, folks.
"ROTC’s ranks surge with new recruits; Sense of mission, scholarships drive trend" by Brian MacQuarrie, Globe Staff | September 27, 2009
CAMBRIDGE - Chris Higgins, 21, an upbeat Harvard University junior, is also a master sergeant in the Army ROTC, an officer-in-the-making who has spent weekends firing an M-16, rappelling, and honing land-navigation skills while many classmates are launching a blitz on the college social scene....
“I’ve wanted to join the Army ever since 9/11,’’ said Higgins, who was 13 at the time of the terrorist attacks....
Still believing the lie, 'eh, kid?
The mission - to serve the country and gain leadership experience - is shared by a sharply growing number of American undergraduates, who have swollen the Army’s ROTC ranks by 26 percent, to 30,721, in the last three years. The rise comes as the Army expands and tries to fill a deep officer shortage, bumping up its number of ROTC scholarships by 75 percent since the 2005-2006 school year.
And fools like me are out here hollering for an end to the damn things. No end in sight. To hell with you, AmeriKa.
A free education has clearly been a draw in uncertain economic times, and a strong sense of patriotism appears to motivate many new cadets.
Fine. go die for empire, oil, and Israel. I'll quit complaining.
But even career Army officers who lead them cannot pinpoint exactly why ROTC, divisive and controversial during the Vietnam War, has become increasingly attractive when one long, costly war is winding down and another is ramping up.
Winding down only because the lying MSM says it?
And they got more than one waiting to ramp up.
Lieutenant Colonel Timothy Hall, who commands the Paul Revere Battalion of Army ROTC, is in a growth industry.
Yup, WAR is OUR ONLY GROWTH INDUSTRY, America -- but wees wants peace!
“For them, it’s about their calling to serve something bigger than themselves,’’ said Hall, who served two tours in Iraq.
That, of course, would be ISRAEL!
The surge is also linked to a dramatic increase in the Army’s size, to 547,000 soldiers from 482,000 in 2006. That sudden growth brought an urgent need for many more officers, which likewise led to the boost in scholarship money.
Yeah, they HAVE MONEY for MILITARY EDUCATION -- just NOT for YOUR SHIT ASS, citizen!
At Norwich University in Northfield, Vt., Norwich president Richard Schneider, a Vietnam veteran and retired rear admiral in the Coast Guard Reserve. “This isn’t driven by money. It’s driven by a deep commitment to the republic.’’
Yeah, if only we actually had one.
Norwich is unusual in that its ROTC scholarship students receive a completely free education.
As we ALL SHOULD! If we can BAILOUT BANKS and FUND WARS to the TUNE of TRILLIONS we can EDUCATE EVERYONE for FREE -- AND give them HEALTHCARE!
The scholarship, at Norwich and elsewhere, usually pays for tuition and fees. But at the Vermont university, which provided the model for the creation of the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps in 1916, a special college fund also covers room and board....
All ROTC cadets make an eight-year commitment to the Army after graduation, which includes four years of active duty for scholarship students and three years for non-scholarship cadets. The remainder of the time can be spent in the National Guard, Reserves, or the Individual Ready Reserves, which is an inactive force that can be called up in an emergency.
Yeah, they BEEN CALLED UP for the LAST EIGHT YEARS with NO END in SIGHT!!
Today, the active-duty Army is short about 3,000 majors and captains, said Colonel Paul Aswell, chief of the Army’s Officer Division. To fill those positions, the Army needs to recruit and commission second lieutenants - the rank of ROTC cadets when they graduate - as quickly as possible.
I REALLY SENSE a DRAFT, folks!
AFTER the NEXT FALSE FLAG ATTACK?
Time for YOU KIDS to DO WHAT YOUR GRANDPARENTS did and FIGHT a WORLD WAR, huh?
“Captains and majors are very difficult to grow’’ from their roots as second lieutenants, Aswell said. “It takes almost 10 years to grow a major and almost four years to grow a captain.’’
As if the military is some sort of experiment in creation when it is ALL ABOUT DESTRUCTION! Oh, I know, the PAY WAR LOOTERS to STEAL TAX LOOT while rebuilding nothing after, but I don't call that creative.
With such needs, a big increase in scholarship money is seen as one more tool to attract students to ROTC.
This is KIND OF HURTING ME NOW!
Our POOR KIDS at HOME that are GETTING SCREWED over these LIES!!!!!
“We have to balance the risk of not producing those officers with the cost,’’ Aswell said. “There will come a day when we won’t pay that many scholarships, but in this period in our nation’s history, it’s important to accept that risk if we can afford it.’’
What if we can't?
Last academic year, 51 percent of the nation’s ROTC students received federal scholarships. In the Paul Revere Battalion, cadets do not receive course credit for ROTC work, which includes up to three hours of classes and three hours of physical training per week, plus two to four hours of practical training and field exercises every other weekend. For them, the motivation lies elsewhere. “There was no financial gain for me,’’ said cadet Staff Sergeant Alejandro Lopez, 19, an MIT junior from San Juan. “It was more of joining for a higher calling.’’
Sigh. What, Halliburton?
His words were echoed by four of his fellow cadets, who had gathered for an interview at the battalion office. “There’s a mission out there, and I always felt an obligation to help complete it,’’ said cadet Sergeant Josh Guerra of Miami, 24, a senior who entered Harvard after an Army tour in Afghanistan.
I feel an obligation not to assist at all in the mass-murdering slaughter based on damnable lies.
Guerra, a chemistry and physics major, joined ROTC partly because he had seen the impact of an officer in war. Now, he faces the prospect of returning to Afghanistan as a leader of infantry. Fellow Harvard students are respectful of his decision to join ROTC, Guerra said, which is plainly evident every Tuesday when cadets must wear their uniforms to class.
As a what, reminder of the militarist state we are?
“At Harvard and MIT, there are many paths to virtue,’’ Guerra said. “Military service is just another expression of volunteerism and serving a cause.’’
Yeah, but what cause is it?
Also see: Some Things Are More Important Than School
Not that it is important, but I had a great game for an old man as I value each and every experience on the court, knowing it could be my last.
