Skip to main content
Presentation
The Perspective of College Seniors in ROTC on Becoming a Commissioned Officer
The Research and Scholarship Symposium (2013-2019)
  • Natasha Kreft, Cedarville University
  • Hans Stoltzfus, Cedarville University
  • Luke M. Tse, Cedarville University
  • Ruth L. Markham, Cedarville University
Type of Submission
Poster
Keywords
  • Air Force ROTC,
  • Army ROTC,
  • commissioned officer life,
  • military persona
Abstract

While there is growing research into Military and Mental health issues, the focus of such research has primarily been restricted to those populations who are retired from Military or who step-down from Active Duty. Following a case study with Reservists, we became aware that mental health issues in the Military Population may potentially stem from concepts involved the initial training phases. With the hypothesis that ROTC Cadets are among the youngest persons engaging in Military training, we approached ROTC Air Force and ROTC Army Cadets who were Seniors by credit at Cedarville University. The Cadets were asked to participate in a face-to-face interview with a researcher, to share their experiences of ROTC and their perspectives on what life as a Commissioned Officer would be like. Participation in the interviews was voluntary, but the Air Force Commander and Army Commander had informed their Cadets that this study had been approved by them and participation was encouraged. Participants included both male and female Cadets from a broad range of academic majors. The interviews were analyzed and six themes emerged:- (a) Being associated with high caliber professionals (b) Balancing military persona with non-military persona (c) Skills and strategies for success in life (d) Personal values (e) Awareness of challenges (f) Impact of training on persona. Overall, the Cadets expressed excitement at the prospect of becoming Commissioned Officers, and pride in being among those who serve their country.

Faculty Sponsor or Advisor’s Name
Dr. Luke Tse with Dr. Ruth Markham
Campus Venue
Stevens Student Center
Location
Cedarville, OH
Start Date
4-16-2014 11:00 AM
End Date
4-16-2014 2:00 PM
Creative Commons License
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0
Citation Information
Natasha Kreft, Hans Stoltzfus, Luke M. Tse and Ruth L. Markham. "The Perspective of College Seniors in ROTC on Becoming a Commissioned Officer" (2014)
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/luke_tse/44/