A new Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps program will launch at ASU in fall 2010, making ASU a Tri-Service ROTC program offering services in the Army, Air Force and now Navy.
During a visit to the Tempe campus on Tuesday, Rear Adm. Cliff Sharpe met with President Michael Crow to approve the establishment of the new Navy ROTC, which was officially announced Wednesday.
Sharpe is the commander of the Naval Service Training Command based at the Naval Station Great Lakes, Ill., and oversees the Navy and Marine Corps ROTC programs.
Alan Artibise, executive dean for the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, said the program would be a great component to ASU.
“There is no more effective way to serve a larger community than through the military,” Artibise said. “This raises ASU’s profile in motivating leadership and increasing the number of graduates involved in military services.”
Crow said in a statement that the “burgeoning and dynamic Naval ROTC program” would fit well with other expanding programs such as sustainability, biodesign and aerospace engineering already offered at ASU.
“We are appreciative of the important role that the military plays in protecting our nation and it is with a great deal of excitement that we welcome the Navy to our university,” Crow said.
Lt. Col. Kirk McIntosh, professor of military science at ASU, said the Army and Air Force ROTC programs at ASU are excited to be part of a Tri-Service ROTC program.
“I think we all have the same feeling that three services will allow students to see more choices, more scholarships, and more opportunities for leadership and careers,” McIntosh said.
The NROTC program will train qualified young men and women for service as commissioned officers in the Navy and Marine Corps. It will also prepare future officers for leadership and management positions in an increasingly technical Navy and Marine Corps, according to the statement from ASU.
A 4-year Navy ROTC scholarship covering full tuition and any educational fees, including text books, uniforms, up to three summer training events and an allowance for each academic month, will also be included for students in the program.
Among the requirements to join the program include being an American citizen, physically fit, disciplined and having at least a 2.5 GPA.
Artibise said that what attracted the Navy to invest in the Naval ROTC program is Arizona’s ethnic diversity.
“The Navy is giving itself a goal of increasing the numbers of minorities enrolled in the Navy,” Artibise said. “This is certainly the place to do that, given the large Hispanic, Asian and the American Indian population [in Arizona].”
He said military officers desire to see an increase in disciplined students, and the program will help increase that number.
“[Officers] realized that the future people need to be far more nimble than they have been in the past in terms of being able to work across disciplinary boundaries and work in teams,” Artibise said.
Artibise said investing in the Naval ROTC program during the tough budget restraints is a tough thing to do.
“The fact that the Navy was able to invest in this is an exceptionally considerable commitment by the Navy to the [New] American University,” Artibise said.
Cadet First Lt. Michelle Dehorney, 23, who works with the ASU ROTC Battalion while attending Mesa Community College, said she thinks the new Navy program is a good asset to the military programs at ASU.
“You definitely want to have all branches of military available because we are all different,” Dehorney said. “If you like to swim and be in the water, you’ll definitely want to go with the Navy. If you like being on ground, you’ll want to go with the Army or the Marines, and the Air Force if you like to fly.”
She said NROTC would provide students interested in joining a military program at ASU more opportunities.
“It [ROTC] opens up even more opportunities to showcase the military and give students the opportunity to experience that while they are in school,” Dehorney said.
Reach the reporter at griselda.nevarez@asu.edu.
