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Army ROTC program

Army

Reserve Officers Training Corps

 

The Massachusetts Maritime Academy ROTC program first began in 1996 with just one cadet.  We have since grown exponentially now having over 40 cadets participating in our program.  Massachusetts Maritime Academy’s ROTC program is continuing to grow, bringing in a new class of First Year Students who are eager to learn and receive some of the finest leadership and management training there is.  We have had a number of cadets graduate and enter into the United States Army as well-tuned Second Lieutenants.  ROTC provides practical and hands-on experience that you can get nowhere else.


Classes

These are learning environments in which ROTC cadets learn the fundamentals of being a soldier and an officer in the United States Army.

  • Held once per week every semester for 1-2 hours.
  • First Year: every Monday from 1600 - 1730 on campus.
  • For Sophomores-Seniors Classes are from 1300-1430 at Stonehill College (University
    transportation provided!)
  • Massachusetts Maritime Academy is part of the Charles River battalion ran out of Boston
    University, so all classes are taught by either COL (Ret) Dilliplane or Boston University
    Cadre.
  • Classes are graded off various homework, midterm, and final

Labs

This is our field training for cadets on the topics that are covered in class.

  • Held every other Wednesday from 0500 – 0700 on Campus in various locations,
    depending on the training for that day. LABS will always be supervised by qualified
    Boston University ROTC Cadre.
  • Skills Learned
    • Tactical movements, moving as a unit, rappelling, reacting to contact (direct and indirect), setting up patrol base, land navigation and STX lanes

Field Training Exercise (FTX) 

A two to three day training exercise in the field to simulate events that can occur on a deployment in order to understand the material taught. Held once a semester.

ROTC Leadership

Throughout a cadet’s time in ROTC, they will learn skills and be instilled with the Army values (leadership, duty, respect, selfless services, honor, integrity, and personal courage).  With these values, cadets will become leaders in their academics and in their personal lives. 

Our PT sessions consist of complex and often squad based workouts. The sessions are vital for the development of our cardio and muscular systems. The squad based PT is important to building camaraderie but also puts us in competitive situations, so we will perform to the best of our ability, and excel in all the events. PT is vital to our unit cohesion and to our physical readiness.

ARMY PHYSICAL FITNESS TEST STANDARDS

The new test for the Army is the Army Combat Fitness Test. Students do not have to pass this test until they decide to fully commit to the program (after their freshman year or upon receiving scholarship benefits. The goal of every PT session is to improve on every aspect of the ACFT. The test is scored for each element and there is a minimum passing score as well as maximum scores that improve your chances of scholarship consideration, #1 job selection after college, and selection for elite summer training as a Cadet. The elements of the test along with the passing scores can be found here:

https://www.army.mil/acft/

AIR ASSAULT

  • Cadets have the opportunity to compete for Air Assault school held at Camp Edwards joint base Cape Cod in the middle of August. This School will qualify graduates with the skills of rappelling out of black hawk helicopters, aircraft orientation, sling load operations, and fast rope techniques. This is a 10 day school consisting of intense physical demand with a plethora of knowledge that you will be assessed on throughout the weeks.  It is a highly competitive slot to earn, as well as highly rewarding. Day zero kicks off with a two mile run, followed by an extensive obstacle course.

RANGER SCHOOL

  • United States Army Ranger school is the toughest school that a soldier in the United States Army can volunteer for. The Rangers’ mission is to engage in close combat and direct-fire battles. Both field grade and enlisted soldiers can volunteer. The school consists of 3 phases, crawl, walk, and run, respectively lasting a little over two months. There are no easy days during this training. It is guaranteed you will be pushing your body and mind to the limit if you have what it takes to earn the Ranger Tab.

AIRBORNE SCHOOL

  • ROTC Cadets have a unique privilege to attend the United States Army Airborne School during their college years prior to their commissioning. Airborne school is a three week course held at Fort Benning, Georgia. The school is broken up into three parts; ground week, tower week and jump week. At the end of the three weeks the students will have made five jumps from 1,250 feet from a C-130 or C-17 aircraft, one of these jumps being at night.  Paratroopers who successfully meet course requirements are granted an additional skill identifier and are authorized to wear the coveted "Silver Wing" on their uniform.

BASIC COURSE

  • The Basic Course is normally taken by First Year and sophomore-year students. It introduces basic subjects such as the history of the U.S. Army, organizational structure of the Army, techniques and principles of leadership and management, and map reading.

ADVANCED COURSE

  • The Advanced Course is taken by juniors and seniors. Students in the Advanced Course must sign a contract with the Army, pass a qualifying medical examination and physical fitness test, and have at least a 2.0 grade-point average. Studies concentrate on basic tactical operations, military teaching principles, and advanced techniques of leadership, management, and command.

FOREIGN LANGUAGE TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES

  • Army ROTC Cadets have the opportunity to apply for and participate in a vast array of language training opportunities, in particular Project Global Officer (Project GO) and The Army’s Cultural Understanding and Language Proficiency (CULP) Internship program.

PROJECT GLOBAL OFFICER

  • The Project GO program allows cadets (contracted and non-contracted) to apply to study languages over the summer at over 20 participating colleges across the country (to include our battalion’s host school, Boston University) for up to 8 credits. University fees, meal plan and dormitory rooms included! The program also has language immersion trips abroad to locations such as Shanghai, China and Rabat, Morocco as well.

CULTURAL UNDERSTANDING AND LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY INTERNSHIP

  • The CULP Program allows contracted cadets the opportunity to attend summer training abroad for several weeks of language immersion in locations such as Costa Rica, Tanzania and Korea. Talk to your MS advisor for details. Both the Armed Forces and the world of international commerce and business need professionals who are culturally astute and competent in a foreign language. Make the most of your training time now!

 

Whether you’re a college-bound high school student or already attending a college or university, Army ROTC has scholarships available. There are various scholarships available and details can be found on our page “Becoming an Officer“. There are also campus-based Army ROTC scholarships given out yearly to outstanding Cadets determined by the Professor of Military Science. Scholarships are awarded based on a student’s merit and grades, not financial needs.

In addition to Army ROTC scholarships, we offer the Simultaneous Membership Program (SMP) path.  SMP Cadets who join the Army National Guard as an enlisted soldier while attending Massachusetts Maritime Academy will receive a 100% tuition and fee waiver!  This is not a scholarship; the state pays full tuition and fees for any state school in MA if the student enlists in the Army national Guard (USANG).  As an enlisted service member in the USANG, you will drill one weekend per month at a local unit while simultaneously training in the Army ROTC.  

For the SMP program and/or other scholarship information, contact the Enrollment and Scholarship Officer, Mr. Scott Braithwaite at 617-312-4451 or sbraith1@bu.edu.