DDave, At Texas A&M, ROTC was mandatory in the past. That is not so now. The mandatory system was enforced in the first two grades, and during the sophomore year, each student was tested, and evaluated. If they met the requirements, they entered into a contract, and became the property of the United States Army. Between the junior, and senior, years, they spent the summer in basic training at forts which were of the different branches of the army. At graduation, the seniors became shave tails, and went into active service. The contract specified that they must serve 4 years of active duty. After that, many joined the reserves, or national guard, and some found a home in the army, and made it their career.
One interesting note. In WW2 there were more officers in combat from A&M than from all of the other military acadamies combined. The rangers that scaled the cliffs at Pointe Du Hoc, on dday, were led by an Aggie, who later became the president of the university.
I had my stint in the combat engineers, but age, marital situation, and young children, kept me out of the combat zone. That was years from 1951 thru 1961 of training that I never got to use in the intended way. |
