Last May, a U.S. Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps recruiter was forced to cancel an informational luncheon with students at Union South in order to avoid a confrontation with protestors. Last month, campus crusaders from Stop the War crashed a career fair at the Kohl Center to presumably ensure that students wishing to join \The Army of One"" instead become part of the Army of none.
Amid the vast constellation of charges Stop the War uses in its campaign to rid UW-Madison of ROTC, a Polaris can be found. Stop the War members believe that the military grossly exploits the poor and disadvantaged who bear a disproportionate share of war's risks. Since the ROTC makes access to college dependent on military service, it is part of this unjust pattern and must be rejected. Even though Stop the War's conclusion has some merit, it is a recycled part of the Vietnam War debate that is no longer viable in 2005.
The problem with Stop the War's claim is that it paints with too broad of brushstrokes. By claiming that ROTC cadets are unwitting puppets of an imperial vocation, Stop the War leaves no room for the agency of individual cadets. ROTC cadets are not drafted; the impetus for service remains exclusively with the individual. Furthermore, if we accept the claim that cadets do not really ""choose"" to serve, the significance of that choice is stripped away.
The whole concept of service gets nullified and those seeking to serve their country become wholly insignificant. It is therefore outrageous to compare ROTC cadets to the conscript army that fought in Vietnam because it turns volunteers into victims and soldiers into suckers.
The military is not just another employer; the reasons for joining the military cannot be treated as a simple desire for salary and incentives. ROTC cadets do not feel compelled to wake up at 6 a.m. three days a week to exercise to further their self interest. If we explain their actions as self interest, we belittle their achievements. The ROTC program is not easy, as I know from personal experience, as it is intended to produce cadets that are scholars, athletes and leaders. One cannot both succeed as a cadet and not truly want to be one. Perhaps the fears of ROTC would be alleviated if students from Stop the War attempted to interact or just talk to cadets. The theory that students in the military are ""trapped"" doesn't last long among actual cadets. The cadets I talked to repeatedly told me that they would join the military even if they were not being afforded benefits to do so. Economic forces are not a substitute for a belief in duty when ascribing motives for joining ROTC. When it comes to ROTC on this campus, students of white-collar backgrounds are well represented. No one is a victim of ROTC.
But like all decisions, joining ROTC is a balance between choice and constraint. The fact that students who can afford college are least likely to serve in the military after graduation than those who have to rely on loans can't be denied or ignored. Just as we need to recognize and respect the fact that joining ROTC is an act of personal will, it does not mean that the military should have a monopoly on school to service programs. Stop the War has taken the first step in rectifying the shameful absence of privileged classes in the military by starting a debate, and for this Stop the War deserves praise.
The way to solve this problem is not by kicking the ROTC off campus, but rather to allow those who wish to serve their country to do so in a more diverse way. The solution is to provide more choices like AmeriCorp and Teach for America to compliment ROTC, not to replace it.
