ROTC and Tulane

When I was a freshman, I became close to a few of the ROTC guys who lived next door to me in Monroe Hall. A few weeks ago I picked up a copy of the Washington Post to read that my good buddy James Zumwalt (from next door) received a Bronze Star for his "exceptionally meritorious service" in Iraq. Tulane ran a story about him last week too, and I could not be more proud to know this guy. 

I hold a high level of respect and admiration for our United Sates Military. We as Americans owe so much to our men and women in uniform, and I am proud to work for an institution that has such a level of respect for our armed forces as well. Many people may not know that Tulane University has the third oldest, and one of the largest, Reserve Officers' Training Corps (a.k.a. ROTC) in the country. If you're like me, and didn't know much about ROTC as a high school student, there are over 1,000 universities across the country that offer some form of ROTC for students. ROTC has been around since 1926 and is a program for preparing men and women to be officers in the military upon graduation. 

Jak and Ford are two NROTC students from my fraternity. They graduated in May, and here I am with them at their Commissioning ceremony at the Superdome, right after graduation. After their 4 year commitment to the ROTC program, they have now graduated as Naval Officers. They both also did the Marine Option. I am really proud of these guys. 

During my time as a student here at Tulane, I had great friends in the program, and ended up joining a fraternity here that also had a number of ROTC guys in it. Many of them to this day are my close friends and have all had some incredible experiences serving our US military. I've always found that one of the best things about doing ROTC here at Tulane is the ability that it gives it's students to actively participate in military preparation on a daily basis, but also affords that, "only at Tulane, only in New Orleans" college experience. For those of you reading this who may be interested in ROTC, if you join up with the program here at Tulane, you'll get the best of both worlds- a great education and training routed in ROTC preparation, but also a stellar and mostly traditional college experience. ROTC students at Tulane march in Mardi Gras parades, host drill meets, and experience one of the best leadership training programs around. 

Here is James getting his Bronze Star.
He's the 4th-generation Zumwalt to get one!

Tulane offers all three branches of ROTC- we offer Army, Navy, Air Force as well as the Marine Option. Many of the ROTC units here comprise students from colleges across New Orleans, so it is also a great way to  meet other students from around town. Tulane's ROTC programs are among the highest regarded in the country, and the Officers who graduate from our ROTC program go on to some amazing careers in our military. I have friends who currently are Naval Aviators, Navy SEALS, friends deployed around the world, and even a fraternity brother who is a Naval helicopter pilot protecting the horn of Africa against Somali war pirates. So, yeah, some pretty incredible careers. 

The ROTC program here also offers some great scholarships. If you are interested in any of the programs, you should contact the recruitment officer for the individual unit to inquire more. ROTC scholarships are offered from partial to full-tuition and can cover anywhere from 1-4 years of your Tulane degree. In many cases, a monthly stipend is also awarded. You can get all of the info you may need on ROTC scholarships here. ROTC can be a great way to finance a Tulane education. 

Tulane has a long affiliation with ROTC programs here on campus. So whether the program is something that interests you or you just happen to pass these guys walking across the quad (you'll notice them on Thursdays, the day they wear their uniforms on campus!) it's great to be at a school that has such a strong partnership with such a great program.