The Mesquite Online News - Texas A&M University-San Antonio

St. Mary’s University Partners with A&M-San Antonio to Grow ROTC Program

By Creshawna Parker
It’s no secret that San Antonio is a prominent military city. In 2006, 47,924 military retirees lived in San Antonio, and their military retirement payments brought $1,179,069,780 to San Antonio. These statistics and others available on the San Antonio Chamber of Commerce website point to a number of reasons active and retired military personnel find  San Antonio a popular destination to live, attend school and retire.Less known are the services that exist to provide support and service to veterans, especially those interested in making the transition to higher education.

Texas A&M University-San Antonio is making headway in advancing itself as a nationally ranked military campus. With extensive services and its own Reserved Officer Training Corps (ROTC) program, the University now offers support to veterans who are transitioning back to college or entering for the first time.

In September 2009, Maj. Gen. (Ret.) Charles Rodriguez, Ph.D., vice president for strategic initiatives, Institutional Advancement and Military Affairs, and Barrett Breaux, chief of military community relations, established the Army ROTC program through an affiliation with St. Mary’s University.

“We started discussing the military embracing theme Texas A&M-San Antonio is known for and wrote an agreement to start the Army ROTC program here,” Breaux said.

While all Texas A&M-San Antonio students who meet eligibility requirements are welcome to join the ROTC program, students who actively serve in the U.S. Army Reserve or National Guard are offered the “green to gold package,” which means they can transfer from active duty to reserve officer training status.

“Students who have prior military experience are usually ready, both physically and mentally, to join ROTC because they know what to expect and are able to meet the requirements,” Breaux explained.

Eligibility requirements to complete the ROTC program within two years include that candidates be citizens of United States; have earned a high school diploma; and completed at least 60 college hours or are enrolled as a graduate student completing a master’s degree. Students also have to be able to pass a physical fitness exam; and have prior military service, Junior ROTC,  or training experience that can count towards validation of the first two years of the ROTC experience.

“You have to be ready to go into the Army,” Breaux said. “As long as cadets successfully meet the requirements, they earn the title of U.S. Army officer.”

Going into the Army as a junior grade officer is just one of the benefits students receive when joining and successfully completing the ROTC program, Breaux said.

He added there are plenty of scholarships available for ROTC students based on each individual student’s status.

Cadets can also take ROTC classes that focus on leadership and management training, as well as physical fitness courses that include firing ranges, water survival, rappelling, rock wall climbing and obstacle courses.

Sergeant Greg Bryant, who oversees the ROTC program, recruits students and teaches ROTC classes at St. Mary’s University, says the university is the host school for all university’s ROTC program in San Antonio, with the exception of UTSA. Sergeant Bryant  is collaborating with TAMU-SA to reach Dr. Maria Hernandez Ferrier’s goal of becoming the “second largest ROTC program next to Texas A&M University-College Station.”

“The benefit of St. Mary’s being a host to TAMU-SA’s ROTC program is we already have everything established, so it’s really good for networking purposes,” Bryant said.

Currently, there is one cadet enrolled this spring in Texas A&M-San Antonio’s ROTC program, but as TAMU-SA’s student population continues to increase, both Breaux and Bryant are hoping to expand the program. Bryant said he  would like to enroll at least 10 cadets by 2012.

“Eventually, we want to pursue other ROTC programs,” Breaux said. “But right now we want to focus on providing students the opportunity to join our current ROTC program and show that we can gain enough cadets and successfully send them into the U.S. Army, so we can establish other ROTC programs.”

Prior to completion of the ROTC program, cadets can choose from 17 different job specialties in which they can use their skills and ROTC training to use as officers in the U.S. Army.

“The ROTC program is a great transition for students who want to go into the military fulltime after they finish school and can make a commitment to successfully meet the requirements upon graduation,” Breaux said.

For more information about joining the Army ROTC program at Texas A&M University-San Antonio, call (210) 932-7824 or email william.breaux@tamusa.tamus.edu

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