Cadet Life
A Day in the Life of a Cadet
A fully participating student will spend about 8 hours per week engaged with ROTC-related activities. On average about four hours of physical fitness, two hours of academic classes, and two hours of leadership lab.
There is a difference between “contracted” and “non-contracted” cadets. The only requirement for a non-contracted cadet is to attend their registered academic class. This is no different than any other college class. However, the true experience of ROTC cannot be found by simply sitting in a lecture class.
We highly encourage students to participate in all ROTC activities. This includes physical fitness training, leadership labs, field training exercises, and other occasional events. Contracted cadets are required to attend all ROTC-related activities as part of their leadership development.
Physical Fitness Training is typically held four days per week (Mon, Tue, Wed, & Fri) from 6-7 a.m. As with most things in ROTC, this is a student-led event.
Leadership labs are held once per week (Thu) from 6-7:30 a.m. Again, this is commonly a student-led event.
A Field Training Exercise (FTX) is a major training event and typically occurs about once per semester. We usually go to Camp Crowder or Fort Leonard Wood to utilize Army training facilities to enhance the training value. We might use the obstacle course, rifle ranges, land navigation course, or other facilities. Much of this planning is done by our upper level students.
Other occasional events include formal events such as a military ball, or assisting with color guards, cannon crews, or helping with recruiting activities.
Due to the student-led nature of ROTC, 300 & 400-level students will spend more time involved with ROTC as part of their responsibility in planning and resourcing upcoming events.
Wearing a Uniform
Uniforms are not part of daily wear. Uniforms are typically worn during physical fitness training, leadership labs, field training exercises, and formal events.
We issue uniforms at no cost to students who are highly engaged in ROTC activities. If you are consistently attending Physical Fitness training, then we will issue you a physical fitness uniform. Likewise, if you are attending leadership labs on a regular basis, then we will issue a field uniform.
To learn more about ROTC, click the following links: