European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - July 22, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Editors note a America s military while a celebrating Victory is also thinning its ranks cutting into the main seedbed of army officers. The Roth with a distinguished list of alumni from Gen. Colin Powell on Down this year observes its 75th  Jules Loh the associated press the phrase you keep hearing in the Pentagon these Days is a drawing  it makes the most severe military cutback in 15 years sound somehow less so. However at least one Branch of the army seems to be going at the drawing Down task Gung to. At fort Monroe in Hampton. A a More Apt phrase would be closing ranks. Quot in Cadet command s Case Quot says maj. Gen. Wallace c. Arnold Quot smaller must be  Arnold Heads the Cadet command a Pari of the . Army training and doctrine come which administers the army s Roth program. Its Headquarters is at fort Monroe one of the army a truly venerable posts older than West Point older than the nation. It s a fitting location for Roth a the Reserve officers training corps a which preserves the founding fathers idea of the citizen Soldier and is observing its 75th anniversary this year. Now it must Cut Back its yearly production downsize it by 35 percent from about 8,000 second lieutenants to 5,200 to save the army $23 million a year. The officers at Cadet command see it As a Way to skim off a Richer Grade of Cream raise standards turn Down More applicants make Roth even tougher to join Quot our numbers will go Down Quot says it. Col. Paul Mellen the Deputy director of Roth training Quot but our Quality should go  the air Force and Navy which also depend heavily on Roth feel. Likewise. Anyone who has been on an american Ltd College Campus can pick out the uniformed Roth cadets easily among the jeans and sneakers. A army Roth has units on 354 campuses reduced by 62 from last years total of 416. But most of those 354 colleges with Roth units also accommodate students from nearby schools where there is no unit. That adds about 600 More colleges to the list providing Roth. Make the total number of participating colleges then about 1,000. Through this system the army produces 70 percent of its officers and has done so through nearly All of Roth s 75 years. Before there was an Roth. The army fleshed Page 14 the stars and stripes monday july 22, 1991 out its officer ranks with graduates from such private military schools As Norwich University in Vermont the nation s first which a retired West Point superintendent founded in 1819. It still remains along with three others Virginia military Institute North Georgia College and the Citadel in South Carolina. With the establishment of land Grant colleges in 1862, spreading higher education across the land they too were required to provide military training. For nearly 100 years their students were obliged to take it. That obligation gradually became optional and now no longer exists. Over the years state militias also commissioned their own officers providing another source of army leaders in times of need the National guard. President Woodrow Wilson s National Welense act of june 3, 1916, a year before America s entry into world War i brought All those various Souriv into one standardized , lha a r to. Put it remains precisely the variety of Roth colleges their geography atmosphere and vanity of courses that the army values As the main seedbed of its officer corps. Quot our cadets go to some of the most prestigious colleges and some of the least Large and Small Liberal and conservative in every state Quot says col. Joe Cretella Cadet command s personnel chief. Quot we believe they come out More mature and a better rounded. They bring a broader perspective to the army than would some lockstep method As in other  Cretella says Roth alumni have As Good a Chance As West pointers to Rise to the top in the army and possibly More opportunities if they choose civilian life. Gen. Colin l. Powell chairman of the joint chiefs of staff was commissioned through the Roth from City College of new York in 1958. So were four army chiefs of staff Over the years and so were better than half the army s current generals including seven of the 11 top Field commanders of desert storm. Gen. Merrill a. Mcpeak the air Force chief of staff graduated from san Diego state in 1957, retired it. Gen. Thomas Kelly who conducted Many of the Gulf War briefings on to was from Temple in Philadelphia in 1956, and so was Roth commander Arnold Lou Holtz got an Roth commission at Kent state in 1959 and now is football coach at notre Dame. Arthur Ashe Urcla in 1965, said his Roth commission gave him the Confidence he needed to become a Tennis Champion. A Paul Gray is now president of Massachusetts Institute of technology where he got an Roth to troops undergo Gas training. A artillery action is under Way at the Roth Camp. Commission in 1958. The lofty ranks of Industry Are loaded with Roth alumni whose pictures a appear in Roth ads to let prospective cadets know they Don t have to make the army a career the officers at Roth command Are waiting now to see what effect America s stunning Victory in the persian Gulf might have on Roth enrolment when school opens in september. They already have had one possible indication and it was t Good. Applications for Roth scholarships which had to be in by last december 1, were Down by 20 percent. Col. Robert Thompson Roth marketing director believes he knows Why. He notes that the scholarship deadline came just after the massive Call up of reservists for Gulf duty. Ii was before the shooting started but during the time when Many were forecasting High casual lies. Thompson believes that some parents suddenly realizing that War could be part of a soldiers life Felt it was t Worth the scholarship. Whether the outcome a Swift and relatively easy after the air bombardment a will change parental Outlook remains to be seen. The War had Little or no effect on army recruiting into the enlisted ranks according to Thompson. The air Force and Navy have also not yet divined any significant effect from the War on their Roth programs. Both services Are also downsizing. The air Force 41 percent of whose officers go through Roth is trimming Back from 2,800 commissions a year to 1.900 the Navy is going from 1,600. Ensigns and 300 Marine lieutenants to 1,100 ensigns and 200 lieutenants. All army Roth scholarship recipients go on Active duty As soon As they graduate. Of the others Only about half who apply for Active duty get it. The rest after six months of pos graduation Basic training spend their eight year commitment in the reserves or National guard. Even those who do get Active duty May alter three or four years choose either to make the army a career or serve the remainder of their eight years in the reserves or guard. Scholarship funds of course Are part of the Overall military cutback which is hardly a peace dividend for several thousand Bright High school graduates. The number of two three and four year scholarships in effect has dropped from 12,000 to 9,000 and will level off at 8.600 next year according to Cretella. A Quot it s already hard to win a scholarship and its going to be even harder Quot he said Quot they re All Given on Merit on academics and extracurricular activities not according to need. I can see stiff a Competition  Competition is stiff enough As it is Roth is not Only one of the nation s largest providers of scholarships but also its scholarships Are among the most generous. They pay 80 percent of the tuition or $7,500, whichever is More. They also provide Money for books and equipment and an additional $1,000 a year for other expenses. The average sat scores of scholarship winners is 1250 61 percent Are in the top 5 percent of their High school class and 98 percent in the top one fourth 81 percent have won varsity letters 55 percent were team captains 78 percent were National Honor society members. Quot scholastically we re on about a Par with West Point Quot says Cretella. Quot we re not in Competition you understand but i la match our Best 900 cadets against their Best 900 any  the downsizing a however Falls at a time when the nation s Pool of 18 to 25-year-Olds is a a demographic Low. Not until it starts rising again in a couple of years will there be More Cream to skim. Quot we need to enrol about 18,000 freshmen to produce 5,000 commissions four years later Quot said marketing director Thompson. Quot our Tail enrolment last year was just enough to reach that goal in 1993. If we were still shooting Lor 8,000 commissions wed be  about half of the Roth students Are not on scholarship and May decide alter their first or second year not to continue with Roth Many do a others drop out of College some take Roth just to satisfy their physical education requirement and pick up an extra credit. Some who want to continue after the second year Don t make the academic Cut others Are weeded out after a rigorous six week summer Camp before starting their fourth year so at least until the Pool of prospects begins to increase Thompson sees no setup in his recruiting efforts they Are relentless. Their techniques rival those of any mail order House the Roth command sends out 1 5 million pieces of direct mail a year from lists derived irom questionnaires Given when High school students take sat tests or if an 18-year-old sees a Slick and in say sports illustrated and dials 1 -800-Usa-rotc, he or she will receive in the mail a videotape explaining Roth or perhaps army nursing whatever the special interest and a floppy disk which will answer further questions on a Home or school computer. In Industry 3 percent to 4 percent is considered a respectable return on direct mail Roth gets 8 percent to 10 percent