Blue Jay ROTC program "on the rise"

Enrollment in the Army Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC) at Hopkins' Blue Jay Battalion is on the rise.

The battalion's size has increased from 85 cadets at the beginning of last year to 94 this year. In 2007 there were only 48.

The Blue Jay Battalion, while primarily composed of Hopkins students, also includes some cadets from Stevenson University, University of Maryland Baltimore County and as of this year, one student from Maryland Institute of College Art.

Of the 39 cadets to join this year, 23 were freshmen. An additional 11 joined from the sophomore class and four joined from the junior class.

Juniors joining the program had to catch up on basic classes over the summer. Rising seniors cannot enter the program and expect to graduate on time.

However, according to Lieutenant Colonel Stephen Pomper, the head of the ROTC faculty, the number of students in the program may fluctuate somewhat over the course of the year.

"Our numbers are always kind of in flux through the add/drop period," he said. "And some students are just trying it for now."

He explained that some students will drop out of the program after a year or less, but very rarely after they begin their second year. Even within the first year, he said that the number of students who continue with the program is high.

"We have about an 82 percent retention rate, and that's including freshman year," he said. "And students hardly ever leave after they've begun their sophomore year."

While he said that number was above the national average, he also felt that the comparison was not entirely fair, since bigger programs with several hundred students might have a lower retention rate simply because of their size.

"Given the range of sizes in programs across the country, you just can't really compare the two," he said.

Pomper acknowledged that the recent recession may be related to the increase in enrollment in the ROTC program, but did not feel that it was the full explanation.

"Part of it is tied to that, but when I interview prospective cadets and ask about their motivation, 95 percent lead off with saying 'I want to do something for my nation,'" he said.

He cited local and national level advertising campaigns as well as news media drawing attention to ROTC programs nationwide as possible motivators for students.

Several cadets agreed with that assessment. The ROTC pays about $187,000 over the course of a cadet's four years in school. Pomper stressed that this money is given in the form of merit scholarships, not as a form of financial aid.

Sophomore John Kelly said, "Some people might be looking at the Army just to pay for college, but I know a lot of people who are joining but haven't been offered scholarships."

Another cadet agreed.

"Personally, I think the economic downturn is playing a role," junior Max Thorsbakken said. "But I also feel that the ROTC program has developed a lot and become more appealing to a wider range of people."

The Hopkins ROTC has had a number of recent successes that Pomper thinks are drawing positive attention to the program.

Since leaving Hopkins, a 2008 graduate, Joseph Henderson, has become an honor graduate of the Army Ranger School, meaning that he was at the top of his class.

While some students of the program go abroad, others end up serving in the Army Reserve or the National Guard.

Pomper expressed satisfaction with the size of the program this year. He said that although he loves to get people involved, he also thinks it is important to maintain a size where instructors can give students individual attention.

"The best leadership development I can do is with a maximum of about 120 people," he said. "That lets us keep our student-instructor ratio at about ten to one."With 16 cadets, this year's senior class is double the size of last year's graduating class.

While the ROTC does have an alumni outreach organization, Pomper said that he does not have exact numbers for students being sent to Iraq or Afghanistan.

With the exception of cases like Henderson, the cadre does not hear about the status of their graduates as much as they would like.

"Once they leave here, they become extremely busy," he said. "We don't get as much feedback as we'd like."