Women find opportunity and challenge in USU's Army ROTC

By Michelle Bundy

November 23, 2004 | The day was clear. The air was calm. The last of the birds were twittering in the treetops that had just begun to yield velvety red and burnished orange leaves. Classes were in session, so campus was mostly quiet, except for the few students milling around like ants.

A hum started south of campus, and eventually became loud enough to cause students to turn their heads. The rhythm of synchronized voices became unmistakable, along with corresponding footsteps. As the sound grew nearer, the echoing words became clear:

Hey, Hey we're gonna RUN (Hey, Hey we're gonna RUN)
Run all day 'til the runnin's DONE (Run all day 'til the runnin's DONE)

The students began to step aside as the voices materialized into an army of black clad bodies, running together across campus.

Runnin' THERE, Runnin' HERE (Runnin' THERE, Runnin' HERE)
Runnin' FAR, Runnin' NEAR (Runnin' FAR, Runnin' NEAR)
When we get just a little bit BORED (When we get just a little bit BORED)
Then we're gonna run some MORE (Then we're gonna run some MORE).

And they did. This exercise is not uncommon for members of the ROTC on Utah State University's campus. In fact, singing "jodies" (cadences sung by a leader and repeated by the rest of the group) while running is done for several reasons. One is that the program gets some attention and thus running cadences becomes a recruiting exercise.

Lt. Col. Rand Curtis, head of the Army Reserve Officer Training Corps at USU, said the jodies also keep the group together (despite varying physical fitness levels) and build morale along with physical fitness.

Traditionally, jodies became popular with military training because each soldier left behind a "Jody," meaning a girlfriend, and running cadences served as a reminder of that girl, said Lt. Col. Curtis. Jodies are still sung, but not for the traditional reason. Cadets in the program are still urged to learn the jodies, but because there are seven women in the Army ROTC who train right along with the men, the concept of leaving a Jody behind is not quite the same.

In USU's Army ROTC program, there are 78 total contracted members, meaning that they are in their last two years of schooling and have committed to the service. After graduating and becoming commissioned officers, they are required to serve six to 10 years, with four being on active duty.

With the war in Iraq, chances are good that many will be called to active duty right after graduation.

Starlyn Stout, from Burbank, Calif., joined ROTC for several reasons. Her school is paid for by the government, both of her grandfathers served in the military, and after the 9/11 attacks she knew she wanted to help defend her country.

She joined despite protests from her family.

"They were worried about my safety because of 9/11. If it were peace time, they wouldn't have worried as much," Stout said.

Michelle Olpin, another female member of the Army ROTC, said her family had a similar reaction.

"They kind of freaked out. They tried to talk me out of it," she said.

Still they joined, and have not been disappointed.

Although the ROTC program at USU is a branch of the program at Weber State University, it is bigger and, according to Curtis, produces a higher quality and quantity of officers. Last year, for example, the program placed 39 officers, though it was only required to have 13.

Combined with the ROTC students at Weber, the battalion at USU has been No. 1 in the nation for quality and quantity of officers for the past two years, he said.

Pretty impressive considering that the program was restarted in 2001 after having been shut down by the Clinton administration in 1997. Back then, ROTC programs were being squelched all over the country because the need for military personnel was low.

Curtis said the ROTC program at USU was confident it would survive the cut because it was the best in the state. The University of Utah, however, got the necessary funding rather than USU, and thus, the program was cut.

Despite the ROTC being back in force for only three years, it's up and running fast, and the cadets involved are proud of the program.

Olpin, a senior from Heber, said she has grown a lot and that it is a great opportunity that people tend to overlook, especially women.

"The Army is mainly for men, but women have their place," Olpin said. She, for example, is considering the medical facet of the Army, such as physical therapy.

The majority of women serve in the medical, law, military police, and intelligence forces of the Army, she said. Although men bring strength in the physical portion of the program, women bring in different strengths, particularly in leadership positions, she said.

Curtis tends to agree.

"The females are good at organizing their time, and better at thinking through things than the men," he said.

The main reason there are more men in the Army is because of the fitness standards. Stout said that even though the physical requirements are tailored differently for the women, they are still rigorous. In the military women are often favored and given better positions because there are so few of them that pursue the military, but the cadre (the commanding officers and faculty) are still hard on the women, so they won't take their opportunities for granted, Stout said.

Still, ROTC cadets have glowing reports about the cadre in the program.

"The cadre are amazing. They push us to our limits and then further," said Olpin. As a leader in the program, the cadre pushed her out of her comfort zone by giving her various leadership positions that she didn't feel ready for, she said.

The cadre are trying to keep USU's ROTC program the best in the nation by recruiting and commissioning the best officers, Olpin said.

It's a worthy goal, considering that before it was shut down in 1997, the ROTC program at USU was nicknamed the "West Point of the West" for producing as many officers as West Point. In fact, the military training program was a part of USU before the ROTC even existed, Curtis said.

Being a land grant institution, all male students were required to have some military training in exchange for federal funding for the school, according to Curtis. The ROTC program was formally organized 1917. In the early '50s, there were more than 2,000 cadets in the program. Now, 87 years later, Curtis says the program is still in the "pursuit of excellence."

When students ask him what that means, Curtis says there's no magical standard.

"I know what it looks like when I see it, and that's what I expect," he said.

Considering that cadets have to have his recommendation to become officers, they better be able to meet the expectation. Commissioned officers must also have a bachelor's degree and meet an Army training standard of two years of ROTC training and attendance at a 32-day training camp.

Commission standards are similar across the state. According to University of Utah's cadet handbook, the ROTC program is designed to prepare students for the Army, provide understanding of military science, develop a personal honor code, and gain an appreciation for national security.

ROTC isn't just for military service, though, said Stout. She emphasizes how important leadership training is for any kind of job.

She's right. According to University of Utah's website, "Seventy five percent of the Fortune 500 CEOs are prior military officers."

With continual need for soldiers in Iraq, the ROTC programs are becoming increasingly critical in universities. These state-wide programs maintain the "pursuit of excellence" -- even during jodies when the words of those far-runnin ' cadets are fading into the distance of north campus:

When we get just a little bit BORED (When we get just a little bit BORED)
Then we're gonna run some MORE (Then we're gonna run some MORE).

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