Blueprint of Action
What support structures exist within Army ROTC programs to support first-generation cadets, and how can these existing support structures be improved?
Methods
Likert Scale & Long Answer Questions
Questions
- Year
- Gender
- Likert Scale Questions
- How comfortable do you feel in asking for help, either from cadets or cadre?
- How helpful is the instruction during LLabs?
- How helpful is the training during FTXs?
- Long Answer Questions
- How would you describe the culture of ROTC?
- Did you ever feel “behind” at any point in ROTC? What helped to alleviate that feeling?
- [For MS4s. Skip if you aren't an MS4.] - How prepared did you feel for Cadet Summer Training? What about ROTC positively contributed to your experience at CST? What could have been done better?
- Is there anything about ROTC you would change, either from your experience your first year or now, in order to better support first-generation cadets?
Results
How would you describe the culture of ROTC?
- "supportive to a degree, those to join late tend to be pushed aside. However, the instruction and experience if great, espexially [sic] compared to other programs. Cadre is easy to talk to and understadning [sic], also unlike other programs."
- "Motivating environment that pushes cadets out of their comfort zone in order to realize their potential"
- "Means to an end. It is pre professional training that is focused on preparing you for the next preprofessional training."
- "My first few years felt very lonely and punitive tbh. Especially not having come from a military background it was a very harsh transition. I sometimes felt targeted as a POC since the demographic here seemed mostly white and cis-male."
- "As a byproduct of the program putting so much emphasis on competition within the class years, and because we all are constantly aware that our actions and characters are being analyzed in order to rank us amongst our peers at the end of the program, there is a lot of pressure - at least that I've felt - to outdo or at least keep up with the high speed culture we have created... I've found it does make for slightly uncomfortable situations, whether that be hesitation in asking a peer for help because it feels like submitting to a lesser ranking or just a harsher internal dialogue when trying to measure up to others. There is also a bit of a barrier that I've felt in really being myself in this program. The uniforms and last name basis are quite efficient at making newcomers and those who do not come from military families (and are thus unfamiliar with the culture) feel like they need to be someone they are not. Personally, I've found it confines me to a very unrepresentative version of myself that always feels voiceless and out of place. It's something I've been trying to work on internally for the past 3 years, but it's deflating to sometimes observe others in my class or program soaring and looking as though they fit in effortlessly and realize how far I have to catch up... I've always attributed these aspects of my experiences to my not coming from a military family, but I know there are others with similar backgrounds who don't seem to face these issues."
Did you ever feel “behind” at any point in ROTC? What helped to alleviate that feeling?
- "Yes! I think that feeling will never leave me. It particularly kicks in during casual conversations with peers when people start throwing around numbers and acronyms of units and different Army related knowledge that I don't even know where to begin to look for. The cadets who have parents or close relatives in the military really shine in these conversations and in class, bringing in things their connections have told them from personal experience. I've found that their confidence (and thus personality) is also at an entirely different level from mine, and I don't doubt that the strong backing of their families contributes to that fact. I've worked hard to try and close the gap by reading and learning on my own time, and that has helped alleviate the feeling of falling behind, but it is quite difficult to sustain given all the work I have outside of ROTC to begin with. I do appreciate the push I've gotten from these experiences and am starting to enjoy the challenge of trying to become better and more knowledgeable in a difficult setting."
- "Yes. Paying attention and putting in the effort helped alleviate this feeling."
- "Yes I definitely did. Taking to more different types of people in the military. Meeting cadre that have shown me that they really care about me."
- "Yes, as I joined late, the instructors made sure to catch me up on what I needed to know. Still however I was forgotten for quite some time in training events etc."
- "You will always start “behind” in ROTC- you enter knowing nothing about the very complicated and niche environment you have decided to join. Mentorship from older cadets will yield guidance and confidence within cadets who may not yet believe in themselves"
[For MS4s. Skip if you aren't an MS4.] - How prepared did you feel for Cadet Summer Training? What about ROTC positively contributed to your experience at CST? What could have been done better?
- "Not prepared at all. Before this year, I felt the labs and instruction were not directly applicable to what was expected at camp."
- "CST is largely a measure of your personal character not your individual knowledge or skills."
- "Pretty prepared, our program's instructors seem to have done a better job than most other programs ensuring we know what we need to know."
- "I felt very prepared to attend CST. Rotc is like any other college course; you would never walk into a test having only gone to your lectures and never studying on your own. Its crucial to put in the work in your free time to prepare yourself. This is an important lesson to learn for a future officer; no one will babysit you to complete your implicit tasks. You must take accountability for yourself. Preparing for CST during covid was difficult, which probably forced me to do my own work on the side more than normal."
Is there anything about ROTC you would change, either from your experience your first year or now, in order to better support first-generation cadets?
- "...In general, I think it would have been really helpful to be shown earlier on that competition can be healthy when manifested in the form of peers supporting and pushing each other to become better, and that the need for ranking can coexist with cadets being open and vulnerable with each other."
- "Increasing exposure of what a military person can look like and the diversity in that"
- "Do a better job at integrating cadets who join after their first year. Friend groups tend to form early and are hard to break into."
- "Mentorship right now is an implicit, not explicit, task for upperclassmen to undertake. I think it would benefit everyone if mentorship was more concretely implemented into our curriculum"
Recommendations
A few things jump out at me as I read through the results of this survey. One, being first-generation military is a salient part of these cadets' identity (but they've also developed different ways to address that identity through their time in ROTC). The idea of mentorship is also a repeated point, whether it be cadet-to-cadet or cadre-to-cadet. Finally, the point of diversity through representation also comes up, with cadets saying that exposure to more service members helped them to feel more secure.
With this, I propose the following recommendations:
- Build in formal mentorship into the program. Each cadet will be paired with another cadet in the battalion (preferably with someone in a different year as them). These cadet pairs will be responsible for doing physical training together (outside of the campus session) as well as keeping each other accountable for the work that needs to be done in their military science classes. Cadets can also ask each other for help here if they don't feel comfortable reaching out to their chain of command.
- Ensure that when the chain of command changes that as many cadets as possible get some sort of leadership position; This could also mean prioritizing cadets who haven't had a leadership position yet to take one on. Time in a leadership position will allow cadets to learn through experience.
- Build a directory of all active duty and reserve officers and make this information accessible to cadets. We have many officers come in for special events around once a semester, and these officers are eager to mentor cadets. Making their information accessible (with their consent) allows cadets to be able to connect with someone who might align with their career interests, first-generation identity, race/ethnicity, gender, etc.
- Do battalion-wide social events. A lot of the time, cadets can't be themselves because they must be professional in the training environment. Having social events will allow cadets to let their guard down and connect on a more human level.
- Institute formal office hours with cadre. While cadets are free to reach out to cadre on their own accord and schedule time to talk, not everyone might realize that's an option. Having formal office hours might encourage more cadets to reach out for help.
