As a former member of the Army Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) program at Washington University in St. Louis, I am glad to see that the current cadets now receive credits from Wash. U. for their efforts. Many of my friends and classmates were always surprised at the amount of work we had to do with the ROTC program between early-morning physical training (usually at 6:30 a.m.), Thursday afternoon labs (which consisted of conducting training in a “field environment,” i.e., ruck marches in Forest Park) and semiannual Field Training Exercises, where we would spend the entire weekend training Warrior Tasks and Battle Drills out at Fort Leonard Wood and Weldon Springs, Mo. But, since ROTC fully covered my tuition, and Wash. U. fully covered my room and board, I think the amount of time that was required from the ROTC department was entirely reasonable.

But, I always wondered why Wash. U. would not give any cadets credit for the courses we took. Why would they help support the ROTC program by providing scholarship money to cover room and board, but not fully support the academic nature of the program? I always assumed it was just because Wash. U. did not hire the professors or have any say with the curriculum, but if that were true, why even allow it on campus?

Needless to say, I’m very glad this change has been made. I would like to direct a response to Norman Pressman’s Letter to the Editor. When I attended Wash. U. from 2003-07, all of the freshman-level courses were open to any student. The higher-level courses required these 100-level courses as prerequisites, but there was nothing prohibiting him from attending the 100-level military science (MS) classes. Professors of military science currently at the Gateway Battalion would not make the same mistake as that officer did in 1969. But, after taking two years of courses from the ROTC department (Basic Course), you would then have to agree to an obligation of service to be able to take the MS level III and IV courses.