NMU ROTC program avoids elimination

Northern Michigan University has received notification that its Army Reserve Officer Training Corp (ROTC) program has been removed from the list of programs facing elimination.

In October, NMU was told its 44-year-old program was one of 13 that would be closed as of May 2015.  The Army’s new decision indicates that enrollment and officer commission rates of the 13 programs will monitored for an additional year before any final decisions related to closures are determined.

“Northern Michigan University has a proud and excellent ROTC program,” said NMU President David Haynes. “In the past 10 years, NMU’s program has been recognized on numerous occasions as among the best in the nation, and our cadets have ranked at the top for several national Army leadership and training events. We’re pleased the Army has reconsidered its position.”

Haynes said Army representatives spoken to by NMU representatives and federal and state legislators acknowledged the quality of NMU’s program.

“Northern Michigan University sincerely thanks U.S. Senators Carl Levin and Debbie Stabenow and U.S. Congressman Dan Benishek, their staff members, as well as State Senator Tom Casperson, Representative John Kivela and the full Michigan Legislature for all of the support they’ve provided over the past month in helping us to appeal the elimination of our ROTC program,” said Haynes. “They stepped up immediately to back our U.S. Army and Michigan National Guard cadets. They helped us get the message across that NMU is a place that trains extremely high-caliber officers at a very affordable price.”

Since it opened in 1969, NMU’s has graduated nearly 400 students. It currently has 65 cadets. Although affiliated with the U.S. Army, the Northern program also serves the Michigan National Guard.

This past summer, 11 cadets of the NMU ROTC Wildcat Battalion earned professional development opportunities and another 11 attended the Leader Development and Assessment Course or Army schools, such as Airborne or Air Assault.  It was the largest number of summer training seats NMU cadets had ever earned.

There are 273 Army ROTC programs in the United States, including seven in Michigan.