As does the nation, so does the University. With alumni and current students deployed in the Persian Gulf and in support operations, the University, much like hundreds of communities throughout the nation, has substantial human investment in the conflict in Iraq.
Military Science Prof. Lt. Col. Hampton Hite, said seven University alumni of the program presently are deployed in the Persian Gulf and five more are involved in operations related to the war on terrorism. Two current University students were called up for year-long tours of duty to assist in the war effort.
Navy ROTC Battalion Commander Seth Ervin, a fourth-year Engineering student, said a nurse who graduated last year is stationed on a hospital ship in the Persian Gulf and two marine officers who graduated from the University two years ago currently are deployed in forward units on the battlefield.
With war pouring through living room television sets, current members of University ROTC programs say a new recognition of what their duty entails and the sacrifices that may be asked of them is permeating the ranks of the soon-to-be officers.
"It becomes more real with every day," said fourth-year College student Carter Deekens, the Command Sgt. Major of the Army ROTC Cavalier Battalion and who will attend the U.S. Army Armor School at Fort Knox, Ky. after graduation. "In a matter of 10 months, I could be over there, but right now it seems pretty distant."
The heads of the ROTC programs on Grounds say they will continue to prepare cadets for the rigors of military life and an anticipated prolonged military presence in Iraq, an occupation that University graduates could be deployed in. Fourth-year cadets will receive their commissions this May and could be sent to the region as part of ground or naval units as soon as next winter.
Twenty-four hour television coverage of the war in Iraq, complete with raw footage and real time causality reports, unavoidably places the campaign in the forefront of the University and national consciousness.
The fourh-years soon to fill the officer ranks, who may one day be in the frontlines and be those seen on television flying sorties or engaged in fire fights, say, despite seeing these naked, unpolished images of war they remain "steadfastly committed" to serve.
The war is also relevant to the students' school work.
"We study this all the time in the classroom," said David Durr, an Army ROTC assistant training officer. "But to see the consequences of officers' decisions [through the news media] hits home a lot more."
"We've been training to expect this," said Ervin, who will attend naval flight school in Pensacola, Fl. after graduation. "This is our job."
Most likely students presently enrolled in the University ROTC programs will avoid involvement in the present fighting, ROTC department heads agreed.
On graduation day, cadets will not step directly onto ships or aircraft bound for the Middle East and shed their robes for fatigues, but instead will enter specialty schools for intensive training in their respective branches.
"On average, the midshipmen are about a year off from being deployed in the normal navy rotation," Navy ROTC Commanding Officer Capt. Dick Bedford said. Hite said Army ROTC graduates will attend specialty schools for six months to a year before being assigned to active duty units.
Some members of the University community, however, already have been called up for active duty. Presently four members of the Army ROTC Cavalier Battalion, which is comprised of cadets from both the University and Liberty University in Lynchburg, are conducting operations in support of Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom.
Two University Army ROTC cadets were tapped for active duty service during the beginning stages of the fall 2001 Afghani campaign and currently still are stationed at the military base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, charged with guarding Taliban prisoners, Hite said.
Paul Kotakis, a public affairs officer at Cadet Command at Fort Monroe, said only candidates who are both enrolled in ROTC and belong to the National Guard or Army Reserves can be called up.
As the war continues toward what commanding Gen. Tommy Franks continually forecasts as an inevitable victory, University ROTC battalions are maintaining normal training regimens.
Bedford said he does not anticipate alternating the programs' established training regimens and visibility on campus.
"We haven't and I don't think we will try to increase our presence on Grounds," Bedford said, adding that curtailing the Navy ROTC programs' presence was also not a option because of the importance he places on traditional student and ROTC cadet interaction.
Hite also said he did not "envision changing" his program's current curriculum but did note that, "over the past few weeks, the intensity in training and the realism has definitely increased" because of the seriousness with which cadets now see their mission.
The battalion has begun wearing their uniforms all day Tuesday to show their support of troops. Previously, cadets had the option of only wearing uniforms to class.
Despite the intense emotions surrounding the conflict, cadets say they have not been personally harassed on Grounds.
Tuesday morning, an unidentified group, however, defaced Army, Air Force and Navy ROTC buildings and offices. The vandals removed pictures of President George W. Bush and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld from Navy ROTC offices in Maury Hall and spray painted and scribbled anti-war slogans on the bulletin boards in the three offices.
"Even though it was petty, in my mind, they crossed the line," Bedford said, because of the illegal and destructive nature of the vandals' acts.
Bedford said he is supportive of First Amendment rights and would have rather the vandals "stand up and be counted" for the beliefs and not scurry about "under the cover of darkness."
"I expect to see good constructive debate in this country," Bedford said and lauded the "good, honest debate" to which the Grounds usually plays host.
Hite said he was "disappointed with vandalism but support the student right to exercise their First Amendment but not break the law."
Cadets like Ervin said they also support protestors' rights to voice their opinions, while not necessarily agreeing with them because "that's what makes America great."
Program heads also speculate that the war and greater demands placed on the U.S. military could result in a boon of applicants to University ROTC programs and scholarship slots allotted to the University.
Hite said there is a "distinct possibility" more students could pursue scholarships at the University because of the school's national academic reputation. He added that he foresees more non-scholarship students attempting to enter the 99-member battalion.
Though the number of Navy ROTC scholarships is capped at 25, Bedford said this year the program already has experienced an "unusually high" amount of high school seniors selecting the University as their primary choice.
"I do think there are more people who want to go to the University of Virginia on a Navy ROTC scholarship," Bedford said, noting that this increase is part of two-year trend.
Bedford said he could not attribute the increased number of applicants to any one direct cause.
Although both department heads said they notice a new awareness by their cadets of the role they may be asked to play in the defense of their country, both recognize nothing challenges a soldier more or makes more clear their purpose than preparing to enter combat.
"There is nothing that sharpens your focus like preparing to go into combat," said Bedford, a naval aviator who participated in two tours patrolling the southern Iraqi "no-fly" zone in the mid-1990s and in NATO's 1995 bombing campaign in Bosnia.
During Operation Desert Storm in 1991, Hite was attached to an Army multiple launch rocket system artillery battery.His deployment "increased his appreciation for the motivation, training and skill of soldiers, sailors and airmen," he said.
If called upon, Bedford said he is confident graduates of the Navy ROTC program will rise to the occasion.
"I am really proud of them," Bedford said. "They will be great officers in the Navy."
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