Newly graduated and commissioned officers of the Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps (NROTC) Unit Hampton Roads stand at attention as they are applauded during the Spring Commissioning Ceremony.

The Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) is a college-based program for training commissioned officers of the United States armed forces. ROTC officers serve in all branches of the U.S. armed forces. ROTC graduates constitute 56 percent of U.S. Army officers, 11 percent of U.S. Marine Corps officers, 20 percent of U.S. Navy officers, and 41 percent of U.S. Air Force officers, for a combined 39 percent of all active duty officers in the Department of Defense.^[1]

Under ROTC, a student may receive a competitive, merit-based scholarship, covering all or part of college tuition, in return for an obligation of active military service after graduation. The U.S. Coast Guard offers a similar program to ROTC under a different name: CSPI (College Student Pre-commissioning Initiative).^[2]

The student attends college like other students, but also receives basic military training and officer training for his chosen branch of service, through the ROTC unit at the college or university. The student participates in regular drills during the school year, and extended training activities during the summer.

Army ROTC units are organized as brigades, battalions, and companies. Air Force ROTC units are detachments with the students organized into wings, groups, squadrons, and flights. Army and Air Force ROTC students are referred to as cadets.

Navy ROTC units are organized as battalions, and also include Marine ROTC students. Marine ROTC students may be formed in a separate company when the program includes sufficient numbers.^{[citation needed]} Navy ROTC students are referred to as midshipmen.

The term of obligatory service varies among the services.

Army ROTC students who receive an Army ROTC scholarship or enter the Army ROTC Advanced Course must agree to complete an eight-year period of service. This can include three years active duty (four years for scholarship winners), with the balance in the Individual Ready Reserve (IRR).^[3]

The service obligation for a Navy ROTC student is five years in the Navy, or four years in the Marine Corps.^[4]

The service obligation for an Air Force ROTC student is four years, or six years for Combat Systems Officers or Air Battle Management officers, or ten years for pilots.^[5]

History of U.S. ROTC[link]

ROTC at the University of Florida during the 1920s

The concept of ROTC in the United States began with the Morrill Act of 1862 which established the land-grant colleges. Part of the federal government's requirement for these schools was that they include military tactics as part of their curriculum, forming what became known as ROTC. The college from which ROTC originated is Norwich University in Northfield, Vermont. Norwich was founded in 1819 at Norwich, Vermont, as the American Literary, Scientific and Military Academy.^[6]

Until the 1960s, many major universities required compulsory ROTC for all of their male students. However, because of the protests that culminated in the opposition to U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War, compulsory ROTC was dropped in favor of voluntary programs.^[7] In some places ROTC was expelled from campus altogether, although it was always possible to participate in off-campus ROTC.^[8]

In the 21st century, the debate often focuses around the Congressional don't ask, don't tell law, signed into law by President Bill Clinton in 1993, and in force until 2011, which forbade homosexuals serving in the United States military from disclosing their sexual orientation at the risk of expulsion. Some schools believed this legal mandate would require them to waive or amend their non-discrimination policies.

In recent years, concerted efforts are being made at some Ivy League universities that have previously banned ROTC, including Columbia, to return ROTC to campus.^[9] The Harvard ROTC Program was reinstated effective March 4, 2011, following enactment of the Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act of 2010.

Under current law, there are three types of ROTC programs administered, each with a different element.^[10]

An ROTC unit practicing rapelling from a parking garage

• The first are the programs at the six senior military colleges, also known as military schools. These institutions grant baccalaureate degrees (at a minimum) and organize all or some of their students into a corps of cadets under some sort of military discipline. Those participating in the cadet program must attend at least 2 years of ROTC education.
• The second are programs at "civilian colleges." As defined under Army regulations, these are schools that grant baccalaureate or graduate degrees and are not operated on a military basis.
• The third category is programs at military junior colleges (MJC). These are military schools that provide junior college education (typically A.S. or A.A. degree). These schools do not grant baccalaureate degrees but they meet all other requirements of military colleges (if participating in the Early Commissioning Program), and cadets are required to meet the same military standards as other schools (if enrolled in ECP), as set by Army Cadet Command. Cadets can be commissioned as second lieutenants in the Army Reserve/Army National Guard as graduating sophomores. Upon commissioning, these lieutenants are required to complete their bachelors degree at another institution (of the lieutenant's choosing) while serving in their units. Upon receiving their bachelors, ECP lieutenants can assess active duty and go onto active duty as a first lieutenant. Only the Army currently offers an Early Commissioning Program. In time of war, MJC's have played a significant role in producing officers for the Army. During the Vietnam war, the requirement to complete one's bachelor degree was not in effect. Therefore, upon commissioning, LT's went straight onto active duty.

One difference between civilian colleges and the senior or junior military colleges is enrollment option in ROTC. ROTC is voluntary for students attending civilian colleges and universities; however, with few exceptions (as outlined in both Army regulations and federal law), it is required of students attending the senior and junior military colleges. Another major difference between the senior military colleges and civilian colleges is that under federal law, graduates of the SMCs are guaranteed active duty assignments if requested.^[11]

U.S. Army ROTC[link]

Army ROTC cadets on a field training exercise

The Army Reserve Officers' Training Corps (AROTC) program is the largest branch of ROTC, as the Army is the largest branch of the military. Army ROTC provides the majority of the Army's officer corps; the remainder comes from West Point, Officer Candidate School (OCS), or direct commissions.

AROTC offers two-year and two-and-a-half-year scholarships.

The two-year scholarship is available for students with two academic years of college remaining. An applicant for a two-year scholarship must meet the following requirements.

• U.S. citizen
• High school diploma or equivalent
• Between ages 17 and 27
• College GPA of at least 2.5
• Army physical fitness standard

The applicant must agree to accept a commission and serve in the Army on Active Duty or in a Reserve Component (U.S. Army Reserve or Army National Guard)

The two-and-a-half-year scholarship is available for students already enrolled in a college or university with three academic years remaining.

An applicant for a two-and-a-half-year scholarship must meet the requirements for a two-year scholarship, and also have a minimum SAT score of 920 or ACT score of 19

U.S. Naval ROTC[link]

The Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps (NROTC) program was founded in 1926; in 1932, the U.S. Marine Corps joined the program. The naval NROTC program is offered at over 150 colleges nation wide.

U.S. Air Force ROTC[link]

The first Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps (then Air ROTC) units were established between 1920 and 1923 at the University of California, Berkeley, the Georgia Institute of Technology, the University of Illinois, the University of Washington, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Texas A&M University. After World War II, the Air Force established ROTC units at 77 colleges and universities throughout the United States.

Controversy[link]

The Solomon Amendment denies federal funding to any university with a "policy or practice" that prevents the military from "maintaining, establishing or operating" ROTC on its campus. Such universities are allowed to require that ROTC adhere to the same policies as the university's other academic programs. According to Diane Mazur of the Palm Center, the military has withdrawn ROTC from a number of universities rather than adapt to those policies or accept extracurricular status. In her analysis, both the military and academe, as of the fall of 2010, preferred not to dispute the public perception that elite universities had banned ROTC programs. She wrote:^[12]

The military may be more comfortable when it retreats to parts of the country ... where universities don’t ask a lot of questions .... [C]olleges may also be more comfortable when they go along with the fiction of banning R.O.T.C., because then they don't have to answer to people upset about "don't ask, don't tell." Everyone buys into the myth, but at the expense of military readiness. The military needs to return to the colleges it walked away from, and everyone needs to stop pretending that R.O.T.C. programs ended because of a ban.

Others argue that universities effectively ban ROTC by erecting procedural hurdles motivated by anti-military sentiment and objections to discrimination based on sexual orientation that only serve to "discourage their own presumably egalitarian, intelligent, and enlightened students from joining."^[13]

ROTC programs were subject to the military's ban on service by open gays and lesbians known as "Don't ask don't tell." LGBT students occasionally protested ROTC as a proxy for the policy.^[14][15] An act to repeal the policy was signed by President Barack Obama on December 22, 2010, and implementation took effect September 20, 2011.

Non-U.S. ROTC programs[link]

Some other national armed forces in countries with strong historical ties to the United States have ROTC programs.

The Republic of the Philippines established its ROTC program in 1912, during American colonial rule, with the creation of the first unit at the University of the Philippines.

The National ROTC Alumni Association (NRAA) of the Philippines estimates that 75 percent of the officer corps of the Armed Forces of the Philippines come from ROTC.^[16]

ROTC in Canada was raised as an independent training cooperative in 1974 with links to other ROTC and Cadet training programs in the US and UK.

ROTC in the Republic of Korea started in 1963.

ROTC in the United Kingdom established as a voluntary association in 1993.

See also[link]

• Gold Bar Recruiter
• Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps (JROTC)
• Military academy
• Officers' Training Corps - British equivalent
• United States Service academies

References[link]

External links[link]

• U.S. Army ROTC
• U.S. Air Force ROTC
• U.S. Naval ROTC
• Archive of ROTC news and documents at Advocates for ROTC
• The Ultimate ROTC Guidebook

Kendrick Lamar Duckworth^[1] (born June 17, 1987), simply known as Kendrick Lamar, is an American rapper and songwriter from Compton, California currently signed to Top Dawg, Aftermath and Interscope. He first gained major attention after the release of his 2010 mixtape Overly Dedicated. In 2011, his album Section.80, released exclusively through iTunes, instantly ranked as one of the top digital hip hop releases of the year.^[2] Lamar has amassed a large internet following, is a member of hip hop collective Black Hippy, along with Jay Rock, Schoolboy Q and Ab-Soul, and has worked with Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre, Wiz Khalifa, Game, Drake, Busta Rhymes and Tech N9ne among other popular artists.^[3]

Biography[link]

1987-2009: Early life and career beginnings[link]

Kendrick Lamar was born in Compton, California, a community southeast of Los Angeles city limits, to parents from Chicago, Illinois.^[4] At the age of eight, in 1995, Lamar witnessed his idols, Tupac Shakur and Dr. Dre film the music video for their hit single "California Love," a very significant moment in Lamar's life.^[5] In 2003 at the young age of sixteen, Lamar released his first mixtape, Youngest Head Nigga In Charge under the name K. Dot.^[6] The mixtape was able to garner enough attention for Lamar to get a record deal with Top Dawg Entertainment, a Los Angeles-based independent record label.^[6] He then released a twenty-six track mixtape two years later titled Training Day.^[7] More recognition came Lamar's way after a video of a Charles Hamilton show surfaced, where Hamilton goes in the crowd and battles rappers at attendance. Lamar didn't hesitate and began rapping a verse over Milkbone's "Keep It Real", that would later appear on a track titled "West Coast Wu-Tang".^[5] In 2008 Lamar made a cameo appearance on Jay Rock's "All My Life (In the Ghetto)" music video. After receiving a co-sign from Lil Wayne, he released his third mixtape in 2009 titled C4, heavily themed around Tha Carter III LP.^[8] Soon after, he decided to drop his stage name K. Dot and go by his real name. This resulted in him releasing a self-titled EP; the Kendrick Lamar EP in late 2009.^[9]

[edit] 2010–2011: Overly Dedicated and Section.80

Kendrick performing at a concert in Toronto, Canada

In 2010 he toured with Tech N9ne and Jay Rock on The Independent Grind tour.^[6] On September 23, 2010 he released O(verly) D(edicated) a highly acclaimed mixtape that included a song titled "Ignorance is Bliss" in which he glorifies gangsta rap and street crime but ends each verse with "ignorance is bliss" giving the message "we know not what we do".^[10][11] It was that song specifically that made hip hop producer Dr. Dre want to work with Lamar.^[12] This led to him working with Dre and Snoop Dogg on Dre's Detox album and him considering signing to Aftermath Entertainment.^[6][13] In January 2011 Lamar said his debut album was 90% finished.^[6]

In early 2011 Lamar was featured on XXL Magazine's 2011 Freshman cover along with CyHi the Prynce, Meek Mill, Mac Miller, Yelawolf, Lil B, Big K.R.I.T. and Diggy Simmons among others.^[14] On July 2, 2011, Lamar released his third solo project Section.80 to critical acclaim. It features guest appearances from GLC, Colin Munroe, Schoolboy Q, Ab-Soul and includes production from longtime collaborator Sounwave, Wyldfyer, Terrace Martin, J. Cole and more. On the topic of whether Section.80 would be an album or a mixtape Lamar said "I treat every project like it’s an album anyway. It’s not gonna be nothing leftover. I never do nothing like that. These are my leftover songs y’all can have ‘em, nah. I’m gonna put my best out. My best effort. I’m tryna look for an album in 2012". The first single for Section.80 was the J. Cole produced track "HiiiPower", of which the concept was to further explain the HiiiPower movement. Section.80 went on to sell over 10,000 copies in its first week^[15] without any television or radio coverage and received many very positive reviews. In the second half of 2011, Lamar appeared on Game's The R.E.D. Album, Tech N9ne's All 6's and 7's, 9th Wonder's The Wonder Years and Drake's Take Care.

In August 2011, while onstage with Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre and Game, at the West Los Angeles concert, the three of them crowned him the "New King of the West Coast"^[16]

[edit] 2012–present: Good Kid in a Mad City

On February 15, 2012, a song titled "Cartoons & Cereal" featuring Gunplay of Triple C's was leaked.^[17] Lamar revealed later that the track was for his upcoming album and he was planning to shoot a video for it.^[18]

In March 2012, MTV announced that Top Dawg Entertainment, the independent record label Lamar is signed to, have closed a joint venture deal with Interscope Records and Aftermath Entertainment, marking the end of his career as an independent artist. Under the new deal, Kendrick Lamar’s projects, including his upcoming debut studio album Good Kid in a Mad City will be jointly released via Top Dawg, Aftermath and Interscope, while releases from the rest of Black Hippy will be distributed via Top Dawg and Interscope.^[19]

Lamar premiered "The Recipe", his debut single and the lead single from Good Kid in a Mad City, at Power 106 on April 2, 2012. The track was released for digital download the following day. The song was produced by Scoop DeVille and features Dr. Dre.^{[citation needed]}

It was announced on May 14, 2012, that Lamar is working on a collaborative album with J. Cole. In an interview with Bootleg Kev, Cole stated that "I just started working with Kendrick the other day. We got it in, finally, again. We got maybe four or five [songs] together."

Personal life[link]

In high school, Centennial in Compton, Lamar was a good student.^[4] Lamar said that he has seen relatives who have died in his dreams for years. Tupac Shakur is also his favorite rapper, and influences not only his music, but his day-to-day lifestyle as well. In terms of subject matter, Kendrick Lamar has often been compared to Tupac Shakur. ^[6][20][21] He revealed that his favorite and most influential rappers are Tupac Shakur, The Notorious B.I.G., Nas, Jay-Z and his label-mate Eminem.

Discography[link]

• Section.80 (2011)
• Good Kid in a Mad City (2012)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Kendrick Lamar on Twitter
• kedricklamar.com Official Site