Air Force ROTC determines number of sophomores for field training

The Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) at Southeast Missouri State University has reduced the number of sophomores going to field training this summer from three to one according to Captain Michael Holt, ROTC instructor at Southeast.

The Detachment 205 unit includes students from both Southeast and Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, Ill. The Detachment consisted of 16 sophomores total and was cut by 50 percent. Out of the eight remaining, seven are from SIU-Carbondale and only one, Colton Johnson, is from Southeast.

Johnson will attend field training this summer at Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery, Ala., and Camp Shelby in Hattiesburg, Miss. Johnson said he wants to be a pilot in the Air Force because of the big role that position plays in the branch.

"I feel like it would be a lot of fun flying a jet, and it is one of the Air Force's combat positions which is something that really appeals to me," Johnson said.

Southeast freshman Cadet Allison Woodfin also wants to be a pilot. She said her inspiration to fly came from her dad and she enjoys the competitiveness of the position.

"My dad tried to get his pilot's license and I wanted to pick up where he left off and I think being a pilot would be a really interesting job, plus it's really competitive so I like that," Woodfin said. Since Woodfin is still a freshman, she will compete to go to field training in the summer of 2015.

For those who can no longer be part of the ROTC program, Holt said there are still options. Students can apply to go to Officer Training School [OTS] upon graduation or directly enlist in the Air Force. Enlisted personnel are not commissioned officers and enter in the rank of E-1 or Airman Basic as opposed to a commissioned officer who would enter as an O-1 or Second Lieutenant. Holt also said certain career fields are highly sought after in the Air Force.

"If you want to go into the Air Force, the best degree you can get is a technical degree, anything in science, math, engineering, nursing, pre-med and even architecture," Holt said.

The cuts not only affect Detachment 205 but the entire Air Force ROTC program nationally as well. Holt says the amount of students cut from the ROTC program nationally is sixty percent, putting Southeast and SIU's cutbacks at a higher percentage than the rest of the nation.

"All commissioning programs will take a hit with the exception of the [Air Force] Academy," Holt said.

Among those who survived the cut is senior Dylan Klawuhn who will be commissioned as a Second Lieutenant by the end of the month. Klawuhn completed his field training in the summer of 2012 and said he will continue his education at the Air Force Institute of Technology on Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio to pursue a master's degree in nuclear engineering.

The Air Force Institute of Technology is a graduate school option for officers and selected enlisted Airmen.