Hampden-Sydney ROTC Program 

  Lt. Col. Rucker Snead

ROTC Advisor and Director of Career Services

            Hampden-Sydney men have a long tradition, stretching back to 1775, of serving our nation in the military.  Today is no different as we have alumni from our Army ROTC Program serving around the world in a number of different locations.  At this difficult time in our nation's history, we need our "best and brightest" to serve.

Hampden-Sydney's ROTC Program has grown dramatically over the last eight years.  In 2004, we had three cadets.  Now we have over 25 cadets enrolled in the program.  Nine of them are on ROTC scholarships.  An ROTC Scholarship covers tuition, fees, books, and a monthly stipend.  Currently, a full scholarship is worth over $37,000 a year for a Hampden-Sydney student.  We commissioned three students from the Class of '11.  One of them, Lt. Everett Jones, is currently serving in Afghanistan.  Another, Lt. Josh Aho, has recently completed Ranger School.  We are projected to commission four more from the Class of '12 this coming graduation.

Unfortunately, our nation's budget situation is adversely impacting our ROTC program.  The cutbacks, over 80,000, in the Army's personnel strength have resulted in fewer opportunities for ROTC scholarships and perhaps even commissioning opportunities.  Right now we are not sure how many of our current sophomores will be able to contract this fall and continue their pursuit of a commission at graduation.

In terms of some good news to report, we do have a number of our cadets pursuing various language programs in order to prepare themselves for world-wide assignments.  Austin Shepard '12 spent last fall in Spain honing his Spanish language skills and developing a deep appreciation for Spanish and European culture.   Two of our current freshmen have received Project Go Scholarships and will be studying Swahili at UVA this summer.  Finally, one of our sophomores is in Beijing this spring and will be in Shanghai this summer studying Mandarin.

Finally, with the renovation of the Wilson Center, we now have room for our ROTC Program on campus.  Thus, this year for the first time we are offering Military Science 101 and 102 on campus.  Next fall, based on projected enrollment numbers, we plan to offer the sophomore-level classes here on campus.  These developments are good news for the college and for Hampden-Sydney men who are intent on pursuing a career in the national security field.  ROTC Photographs  Army ROTC Program