Military Science Minor

Introduction

The UNC–Chapel Hill Army Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC) offers training to any student in the principles of leadership. In academic and hands-on environments, students learn and utilize leadership skills in demand today in the private sector and in the military. Those who complete the course of instruction, and are otherwise eligible, can be commissioned as a second lieutenant in the United States Army. In seeking the scholar-athlete-leader student, the program offers a wide variety of leadership experiences, academic challenges, and unique learning opportunities not available with any other department. Qualified students may receive scholarships, opportunities for study abroad in military exchange programs, adventure training such as Airborne and Air Assault School, or other leadership intern programs.

Students who successfully complete the program and meet Army requirements are commissioned in a branch within the active duty Army, Army National Guard, or Army Reserve. Those choosing active duty have guaranteed job placement, worldwide travel opportunities, and an average starting salary of approximately $42,000, of which approximately one-third is tax-free. Graduates can expect to be promoted to captain and have a salary of approximately $70,000 in their fourth year of service. There is a minimum three-year commitment in exchange for receiving a commission. Different options in the program have different minimum service requirements.

Four-Year Program

Students enrolled in the four-year program take one class during each semester of the four years of college study. The first two years comprise the basic course and concentrate on leadership development, writing and communication skills, ethics and values, orientation to the profession of arms, and basic military skills such as land navigation and small unit movement. As juniors, students enter the advanced course. Academic and hands-on instruction include application of leadership skills, advanced land navigation, military history, principles of military law, and small unit tactics. Between the junior and senior years, qualified students attend a four-week leadership development and assessment course at Fort Knox, Kentucky. In their senior year, students submit their branch preferences and request either active duty or duty in the Army Reserve/National Guard (one weekend per month, two weeks a year). Those who meet all requirements for commissioning are promoted to the rank of second lieutenant upon graduation from UNC–Chapel Hill.

Two-Year Program

The two-year program provides an opportunity for students who did not attend the program in their first and sophomore years to meet the requirements for commissioning as officers in the United States Army. Students who have previously served in any of the armed services, active or reserve, are eligible to enroll directly into the advanced course at the Army Institute of Leadership. Others may attend a four-week leadership internship at Fort Knox, Kentucky, to complete basic course requirements. Attendance at this leadership training course is designed to introduce prospective cadets to the program and give them an understanding of the Army. A third way to receive basic course credit is through an accelerated on-campus training program tailored to prepare students for the advanced course. This option is available for select scholar-athlete-leaders or students who have completed military basic training as a part of active duty, Army Reserve, or National Guard service. Qualifying by way of any of the above-mentioned avenues, a student is then eligible to contract and move to the advanced course leading to a commission.

Program Eligibility

Army ROTC basic course classes are open to all first-year students and sophomores, with no eligibility requirements. Juniors and seniors may take basic course leadership classes with the permission of the course instructor. Those students who wish to obtain a United States Army commission upon graduation must meet minimum United States Defense Department requirements. These include being a United States citizen, having a minimum grade point average of 2.0, being medically qualified, meeting the age requirement, and being recommended by the department chair.

Minoring in Military Science

The military science minor is designed for students who wish to augment the major they are completing in another departmental program. Military science courses are open to all UNC–Chapel Hill students. The minor in military science is a 15 semester-hour course of study with the courses selected from the lists below. Students must complete 12 semester hours with a grade of C or better.

• ARMY 301*, 302, 401, 402

• Choose one of the following military history courses:

1. HIST/PWAD 212: History of Sea Power
2. AERO/HIST/PWAD 213: Air Power and Modern Warfare
3. HIST/PWAD 238: The American Revolution, 1763-1815
4. HIST/PWAD 266: Global History of Warfare
5. HIST/PWAD 272: The Ethics of Peace, War, and Defense
6. HIST/PWAD 368: War & American Society to 1903
7. HIST/PWAD 369: War & American Society, 1903 to the Present
8. HIST/PWAD 373: The United States in World War II
9. POLI/PWAD 444: Terrorism and International Peace
10. PWAD 488: Nuclear Security in the 21^st Century
11. HIST/PWAD/WGST 517: Gender, Military, and War in Comparative Perspective
12. HIST/PWAD 565: Civil War and Reconstruction 1848-1900
13. ASIA/HIST/PWAD 570: The Vietnam War

*Please note: ARMY 101, 102, 201, and 202 are prerequisite courses to ARMY 301.