In today’s post, I want to talk about the ROTC Battalion Commander position, also known as the Professor of Military Science. Within each college or university’s Army ROTC Program, there is a Professor of Military Science. This person is normally a Lieutenant Colonel in the Active Duty Army.
They are responsible for overseeing the entire ROTC Program on campus. Some of their duties and responsibilities include:
- Recruiting new cadets
- Retaining cadets
- Producing a certain amount of Second Lieutenants each year
- Training cadets
- Instilling the Army Values in their cadets
- Maintaining high academic standards
- Supervising their AGR and civilian staff
- Working with the Brigade Commander to meet Brigade Objectives
They typically have a staff of 10 to 20 full-time personnel, but sometimes more, depending upon the size of the program. In most ROTC Battalions, there are somewhere between 10 and 100 “contracted” students. Typically, there are a large amount of MS1 students (freshmen) and MS2 Students (sophomore). Since anyone can take these two ROTC classes, there are normally a lot of people enrolled. Because students have to sign a contract by the start of their junior year, there are typically fewer MS3 (junior) and MS4 Students (seniors).
I think working as a Professor of Military Science would be a fun job. You get to serve as a Battalion Commander and college professor at the same time. You are stationed at a college or university. You are given the same respect as a traditional Battalion Commander, yet you get to work closely with the students and staff. It’s like the best of both worlds.
As a ROTC graduate myself, I can tell you that my professor of military science was a great leader and person. He really cared about his cadets and staff and went the extra mile to make sure we had a great college experience and were prepared to lead Soldiers.
Final Thoughts
In conclusion, the ROTC Battalion Commander, also known as the Professor of Military Science has a very important job of developing future Army leaders. They are responsible for all aspects of the university’s ROTC program to include recruiting, training, staffing. It might just be one of the best jobs for an Army Officer.
If you have any questions, feel free to contact us.
Other Posts You Might Enjoy:
- The Types of Army ROTC Scholarships: What You Should Know
- Army JROTC: What it is and How it Works
- Top 15 Army ROTC Programs
- My Clarkson University Army ROTC Experience
Chuck Holmes
Former Army Major (resigned)
Publisher, Part-Time-Commander.com
Email: mrchuckholmes@gmail.com
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Serving as a ROTC Battalion Commander would be a great job. Working with young college kids and future officers would be very rewarding.