As conflict continues overseas, nearly 500 students are enrolled in University of Mississippi ROTC programs, training to become leaders equipped to handle whatever their country asks of them.
Lt. Col. Nathan Minami, West Point graduate and leader of the Army ROTC program at Ole Miss, said a strong sense of patriotism keeps the cadets coming.
“Especially since 9/11, for the last 12 or 13 years the young men and women that are choosing to serve their country have been extremely motivated,” Minami said.
Sam Sloane, a senior from Chicago and head of the public affairs department for Ole Miss Army ROTC, exhibits that motivation and patriotism.
“I’ve known ever since I was a child that I wanted to be in the Army, it was just a matter of how I was going to do it,” Sloane said. “I always knew I wanted to be in the military, it was just a question of how I was going to serve.”
Sloane is unsure about whether or not he will go overseas, but he is training to be prepared for anything.
“I don’t know the future, I’m a little ways off from that, but you got to do what your country asks,” Sloane said. “I knew what I was signing up for when I signed up. If I go, I go.”
Lt. Col. Minami believes that no matter what happens to these cadets, the leadership training they are receiving will help them with any aspect of their lives.
“Regardless of what your goals might be, some folks want to become business leaders someday, some folks might go into science, technology, engineering, some folks might want to be an ambassador,” Minami said. “It doesn’t matter, the military and ROTC specifically will extremely help develop your leadership skills.”
Caleb Varacalli, a graduate student and member of the Army ROTC, believes that without the leadership training he has received from the military he would not be as successful.
“Without the military teaching me leadership and discipline, I don’t believe that I’d be in graduate school right now,” Varacalli said. “What I learned from the military ended up being life lessons and helped me get through stressful situations in everyday life.”
