Miami Quarterly

Issue date: 4/13/09 Section: Economy & Job Market

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We see them directing traffic at football games and running around campus in perfect formations—they’re the members of Miami’s Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC). While ROTC is a college-based, officer-commissioning program that acts as a class elective, there are some students choose not to take this route and rather to enlist in the military as active or reserve members.

These men and women double as college students and active soldiers. While on the outside, enlisted soldiers may blend in with the rest of the student body, there's something else that sets them and ROTC members apart, especially in this economic crunch: money from the government.

As many students scramble to find jobs during the economic recession, these students have a little extra security with their cash flow-with some strings attached.

 Gunnery Sergeant Richard McCorkle works at the Marine Corps Recruiting Office in Fairfield, Ohio and says that students can join a number of programs that help pay for school; the most popular are the ROTC, MECEP and the Reserves program.

ROTC: RESERVE OFFICERS' TRAINING CORPS

McCorkle explains that ROTC is the most well-known program that offers financial assistance. Miami has Air Force, Army, Navy and Marine ROTC programs that offer scholarships to students.

According to Miami's Office of Student Financial Assistance Web site, the ROTC programs have scholarships that cover full tuition, books, room and board, and a monthly tax-free stipend.

Although students can enlist as members of the armed forces, the ROTC program does not require them to do so. Instead, the program works on building leadership, management and officer skills in and out of the classroom.

 Upon graduation and completion of this program, students are commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Air Force, Army, Navy or Marines.

MECEP: MARINE ENLISTED COMMISSION EDUCATION PROGRAM

If a student does not want to join the ROTC program, they can enlist in the Marine Enlisted Commissioning Education Program, MECEP, McCorckle explains.

This program allows enlisted Marines, both active and reserve in the ranks of Corporal and above who are between the ages of 20 and 26 to attend college and graduate as a commissioned Second Lieutenant in the Marine Corps.

 

Students in the MECEP program can qualify for a number of scholarships ranging anywhere from hundreds to thousands of dollars depending of what university they attend.

 

RESERVE ENLISTED COMMISSIONING PROGRAM: PARTTIME STUDENT SOLDIERS

McCorkle says students also have the choice of joining the Reserves, where they receive a paycheck for completing drill weekends once a month during the school year and for two weeks in the summer. He says that Reserve members receive a little bit more money towards tuition than MECEP or ROTC members.

Miami sophomore Lance Corporal Tyler Kodros is a Reservist in the Marine Corps whose unit is based in Cincinnati. He explains that being in the Reserves is basically being a part-time soldier, sailor, airman, and in his case, a Marine. While Kodros gets money from the government, he says that he still has a lot to manage himself.

"I still have to pay the rest of my tuition through student loans like every other student," Kodros says. "I have to pay for my own housing, for utilities and the like." Kodros says that finances aren't his only worry either. Last semester, his unit got word that they would be deployed this past March, but now he says they could leave in June.

Kodros says that deployment would help his financial situation since the money he earns there will be tax free and he would not have to spend any cash while overseas.

While some people would dread leaving, Kodros sees it as a welcome financial relief.

"With a future deployment looming, it's like a burden lifted off my back because it's almost a break from reality," he says.

While Kodros looks on the bright side of deployment, he admits there is a downfall to being called into active duty.

"If deployed I'd be better off financially, but at the same time I'd have to be in a war zone," he says.

Still, Kodros says he understands the obligation of fulfilling his duty as a soldier.

"It's part of what I put my signature down on the paper for," he says.

ACTIVE DUTY: VETERAN STUDENT SOLDIERS

 Miami Senior Staff Sergeant Nate McNary has felt Kodros' anxiety of waiting for deployment. In the summer of 2006, McNary and his Air National Guard unit were deployed to Kirauk, Iraq.
 
  Now, McNary is back on campus trying to finish up his degree. He says that the Air National Guard pays for his tuition, but he must pay for other essentials like a meal plan, books, a computer and housing.

While McNary is in school, he also gets $800 a month, which helps pay for his cell phone and car payments.

  McNary receives money as a result of the 1944 Servicemen's Readjustment Act, also known as the G.I. Bill of Rights. This program provides benefits to veterans, service members, and some dependents of disabled or deceased veterans who want to pursue an education. 

Those who fulfill training time receive around $300 a month, while those who are called to active duty get anywhere from $500 to $1,000 a month, depending on training and amount of time served.

McNary points out that in the summertime and after he graduates, the only money he has to live on is drill pay. Therefore, he still feels the crunch to find a job with graduation only months away. Luckily, he says he feels a little more prepared thanks to his military training. "The guard has given me a good foundation of leadership and security," McNary says. "

The skills they depart will help me in the future."

MILITARY CAREERS: JOB SECURITY FOR THE FUTURE

McCorkle says that enlisting in the military defi nitely guarantees job security for at least 20 years, after which time soldiers can retire. Unlike most jobs, members do not have to worry about getting laid off or being fired. In addition, the job market for enlisted members is less cut-throat.

 "People in the military don't have to compete; the jobs are already there," McCorckle says. "The only thing they have to do is qualify."

As the job market and bank accounts continue to dwindle, the benefits of joining the military might look a bit more appealing to college students.

Despite the added benefits of scholarships and job security, McCorkle says that he has not seen an increase in the number of men and women who enlist in the Marines since the recession. On the other hand, he has noticed that more people are at least considering the military as an option.

As of now, joining the military is not the most popular option when money gets tight. Even so, with no promise about when these tough economic times will end, students do have the option of trading a financially dismal future for a military career.

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