NROTC Unit

DARTMOUTH'S peacetime NROTC Unit was launched this semester with an enrollment of 142 men, all of whom were recruited after the opening of college since the procurement program of the Holloway Plan, signed into law this summer, has not yet been put into operation. Fifty-five of the trainees are "Regular" NROTC students who have been appointed Midshipmen and who are receiving government financial benefits covering the combined fee, textbooks, and retainer pay of $50 a month. The other 87 men are "Contract" NROTC students who are not Midshipmen, do not receive financial benefits, and are not obliged to perform active duty after commissioning except at their own request. The Regular NROTC student is obligated to perform active duty up to two years' duration and may make the regular service a career if he so desires.

Both groups o£ students have the same academic program, being required to carry one Naval Science course per semester. The Regular must take three summes cruises, the Contract student only one. Both are provided with uniform but this is worn only for the weekly one-hour drill period and during the summer cruises. In other respects, the NROTC student on the Dartmouth campus is just like any other civilian student and is not subject to Navy disciplinary control. The NROTC work leads upon graduation to a commission as Ensign in the Navy or Naval Reserve or as Second Lieutenant in the Marine Corps or Marine Corps Reserve.

In the future, entrance into the NROTC program for Regular students at all 52 colleges participating in the Navy's expanded training program will be by national competitive examinations conducted by the College Entrance Examination Board during the winter preceding entrance into college. In any case acceptance by the College is a prerequisite to enrollment in the NROTC Unit at Dartmouth. Enrollment of Contract students will continue to be effected at the college after matriculation of those interested. Passage of the Holloway Plan by Congress came too late this year to permit the competitive selection of Regular students.

The Dartmouth NROTC will be larger when the full program is in operation, probably numbering more than 200 men. Of the present NROTC enrollment of 142 men, 69 are freshmen and 73 upperclassmen.