Tufts’ Army, Navy, and Air Force cadets and midshipmen on life in the ROTC
It’s pitch black out at 4:55 a.m., and Ryan Li, A27, is standing on the curb outside of Olin Center, waiting for his ride. He is wearing a pristinely pressed khaki uniform, and his black dress shoes shine under the streetlights.
It’s about an hour before sunrise and likely more than a few hours before most of his classmates will wake up, yet Li and his fellow Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) midshipmen pile into the back of a car, heading out to join fellow cadets from other universities for their military training.
Today is inspection day. Li will be judged on his uniform and quizzed on his military knowledge, all while standing at attention and in formation.
Li is one of some 30 Tufts students in the ROTC, a program that prepares college students for leadership roles in the military. They train at Tufts and MIT a few times a week, often with students from other schools, including Harvard, MIT, and Wellesley College. After graduation, most will be commissioned as officers in the Army, Navy, or Air Force.
ROTC is in part self-directed by peers. Fellow cadets take on different leadership roles throughout the year, holding each other accountable. But part of their training is also supporting one another. too.
“They’re cheering you on. You’re cheering others on because you’re all in this together,” says Li. “You’re doing something much greater than yourself.”
Training involves not just pre-dawn workouts, but classroom lectures ranging from navigation skills to military history—but also labs for leadership skills and how to be an effective member of a team.
“I think the best thing that I’ve learned, is just know when to push someone, but also know when to be in their corner,” says Jack Moore, A26, an Army cadet, who comes from a long line of family members who served. “You have to look after your people—whether it’s your best buddy, or someone you’ve never spoken to… at the end of the day, you have to look out for them all.”
