Program Description
Col. Jason B. Bell, Department Head
Phone: (434) 924-6829
Email: afrotc@virginia.edu
Fax: (434) 982-2842
Location: AFROTC Detachment 890
University of Virginia
P.O. Box 400188
Charlottesville, VA 22904-4188
Website: http://www.virginia.edu/afrotc
Professor
J. Bell
Associate Professors
G. Gilson, T. Robles, Z. Jones
Mission Statement
The Air Force ROTC program is designed to recruit, educate and commission officer candidates through college campus programs based on Air Force requirements. Units are located at 145 college and university campuses throughout the United States and Puerto Rico. Students from schools near Air Force ROTC host institutions can attend classes through separate crosstown enrollment programs or consortium agreements.
Goals
The Air Force Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (AFROTC) program is offered and hosted at the University of Virginia and maintains a crosstown agreement with James Madison University. JMU students will take AFROTC classes at the University of Virginia for JMU credit. AFROTC provides a program of leadership development that prepares cadets for service as commissioned officers in the United States Air and Space Forces. After graduation, they assume active duty positions that are awarded prior to completion of the AFROTC program. To accomplish this, the Department of Air Science recruits, selects, retains and commissions officer candidates as second lieutenants in the United States Air Force and United States Space Force. AFROTC:
- Provides ethics and values education, stressing the Air Force core values of integrity first, service before self and excellence in all we do.
- Prepares cadets to be commissioned as second lieutenants through a curriculum that develops leadership and management skills and provides opportunities to use these skills in a variety of practical applications.
- Provides an understanding of how to lead and influence small organizations, with a strong emphasis on personal integrity, honor and individual responsibility. The techniques of effective leadership and quality management are stressed to achieve mission accomplishment.
- Enhances the cadets’ understanding of the role of the military in society and provides an in-depth orientation to history and tradition of the Air Force and how the Air Force and Space Force serves the nation. This goal is reinforced by summer hands-on leadership training and career orientation opportunities at Air Force bases around the country.
- Provides programs and experiences that increase self-confidence, self-discipline, accountability, physical stamina, poise and other traits essential to the development of a leader of character who is prepared to serve the nation in and out of uniform.
The curriculum and leader development programs of the Department of Air Science are mentally and physically challenging. Cadets learn basic military skills and participate in a physical conditioning program starting in the first year. The program develops cadets progressively from followership to leadership experiences and culminates with the fourth-year class cadets planning, organizing and administering all leadership training for the cadet wing. On-campus instruction is conducted both in the classroom by Air and Space Force officers and in the field environment by both officer and cadet leaders. A demanding summer field training encampment prior to the junior year prepares the cadets for acceptance into the commissioning track.
Air Force ROTC offers four-and three-year tracks. All cadets must complete four credits of AFROTC academics prior to a summer encampment. The three-year track cadets must complete both first and second year academic courses during their first year in ROTC. Students who have Junior ROTC, other-service ROTC, national guard, reserve or active duty military experience may request credit and advanced placement.
Unless the student earns an AFROTC scholarship, there is no service obligation inside the first two years of the four-year program. However, all students who enter into the Professional Officer Course (the last two years) enter into a contractual obligation with the Air Force or Space Force to serve on active duty upon commissioning.
After graduation and commissioning as second lieutenants in the Air Force or Space Force, graduates serve in any number of career fields for a minimum of a four-year active duty service commitment. Interested and qualified students may compete to become Air Force pilots, combat systems officers (CSO), air battle managers (ABM) or remotely piloted aircraft pilots (RPA). Successful pilot candidates serve a 10-year active duty service commitment, and CSO, ABM or RPA candidates incur a six-year active duty service commitment after completion of career field training. All service commitments begin after completion of career field training.
Co-curricular Activities and Organizations
- Arnold Air Society
- Drill Team
Special Admission and Retention Requirements
The Professional Officer Course is normally taken during the junior and senior years. Qualified students pursuing a commission as a second lieutenant are contracted and paid a subsistence allowance of $300-$500 per month. Cadets must maintain at least a 2.5 GPA, meet DoD medical fitness standards and meet Air Force physical fitness and weight control standards.
AFROTC Scholarships
Merit-based financial scholarships may be offered to highly academically competitive and qualified students already enrolled in the program. Awardees may be offered an AFROTC scholarship for full or partial college tuition, incidental fees and textbook allowances and a monthly subsistence allowance of $300-$500 depending on academic year. Scholarship students incur a military obligation after their first year.
Degree Requirements
The Leadership Laboratory (LLAB) course taken during the first year is a weekly laboratory that touches on the topics of Air Force customs and courtesies, health and physical fitness, and drill and ceremonies. The second year LLAB course provides students with the opportunity to demonstrate fundamental management skills and prepares them for Field Training. The third year LLAB course provides the opportunity to develop fundamental management skills while planning and conducting cadet activities. Finally, the fourth year LLAB course provides the opportunity to use leadership skills in planning and conducting cadet activities. It prepares students for commissioning and entry into the active-duty Air and Space Forces.
The curriculum is divided into two phases:
