While the Army is struggling with recruitment across the nation, Mississippi State University’s Reserve Officer Training Corps program doesn’t seem to have the same problem.
MSU Professor of Military Science and Army Lt. Col. Jason R. Posey spoke Thursday to the Exchange Club of Columbus at Lion Hills Center about the program, saying this year the MSU ROTC program is actually overperforming in producing officers.
“These officers will lead and command the sons and daughters of American citizens, and they are going to be officers of character,” Posey said.
Posey said the program has jumped from 98 total enrolled cadets in the 2023-2024 school year to 132 this year. While the program typically commissions 10 to 15 officers per year, Posey said MSU ROTC is set to commission 22 officers between December and May.
Posey attributed the jump in recruitment numbers to leadership within the ROTC program. He also told The Dispatch after the meeting that a huge part of why recruitment is so high is because the program uses its current cadets as examples to interested candidates.
Since current cadets challenge each other academically, physically and with building their leadership qualities, Posey said, the program encourages constant improvement and activity, which often appeals to prospective ROTC candidates.
“When they see our cadets, they’re young, they’re athletic, they’re fit, and they’re involved in multiple activities across the campus,” Posey told The Dispatch. “So when candidates come there to visit our school and they talk to the cadets, they find out what that experience is going to be like. I think that’s our No. 1 thing that has helped our recruiting is our cadets.”
Posey said the cadets’ racial diversity tends to follow the demographics of the university. Out of last year’s 59 contracted cadets – cadets that have signed contracts committing them to complete the program and serve in the Army after graduation – 43 were white, 13 were Black and three were Hispanic.
But when it comes to gender, MSU ROTC’s makeup more closely resembles the Army in general, with female recruits hovering at about 20% of the MSU corps.
Posey pointed toward an example of MSU ROTC’s success in producing high-quality officers – the Sessions family. All four children in the family, including Cpt. Alexis Sessions, Second Lts. Peyton Sessions and Madison Sessions, and First Lt. Zachary Sessions, went through the program despite the family having no previous military background.
“I should put their parents on the wall of fame,” Posey said.
Posey said the program offers a variety of benefits to participants, including significant scholarships. Last year, Posey said, the program distributed $1.2 million in scholarships for its 98 cadets through a variety of funds, despite the university not raising its funding for ROTC in about 10 years.
If cadets enter active duty after graduation as a lieutenant, Posey said, they get the benefits of basic allowance housing, along with a $48,000 annual salary – higher than the average MSU graduate right out of college.
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