ARMY ROTC CLOSES AT SEMO

It is taps for the Army ROTC at Southeast Missouri State University, which shut its doors for the last time this week.

The Army made the decision to close the unit due to limited resources, declining enrollment and a far-reaching effort to downsize the number of U.S. Army officers, officials said.

"We had a good cadre there," said Lt. Col. Tim Stroud, who directs the Army ROTC program at Southern Illinois University-Carbondale. "Unfortunately, the decision was made to close the program.

"The students being commissioned out of Southeast Missouri State were all quality individuals, and, I know, they will succeed as quality second lieutenants," he said.

The school had offered incentives to get people to enter the program. But Stroud said, "The Army has been downsizing over the last four to five years. As a result, we don't need as many officers."

Southeast's Army ROTC program, housed within the College of Health and Human Services, had been an extension center of SIU-C since 1986 when the program was established at Southeast. It closed Tuesday.

Stroud said Southeast is one of about 15 Army ROTC programs that have been shut down on college and university campuses across the country. The U.S. Army Commanding Office said that the Army's need for ROTC lieutenants declined from a high of 8,200 in 1989 to 3,800 today.

Stroud said Southeast had commissioned only about seven officers annually in recent years, falling short of its mission to commission 10 officers a year.

"It's been a fine relationship" the university has had with the Army, said Dr. Paul Keys, dean of the College of Health and Human Services at Southeast. "We've just not been able to get a large number of persons coming into the program."

Stroud said one Southeast Army ROTC cadet remains in the program and will graduate in December. He then will be commissioned as a second lieutenant.

Students completing Army ROTC programs and commissioning are eligible for active duty, National Guard or for the Reserves. Stroud said about 65 percent of students who complete Army ROTC programs on college campuses across the country are selected for active duty. Students who complete Army ROTC programs must then serve eight years after their college graduation.

Two Army officers and a secretary who worked in the Army ROTC office at Southeast have departed. Lt. Col. Rick Hilliard left last week for Fort Leavenworth, Kan., where he will be a combined arms staff service school instructor responsible for instructing captains. Master Sgt. Matthew Shortencarrier has been selected for the Sergeant Major's Academy at Fort Bliss, Texas.

The departure of the Army ROTC program leaves Southeast with just one military ROTC program, Air Force ROTC.