ARMY ROTC PROGRAM ENDS AT SOUTHEAST

It is another sign of an age of decreased military tensions that the Army ROTC program has ended at Southeast Missouri State University after 11 years of preparing young men and women to be military officers.

Many college students who took advantage of the ROTC programs were able to obtain first-rate educations at institutions like Southeast in return for an obligation to serve eight years in the military. This partnership produced high-quality young officers in the process.

But the need for lieutenants has dropped just as the overall numbers in the U.S. military have declined. Besides no more Cold War, there has been an overriding effort to decrease U.S. military spending. The reduced numbers has meant only 3,800 lieutenants are needed from the Army ROTC programs around the country, while in 1989 the need was for 8,200 lieutenants.

The ROTC program at Southeast was an extension of the program at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale. That program will continue.

And there will continue to be an ROTC presence on the Southeast campus as well. The Air Force ROTC is still in business to meet the needs of that military branch.

While most nations have followed the pattern of military downsizing, particularly in the wake of the breakup of the Soviet Union and with the expansion of joint efforts such as NATO, there is still an ever-present need for top military readiness. Currently, the U.S. military objective is the ability to fight two regional conflicts at the same time.

Other concerns loom. For example, China continues to be a dominant force not only in its growing influence on the world economy, but also through its military strength.

Meanwhile, small countries, often rich with oil revenue, have ready access to modern military hardware. Some even have developed nuclear capabilities, which make them a threat more as possible terrorists than full-scale military opponents.

If the world situation were to change dramatically -- which could happen on short notice, it is to be hoped that the Pentagon would be in a position to restart the military engines that would give this country the full preparation needed to take whatever military steps are necessary.

In that event, it also is likely that programs such as ROTC would be reinstituted on a large scale, including restoration of programs at Southeast.