Seen in uniform marching or executing military exercises, it can be forgotten that the cadets of the Air Force ROTC are university students. Adversely, in the classroom and campus life, Air Force ROTC students may not be recognized as students undergoing military training. Experiencing a unified blend of collegiate and military life, the average Air Force ROTC cadet is not easy to define.

The objective of the national program is to produce leaders for the Air Force and commissions approximately 2,000 Second Lieutenants each year from the 144 campus-based Air Force ROTC detachments in the United States, according to the Jeanne M. Holm Center for Officer Accessions and Citizen Development. The University of Alabama hosts detachment 010, averaging classes of 100 cadets.

“I remember back in elementary school people would ask you what you wanted to be,” Philip Newby, a sophomore majoring in electrical engineering, said. “I wanted to be a pilot.”

With his father spending four years in the Air Force and a long-held desire to fly, Newby decided to join the Air Force ROTC his freshman year. As a cadet, Newby and his fellow students must attend two sessions of physical training a week, a Leadership Lab – a course designed to teach leadership and management skills – and an academic Air Force ROTC offering.

Newby said the Air Force ROTC not only instilled a sense of structure and respect for authority in him, but also marked his entrance into the military “fraternity,” facilitating a multitude of friendships.

“They’re strong bonds we have,” Newby said. “It’s actually very comparable to the friendships I formed through football in high school.”

Philip Stephenson, junior majoring in management information systems, said his whole family was in the military, and his mother is currently in the Air Force.

He said he likes the variety of extra-curricular activities and community service opportunities cadets could take part in and its facilitation of a light-hearted rivalry with the Army ROTC detachment on campus, such as their competition during the Beat Auburn Beat Hunger drive last year and annual football game.

Stevenson also recalled some of his own misconceptions about the Air Force ROTC.

“I was unaware going in just how dynamic the Air Force is,” Stevenson said. “In fact, many facets of the force are on the ground.”

Richard Ledson, a sophomore majoring in mechanical engineering, learned how to fly before he learned how to drive. His grandfather was a plane mechanic in Florida, and Ledson said he knew he wanted to become a pilot. Intrigued by the prospect of entering college as a high school senior and leaving as a Second Lieutenant in the Air Force, and possibly a pilot, he joined the Air Force ROTC.

“I have a lot more determination and focus,” Ledson said. “There’s a lot of responsibility to being an ROTC cadet beyond just having to be a college student.”

This holds true for Ledson, who is a General Military Course advisor, working with cadets undergoing their initial training and a training officer of the honors society. He said he hoped his efforts would elevate him forward into the physically and mentally pressing field training during the summer after his sophomore year, when a commitment to joining the Air Force begins for cadets not under scholarship.

“I don’t think I’d have the same focused mindset if I weren’t a cadet,” Ledson said.

Ledson said that from an outsider’s perspective, some of drills and exercises they undergo publicly may seem odd, goofy or perhaps frightening, but knows the purpose and importance of all of their tasks.

“It’s really that we’re striving to better ourselves,” Ledson said.

Zac McMillian, a sophomore majoring in MIS and history, lived with Ledson during their freshman year in Ridgecrest South. Having attended a West Point camp the summer before, he said he had seen the dedication and hard work of military affiliated students but was uncertain if his soon-to-be Air Force ROTC roommate would be “too serious.”

He said he was relieved to find Ledson as determined as expected, but able to mix in doses of fun, citing the pair’s sporadic dancing in the dorm room, while maintaining a clear mental balance.

“You could see [being a cadet] really helped him focus and sort out what’s important,” McMillian said. “And he loves it.”

Though no longer rooming together, as McMillian a resident advisor and Ledson lives off-campus, McMillian said he would welcome the chance to live alongside an Air Force ROTC student again.

“Sometimes you have to work with them; it’s a busy schedule, but I liked it,” McMillian said.

Recruiting Flight Commander for The University of Alabama Air Force ROTC, Captain John Ellis, said with an average of 100 students per class and a 50 percent retention rate from freshman to sophomore years and 75 percent of students who start their sophomore year finishing, the program has remained attractive to students.

“We get a wide variety of students, some who are air force brats, so to speak,” Ellis said. “Then to cadets who have rarely seen someone in uniform and were interested maybe by seeing cadets on campus.”

He cited the structure provided by the program as a natural progression into a more structured and successful college career.

“I think that the program offers a great opportunity for students here to pursue a military career and learn lessons about leadership,” Ellis said. “And when you combine that with the strong academic basis the program requires, it’s a good foundation.”