NROTC Adds One Year to Tour of Duty

Undergraduates entering the Naval ROTC program after next June will serve three years active duty instead of the present two-year hitch.

The change, which comes after President Kennedy's request for further defense mobilization, will affect Navy Reserve Officers training Crops programs at all colleges. Army and Air Force ROTC units have not announced similar extensions of obligations and, according to spokesmen, do not expect to do so.

Contract and regular students already enrolled, and those who enroll prior to June 30, will not be effected by the new regulation, according to Capt. Richard B. Redmeyne, professor of Naval Science. Redmeyne pointed out that freshmen and sophomores are still eligible to enter Naval ROTC under the former regulations.

The decision to increase the period of active duty from two to three years for commissioned officers was made by the Department of the Navy in response to the new Mobilization Act of Congress.

The Army ROTC at the College earlier had announced a change in its program for undergraduates. The Army reduced its on-campus time requirements, instituting once-a-week Military Science instruction that extends for the full year and counts one-half credit (like Gen Ed Ahf).

Series of Reductions

The move, announced over the summer, is the latest in a series of reductions the services have allowed since 1956. That year, a Faculty committee urged all the services to alter their programs with an aim towards reduction of class time.

The chairman of the Overseers Committee to Visit the Departments of Military, Naval, and Air Science, John F. Kennedy '40, could not be reached for comment.