By 6:30 a.m., nine ASU Army ROTC cadets are face-planted in the grass at Papago Park in Scottsdale, crawling their way to the end of a routine movement exercise. Blades of grass fly into the air as the camouflaged cadets kick and pull themselves across the lawn, trying to stay as low to the ground as possible.
"Let's go! You're moving way too slow!" squadron leader Aaron Gilbert shouts before turning his head to spit.
He's a senior at ASU this year, teaching new cadets moves that could save their lives in combat one day. He had to go through the same routine as a freshman when he joined the Army.
Sweeping increase
Gilbert is just one of the cadets who contributed to a 28 percent enrollment increase in ASU's Army ROTC since fall 2001, said Maj. Herbert Chong, chair of ASU's Department of Military Science. In 2001, cadets totaled 108; this fall, the number rose to 138.
"I think there are several reasons for the increase," Chong said. "Maybe there's a shift of patriotism; perhaps it's the economy."
In fact, ASU's ROTC is not the only program to see an enrollment increase. Both UA and NAU reported increases in enrollment since fall 2001. In UA's case, the number of ROTC students has more than doubled, up 58 contracted cadets from 2001's class of 25.
And the 14th Brigade - composed of 20 ROTC programs from Arizona, Utah and Nevada - saw 14 percent more cadets enroll since fall 2001.
Why the sweeping increase?
Every cadet has his or her own reason for joining: loyalty to the country, an affordable education, a desire to become a leader, a childhood G.I. Joe fantasy.
But with the economy sloping downward and the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on New York, Washington and Pennsylvania, jobs in the military have become more attractive for many high school graduates.
Economic opportunity
The squad treks across a desert setting, settling into a "V" formation as the cadets pretend to carry rifles. They're testing their combat boots on gravel, learning new signals and practicing the movement techniques they learned moments ago.
"Sound off! Sound off because when those bullets are moving, you can't hear s-!" Gilbert says, then spits. "There we go; we're getting smart now."
The cadets are wide awake at 6:30 a.m. every Monday, Wednesday and Friday for physical training, which usually involving running, push-ups and sit-ups.
Amanda Durham, a 22-year-old ASU justice studies senior, has been doing sit-ups at dawn three days a week since 2002, when she decided to become a cadet.
"I was going to join the Army straight out of high school," said Durham, who couldn't because of an arm injury.
"Ever since I was a kid, I've always felt some duty toward my country, and I've always been interested in the government," she added. "I kind of felt like it was my responsibility."
Durham said she attributes the increase in enrollment to the Sept. 11 attacks, pro-American sentiment after the war and the economic downturn.
"Because the economy has shifted so much, I am so thankful to know that I'm in the Army and to know that I have 20 years of great pay," she said. "I'll make more than the average person, and I'll have awesome retirement benefits."
In September, the U.S. Census Bureau reported that the number of Americans living in poverty increased by 1.7 million in 2002, while the median household income declined by 1.1 percent.
It was the second straight year of negative changes in income and poverty, the first two-year downturn since the early 1990s.
"Typically, you would expect that when the economy is down, sure things like going into the military look more attractive," said Tracy Clark, associate director of ASU's Bank One Economic Outlook Center.
"When the economy goes down, you will see not just people going into the military," Clark added. "A lot of the impact is people going straight into the military from high school."
That's what 23-year-old Greg Coppo did. Coppo, an ASU justice studies senior, joined ROTC to get ahead of the slumping economy because he didn't want to get pulled down with it.
"Originally, I joined ROTC to help out with bill payments, and then it just grew on me," Coppo said.
The stipends and scholarships given to incoming cadets are a tempting draw, especially with recent tuition increases.
Freshmen cadets on scholarship get a $250 stipend per month, and sophomores on scholarship get $300. Students in the advanced courses - juniors and seniors - are guaranteed stipends. Juniors get $350 per month, and seniors receive $400.
A cadet on scholarship not only receives a full tuition waiver but also is allowed a monthly stipend and $600 a year for books. Cadets with four-year scholarships receive monthly stipends for four years at ASU.
"It was the stipends and also the benefits in pay when you start your career after college," Coppo said. "It made everything seem a lot more tempting."
So tempting is a steady-paying job after college that even graduates with degrees are enlisting in the military.
"I met a guy the other day who had a master's degree, who enlisted to pay off a loan," UA Army ROTC Maj. Charles Slatton said.
He said the national ROTC cadet command also is working to obtain higher enrollment numbers."Cadet command is really pushing it because in the late 1990s, when the economy was good, no one was joining and they had to come up with a decent system of recruiting," Slatton said.
According to Slatton, new recruiting techniques were used to draw students to the programs. Recruiters now spend two to three weeks in a course designed to teach them how to talk about benefits to prospective students, while in the past, recruiters relied on walk-in traffic.
The 9/11 incentive
As each cadet goes through the drill, Gilbert watches with his arms crossed. The sun is just rising now, peeking through the trees and casting a shadow that makes Gilbert look all the more intimidating.
A cadet falls to the ground on command, aiming his pretend rifle at an invisible enemy. He looks for Gilbert's approval but receives a reprimand instead.
"Don't be behind or in front of anyone - you could accidentally shoot them," Gilbert says.
His correction could one day assist cadets during battle. The possibility of combat is the incentive that encouraged some students to join ROTC in the aftermath of Sept. 11, 2001.
The Sept. 11 terrorist attacks could have caused students to become more patriotic and spurred their desire to join the military, said ASU social psychology professor Robert Short.
"In the aftermath of 9/11, people recognize and pay greater attention to their 'Americanness,'" Short said.
"Clearly, these psychological phenomena, coupled with a downturn in economic prosperity, relates to increases in student enrollments [in ROTC] at universities," he added.
That was reason enough for Josh Groen, a 19-year-old electrical engineering freshman. He enlisted in the Army reserves on Sept. 17, 2001.
"Serving my country by being in the Army is something I've always wanted to do," Groen said. "A fair share of people have done their part in the past, and now it's my turn. I have a lot of respect for people in uniform."
He said the Sept. 11 attacks increased his motivation to join the Army.
"I felt our country had a need, and I could meet that need," said Groen, who plans on serving in the military for 20 years.
While enlisted, Groen awaited scholarship approval from ROTC, and when he received it he made the switch from reserves to ASU Army ROTC. His former reserve unit is now in Iraq.
The other side
While interest in ROTC was increasing at ASU, so did opposition to war in Iraq and military spending. At the peak of war talks this winter, several protests were staged on and near ASU's campus, criticizing the United States for considering a war in Iraq.
Elizabeth Venable, an ASU conservation biology junior and member of a Pro-Peace listserv, said she believed the increase in ROTC enrollment is caused by militaristic propaganda to which students are exposed.
"Ads and speeches stress the notion that somehow the wars that we are fighting now are exact and bloodless, which of course they are not," Venable said.
"Perhaps people feel a responsibility to their country, and they think that the only way of fulfilling their responsibility is fighting for their country," she added. "I would argue that there are a lot of other ways to serve one's country or even to serve one's community."
Not your normal course
This year's 138 contracted ASU Army ROTC cadets walk among nearly 50,000 other ASU students each day.
Some cadets have just finished their physical training for the day. Some are walking to a required military science class. Others are going to regular classes for their major, while some trek to the ROTC lounge to play video games.
Each has his or her own reason for committing a college career to the Army, whether it's economic stability, post-Sept. 11 patriotism, leadership or fulfilling a lifelong dream.
Gilbert swaggers near the squad as the cadets lay in position on the unforgiving desert floor. Next year, he likely will move on to a leadership position in the U.S. Army, and someone else will take charge of a new class of cadets.
"This is all new to these people," said ASU Army ROTC Maj. Steven Fox. "They're doing a good job. This is different from your normal college course."
Reach the reporter at sarah.muench@asu.edu.
