Advanced ROTC Men Must Pass Stiffer Physical Tests

This is the second in a series of articles on the Harvard R. O. T. C. units.

Training for the army or for the navy at Harvard consists in each department of four courses which progress from the fundamentals of military or naval science to the more complicated and advanced theories of organization and tactics.

The two departments, one preparing for second lieutenants' commissions in the Officers' Reserve Corps, the other for corresponding commissions in the Naval Reserve, are practically alike in their organizational setup with only one major difference.

Every student who signs up to take the N. R. O. T. C. course in the Freshman year must pass a physical examination and is then expected to finish the entire four years and to become a full-fledged sailor. The Mil Sci student, on the other hand, may drop out at the end either of his first or his second year and remain a quarter or a half of a soldier. Only if he wishes to continue must he pass a physical examination.

Explains Drop

This explains the huge drop in the registration of Mil Sci 2 under Mil Sci 1 and of Mil Sci 3 under Mil Sci 2. One hundred and thirty-nine men are taking the introductory course this year while only 92 are in the second year and 53 in the third. While part of this drop is due to a larger original enrollment in the beginning course in the last two years, it is caused in large part by the dropping out of students after the first and second years. Mil Sci 4 stands almost even with Mil Sci 3, with 46 men.

Naval Science, on the other hand, has 74 in the first year, 73 in the second, 39 in the third, and 29 in the fourth. The drop between the Sophomore and Junior years comes when men are required to take their second physical examination and to pass Government requirements.

Uniforms are supplied by the Government to all men except those in Mil Sci 4, who must buy their own. In the case of Naval Sci, textbooks belonging to the Government are loaned to the students. In addition students who take the third and fourth years in each course and who sign a contract agreeing to accept a commission in the reserves after graduation, receive a monthly stipend from the Government.

All the men who sign the contract are required to spend six weeks at camp in the case of the army or three weeks on a cruise in the case of the navy in the summer following their Junior year.