Tony Thurmond: “as an Army ROTC Program graduate and one who believes the program is vital to the national security of our Nation, I was…”

“as an Army ROTC Program graduate and one who believes the program is vital to the national security of our Nation, I was disappointed to learn that the Army announced on May 20, 1996, that it will terminate the program at 31 universities and colleges throughout the Nation, including two in South Carolina. I expect that many of my Senate colleagues have a strong affiliation for the ROTC Program and are prepared to speak to the merits of the program. I believe that many would echo the comments of Dr. Lee Vickers, the president of Francis Marion University who described the need for the ROTC Program as follows: Service to one's community and to the Nation as one of the constituent values of the United States and one that is being heard more and more frequently throughout the higher education community these days. What more vital service can there be than that discipline, skills, and service learned by young men and young women fortunate enough to experience the leadership training of the ROTC Program? No one can easily deny the importance and the value of the present and future citizen-soldiers leaders that the ROTC Program has produced and continues to produce.”