Posted on Dec 2, 2025
During operation Desert Storm, were SMP ROTC cadets were brought to the front lines to experience combat?
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I saw this dumbass comment somewhere on Facebook saying ROTC cadets got to partake in Operation Desert Storm to see what it is like to lead in a combat environment. I believe this is clearly bullshit, because cadets are non-deployable. Can anyone vouch for this stupid ass bullshit comment or am I just not researching hard enough? Thanks!
Operation Desert Shield/Storm
Army ROTC
ROTC
ROTC Instructor
Posted 2 d ago
Responses: 8
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One SMP, SGT Joseph Bongiorni, from WVU was able to volunteer to deploy with his USAR unit and was killed in action, not sure how they skirted the reg, or how no one noticed..
Cadets cannot deploy, and ROTC dets cannot be shut down to deploy cadets short of a total mobilization (minus the academies and senior military colleges).
Cadets cannot deploy, and ROTC dets cannot be shut down to deploy cadets short of a total mobilization (minus the academies and senior military colleges).
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CPT (Join to see)
Ah........... so this was an EXCEPTION for someone who was ALREADY qualified as an NCO. Something similarly happened to me. I was direct commissioned to 2LT, but I had not yet gone through BOLC. So I was not qualified to be deployed as a QM Officer. However, the annual S. Korea annual training missions need bodies and they needed to full a seat with a security clearance (which I had from my previous enlisted MOS).
Apparently....... it was a really BIG DEAL to send me, and needed waivers, and someone to speak up and say "hey, this guy already did all the soldiering training, and has another MOS, he can sit in a corner and fill the roster up with one more body". Who cares if he's MOSQ for his billet, he's a 2LT anyway.
Apparently....... it was a really BIG DEAL to send me, and needed waivers, and someone to speak up and say "hey, this guy already did all the soldiering training, and has another MOS, he can sit in a corner and fill the roster up with one more body". Who cares if he's MOSQ for his billet, he's a 2LT anyway.
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Not entirely BS. As SGM Jeff Mccloud pointed out, exceptions existed for certain cadets who were also members of a reserve unit.
Prior to the RC and accession changes implemented by the Army in 2005*, ROTC cadets who belonged to a reserve unit weren't specifically fenced off from deploying if their unit deployed. Since the change, all contracted cadets (which would include anyone in the SMP) and non-contracted cadets, who have completed their first semester with ROTC, are non-deployable (as an aside, Duke also details a couple of ROTC cadets who deployed with their units during DS/DS*).
What is BS is the assertion that it was a ROTC program that was implemented to give leadership experience to their cadets (much like saying the reason there are no polar bears in Florida is because of the alligators).
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* DA Memorandum - Mobilization of Reserve Component Member Cadets in U. S. Army Cadet
Command (USACC) - https://www.ship.edu/globalassets/rotc/hqda-g-1-memo-dtd-20050830.pdf
* Duke Army ROTC History - https://arotc.duke.edu/our-history
Prior to the RC and accession changes implemented by the Army in 2005*, ROTC cadets who belonged to a reserve unit weren't specifically fenced off from deploying if their unit deployed. Since the change, all contracted cadets (which would include anyone in the SMP) and non-contracted cadets, who have completed their first semester with ROTC, are non-deployable (as an aside, Duke also details a couple of ROTC cadets who deployed with their units during DS/DS*).
What is BS is the assertion that it was a ROTC program that was implemented to give leadership experience to their cadets (much like saying the reason there are no polar bears in Florida is because of the alligators).
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* DA Memorandum - Mobilization of Reserve Component Member Cadets in U. S. Army Cadet
Command (USACC) - https://www.ship.edu/globalassets/rotc/hqda-g-1-memo-dtd-20050830.pdf
* Duke Army ROTC History - https://arotc.duke.edu/our-history
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A1C Medrick "Rick" DeVaney
GOD, I Hope You're Right; Rookies Don't Belong In The Front Lines NOR Given Any Authority Lead Or Command Of Others- HO- LEE- CHIP
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