Officer training alternatives to ROTC

While many Pitt seniors stress over future employment, senior John McGrath sits back and… While many Pitt seniors stress over future employment, senior John McGrath sits back and relaxes.

He knows exactly what he’s doing for about the next decade.

McGrath has had it all planned out since his sophomore year of college. That year, he applied to attend Officer Candidates School for the Marine Corps. The Candidates School trains college students to be Marine Corps officers without loading them down them during the school year, as other collegiate military programs do. Upon graduation, participants are commissioned in the Marines as second lieutenants.

The military has always interested McGrath, but he chose to attend Pitt instead of the Naval Academy because he wanted the life of a normal college student.

“I wasn’t ready to grow up yet,” McGrath said, explaining that he came to Pitt to play hockey and major in accounting.

The summer after his sophomore year, McGrath completed his first of two six-week Platoon Leaders Class summer sessions in Quantico, Va. The first summer’s session was more geared toward educating and motivating participants, while the second summer’s session was vigorous and testing.

McGrath said “chaos” would be the best way to describe his two sessions of training. The students would pull 18-hour, strictly structured days, in which they were pushed to their physical and mental limits. McGrath explained that participants were set up to fail, so non-leaders could be weeded out.

“It’s such a culture shock to so many people,” McGrath said.

Completing the chaotic, stressful, sleep-deprived weeks of training was a significant accomplishment for McGrath, he said.

“I just felt like nothing could ever hurt me,” he explained. “When I got home, it was the first time I really accomplished something.”

McGrath, now a senior, said he would watch classmates at Pitt deal with job fairs and interviews, while he already knew what he was doing for the next 10 years. In the spring, McGrath will graduate from Pitt with the degree he needs to become a Marine officer, as well as two summers’ experience worth of training to become a Marine and be eligible to attend flight school.

Job security is one of the many perks of joining the Marines and completing Candidates School training, according to Captain Joseph T. Bertagna.

Bertagna, who went through the same program, now works at the Marine Corps Officer Selections Office on Meyran Avenue, recruiting interested students. He spends time looking for students who are “physically, mentally and morally capable.” To qualify for the training, a student must hold a 2.0 QPA, have scored higher than 1000 on her SATs or do well on a similar test, and be physically fit. Bertagna explained that “morally capable” students are those who have not used drugs excessively and have not received “too many DUIs.”

“You don’t have to be squeaky clean, but probably 75 percent squeaky clean,” Bertagna said. “People make mistakes.”

According to Bertagna, those eligible must complete the two summer sessions to become military officers. Students in the training program do not have any military commitments during the school year, but they are offered monthly stipends and tuition assistance if they choose to take on responsibilities. They can leave the program at any time and must make a commitment to the Marines Corps only after completing the training and graduating from college.

After the students graduate, they can become Marine Corps pilots or ground officers. They also have the option of attending law school. The military time commitment varies depending on what route a student takes after graduation. Ground officers and lawyers must stay in the Marines for four years, while helicopter pilots have six-year commitments, and jet pilots have eight-year commitments in the military.

Becoming a Marine Corps pilot motivated Pitt sophomore Dan Morrison. Morrison has always had an interest in flying, and when he discussed his interests with Zeta Beta Tau fraternity brother Dave Heilig, he was told to consider the program.

“I do want to become a pilot,” Morrison said, “and the best-trained pilots come from the military.”

Morrison, an industrial engineering student, signed up for the training this fall, and is already working out and preparing for his summer session. He has no mandatory training sessions, but he decided to become physically fit to ensure success during this summer’s training.

“I’m sure the week before, I’ll be really nervous, and the month before, I’ll be working my ass off,” Morrison said.

Morrison said he is excited about the summer and the next decade of his life as a Marine, and he feels pretty confident that he will like it.

“I’d be bored at a desk job,” Morrison said.

For now, Morrison is working out and working hard in school to prepare, while McGrath is working toward graduating and entering Basic school and flight school.

“I could pick out a Marine walking down the street. There’s a swagger to their step,” McGrath said.

For more information about the program, check out www.marinesofficer.com.