University of Virginia Library

If the purpose of the University
is to be a glorified trade school
turning out an ever larger number
of ever more qualified experts to
run an ever more complex (and
meaningless) society, then the presence
of ROTC on these grounds is
justifiable insofar as it trains its
members to obey orders; to "know
their place" in a hierarchical organization;
to accept basic moral premises,
including those of society
(such as MacArthur's "Duty! Honor!
Country!" - perhaps reminiscent
of "Volk! Reich! Fuhrer!"?) without
question ("There's a right way
and there's an Army way - do it
the Army way and keep your nose
clean" as a sergeant told me when I
was a cadet), as well as teaching
them the techniques of violence
necessary to protect that society
from external aggression (a la Vietnam)
and internal disruption (a la
Chicago). Incidentally, the last
point is not made tongue-in-cheek;
American military and economics
hegemony would be impossible in a
world of nationalistically oriented
socialist states (such as that of Ho
Chi Minh in Vietnam); machine
politics and immense individual fortunes
would be impossible in a
society based upon true participatory
democracy and co-operative
(versus competitive) living. But, if
the purpose of the University is to
enlarge and develop the individual
qua individual, autonomous, creative,
independent, and not as an
anonymous cog in a vast machine
(whether at machine be Military,
Bureaucracy - including Education,
or Corporate Business) then
ROTC is a cancer within the
University insofar as it imposes an
ideological, straight jacketed upon its
members. Naval ROTC cadets were
told this fall that they were not
allowed to have "moral qualms"
which might hinder them in the
prosecution of their orders; they
were also forbidden to engage in
political, especially anti-war and
leftist activity (NROTC Commander,
please comment!).

I will be the first to admit that
one of the most effective means of
changing the military is from within;
as Generals Gavin and Shoup are
trying to do; but I must also submit
that noncommissioned personnel,
lower level officers, and cadets have
little opportunity to express fundamental
grievances and still less to
implement meaningful changes.
Certainly my attack is not directed
towards the members of ROTC,
some of whom have a far deeper
social commitment than most students
here; it is directed towards
the institution itself (I must qualify
this: having talked to many servicemen,
including veterans of Nam, it
seems that OCS graduates are far
superior to ROTC graduates; perhaps
our Military Science departments
are more incompetent than
dangerous!) ROTC does not produce
better educated citizen-soldiers,
it simply produces worse
citizens who have been inculcated
with the ethic of obeying rather
than questioning: education is not a
matter of accumulating facts - any
computer can do that better than a
human being; it is a matter of
opening one's mind, sharpening
one's perceptions, broadening one's
"spirit." ROTC is both a (though
not the only, or even the most
important) cause and a symbol of
the anti-intellectual atmosphere at
U. Va. - and as such it should be
removed; students could have the
option of taking it off grounds
without University credit. Also, I
would be delighted to have several
ROTC instructors, particularly
from the Navy, reply publicly to
this letter: my goal is not so much
to persuade as to awaken.