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Show New AFROTC Program Designed To Furnish Air Force Yith Officers Aimed at providing more flying fly-ing personnel from the ranks of Air Force ROTC cadets, a more selective program has been adopted adop-ted by the Air Force Lt. Col. Oliver Oli-ver W. Harris, head of the ROTC unit at Branch Agricultural college, col-lege, has been informed. Col. Harris explained that the 143 operational wing goal of the Air Force, brought about by the international situation, "has required re-quired a reoriented AFROTC program pro-gram to meet newly-projected USAF requirements." This 143 wing "aircrew" Air Force, to be reached by 1955, creates a need for an immense increase in rated officer graduates gradu-ates from the AFROTC. "Therefore", Col. Harris continued, contin-ued, "in 1955 each graduate must possess, or be wiling to take, the skilled training that is effectively effective-ly usable in a specific job vacancy va-cancy in the Air Force." The former AFROTC program was designed to commission selected se-lected graduates primarily for the Air Force reserve officers pool, but by 1955 the new AF ROTC program is expected to provide 80 per cent of the active duty junior officer requirements of the Air Force. The two phases of the new program are both pointed toward attaining a minimum annual goal of 11,500 flight training applicants from AFROTC graduates gradu-ates beginning in 1955. The first phase reduces the active duty tour for AFROTC j flying applicants from four to three ytfars, including the fly-' ing training program. This reduction is expected to Increase flying training applicants appli-cants from AFROTC graduates. The previous four-year tour had deterred many interested cadets from applying for flight training since by choosing a non-flying assignment they could serve a minimum of two years. So far, approximately 2,300 of the 6,800 AFROTC cadets graduating grad-uating this spring have applied for flying training compared to last year's 800 out of 7,600 graduates grad-uates going to flying school. The second phase of the new program is a classification system sys-tem that mirrors the Air Force requirements for more flying personnel. per-sonnel. It sets up four categories categor-ies into which those students enrolling en-rolling in the advanced AFROTC course will be grouped starting in September. Advanced contracts leading to commissions will be alloted on a quota system for each category with the largest number available avail-able to those cadets qualified and willing to take aircrew training under Category I. Veteran and non-veteran stu-'dents stu-'dents in Air Science III and IV, the Junior and senior year advanced ad-vanced courses, who qualify medically and desire flight training train-ing will be grouped under Category Cate-gory I. Category II will consist of those non-veteran cadets taking technical courses at their schools leading to degrees in engineering, engineer-ing, mathematics, chemistry and physics who qualify for an Air Force commission. Non-techincal students without prior military service and qualified quali-fied physically for a commission but not for flying will be grouped under category III. The quotas in this category are relatively rela-tively small with the result-that competition for the few contracts available will be keen. Category IV will be made up of veterans, other than those accepted ac-cepted under Category I, selected for the advanced program. Under existing policy students in this category have no active obligation. obliga-tion. Col. Harris emphasized that "although primary stress is on Category I, no outstandingly qualified student will fail to be selected for an advanced contract." con-tract." i The effects of the new programming pro-gramming will be felt initially; by the present Air Science II cadets, ca-dets, college sophomores, who plan to enter advanced AFROTC this September, CoL Harris explained. ex-plained. Students presently enrolled in the advanced AFROTC program are not affected by the change. |