Military Leadership - Army

Valparaiso University has an enrollment agreement with the University of Illinois at Chicago (via Purdue University Northwest) enabling Valparaiso University students to participate in their Army ROTC program.

As one of the premier Army ROTC programs in the country, the mission is to educate, train, develop, and inspire participants to become officers and leaders of character for the U.S. Army and the nation. The program does this through a combination of classroom instruction, leadership labs, and experiential learning opportunities focused on developing the mind, body, and spirit of participants. These opportunities are designed specifically to enhance character and leadership ability in the students/cadets and to allow them to practice the essential components of leadership: influencing, acting, and improving. Participants become members of the Fightin’ Irish Cadet Battalion and complete a planned and managed sequence of classroom courses and practical exercises intended to develop each participant into what an officer must be - a leader of character, a leader with presence, and a leader of intelligence - to enable them to reach their full potential as an individual and as an effective leader of groups. The program affords students an excellent opportunity to serve and focuses on the role of Army officers in the preservation of peace and national security, with particular emphasis placed on ethical conduct and the officer’s responsibility to society to lead, develop themselves and others, and achieve success. The experience culminates ideally with participants earning commissions as Second Lieutenants in the Active Army, Army Reserve, or Army National Guard. As an organization committed to lifelong learning, participants may elect to pursue one of the Army’s numerous opportunities for follow-on postgraduate study as well.

Course numbers ending in an odd number are taught during the fall semester; course numbers ending in an even number are taught during the spring semester.

Objectives

This minor is available to all students who are choosing to complete the Army Reserve Officers Training Corp (AROTC) Program.