Following the surrender of the Confederate Army, two captured Confederate cannons were gifted to campus from the University’s first superintendent, Col. William Tecumseh Sherman. The cannons remain outside the Military Science Building as a reminder of the University’s military tradition.Though the tradition has changed during nearly 150 years, the University Reserve Officer Training Corps still maintains a strong presence on campus.”In my generation, it was either go to college or go to war,” said Weaver McCracken, who attended the University between 1967 and 1970 when two years of ROTC was mandatory.Today the University’s Army ROTC and Air Force ROTC include about 150 students, most with military aspirations.As aspiring military officers, cadets are discouraged from giving their own opinion of American military happenings, especially when it pertains to current wars.Nonetheless, each cadet is aware he or she is likely to be called for active duty in the near future, and for some of them, it makes what they are doing even more important.”It actually makes you work a little harder because you know right out the gates you could be expected to utilize everything you’re taught,” said Branden Bawton, Air Force ROTC senior cadet. “It motivates you and lets you know your training will be used.”Once an obligation for every student on campus, the ROTC now focuses its attention on providing leadership training for the future officers in the United States Armed Services.The ROTC program provides students with a taste of army life before they fully commit themselves, said First Lieutenant Promotable William Conger, Army ROTC recruiting operations officer.Cadets are instructed in general soldiering skills and procedures the first two years.Older cadets are expected to instruct younger students.Army ROTC begins at 6 a.m. five days a week with physical training on the back lawn of the Military Science Building. Following stretches and calisthenics, they run for two to three miles. Air Force ROTC has a similar routine, though they are offered three physical training periods and cadets are only expected to attend two each week. Thursday labs provide a  practical application of the week’s courses for both corps.Cadets get hands-on experience with the essential leadership skills required of armed services officers. Each week is different, and exercises can vary from spending time on the firing range to doing land navigation to patrolling the levees.Cadets are more than students of the military. They are also required to maintain academic standards.”The most rigorous part of the program is not keeping up with the leadership portion of the courses, it’s balancing University life with military service,” said Wesley Jones, Army ROTC sophomore cadet.- – – – Contact Adam Duvernay at [email protected]