Sixteen years in, the United States’ war in Afghanistan stands as the longest armed conflict in American history.
In 2001, many of the men and women deployed overseas were young adults who saw their way of life upended in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Today, many of the men and women were just children when former President George W. Bush sent the first American troops into Afghanistan.
At USC, this reality is part of life for no one more than members of ROTC programs, the Reserve Officers’ Training Corp, such as fourth-year public health student Caryn Ramelb. Ramelb is a wing commander in USC’s Air Force ROTC program, meaning she is “responsible for planning and executing all cadet activities pertinent to the mission and purpose of Air Force ROTC and oversee[s] the training, effectiveness and conduct of the cadet wing.”
The daughter of a career Army soldier and a nurse, she is no stranger to service. This background fueled her desire to take on ROTC.
“I always knew I wanted to serve the nation, but also pursue higher education,” she said. "ROTC seemed like the perfect avenue for me because I can attend a normal, non-military institution but still compete for a slot to be an officer in the Air Force.”
In return for their commitments, students receive scholarships and support in their pursuit of their degrees.
An ROTC scholarship entails contracting with your chosen branch of the military to serve after graduation. The Army usually requires three to eight years of service, the Navy and Marine Corps three to 12 and the Air Force four to 10. Students spend their college years both getting their degree and training for their service.
“During school, freshmen & sophomores have three one-hour physical training sessions and week, one one-hour lecture and one two hour lab where you learn fundamentals about drill, AF customs and courtesies and listen to guest speakers,” Ramelb said. “Juniors & seniors train the freshmen and sophomores and experience a slight increase of time commitment.”
Ramelb and her generation of service members will enter a conflict that has raged for most of their lives, and Afghanistan is a part of their training.
“I personally consider it an honor to continue to fight for and support the mission that people like my father was a part of,” she said. “The war in Afghanistan is included in our aerospace studies curriculum and it’s important that we understand the basics of the conflict prior to joining the fight.”
President Donald Trump announced on Aug. 22 that his strategy for the Afghanistan conflict will mean a rise in troop deployments geared towards counterterrorism and the training of Aghan forces. And increased deployments means the branches are offering more and more scholarships.
“You can see in our detachment’s history that in peak wartimes there have been increased involvement and interest in ROTC,” Ramelb said.
ROTC members are able to discuss their views about news such as President Trump’s according to Ramelb, but it isn’t their central focus.
“We do discuss current events in class – we share our personal opinions and how it affects all of us as future military members, but it varies between cadets in ROTC,” she said. “We mainly focus on understanding how this will impact our future careers in the military.”
Indeed, Ramelb explained that while “the state of the military was definitely something to consider when joining” it “personally wasn’t included in of [her] reasons to join.”
Ramelb isn’t sure how long she’ll stay in the Air Force, but she’ll commission in May 2018 as a second lieutenant. She hopes to serve in the Medical Service Corp.
“I am currently unsure about how long I anticipate serving," she said, "but the Air Force has already offered me so much as a cadet, and I hope to give back to the Air Force as much as it has given me.”