For those students who are interested in making a difference for their country as they better themselves mentally, physically, and economically, the University of South Carolina’s Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps (Air Force ROTC) is a welcome home in the hustle and bustle of a university environment.  As members of the fraternity of Air Force blue, the cadets of the flying Gamecocks find learn practical life lessons as they develop their intellectual and career skills on the field of garnet and black that is the home of South Carolina’s premier university.  “No one comes close” to this ideal combination as a way to start one’s journey in adult life. 

       Air Force ROTC at USC looks at a college experience in very practical ways.  First, college should be fun!  Fun is created when you combine the talents of great instructors with the energy of students seeking a common goal—to learn in an environment that enables learning.  In the Air Force, every event is constructed to achieve a learning objective, and each interaction is built with learning in mind.  Your college education is training for life, and Air Force ROTC training is education in the right way to optimize life’s lessons.  

       Air Force ROTC learning is from instructors who have real experiences from places across this globe, leveraging technology as they have led people on complex missions.  Your ROTC teachers are IN THE AIR FORCE doing an important Air Force job because they understand YOU are critical to its mission.  This is a lesson we have learned through our military service: the bedrock of success is the success of people.  

       The end result of time spent is Air Force ROTC is personal discipline and a way to deal with the complexity of the modern world.  Air Force ROTC teaches you how to lead, and how to follow—and it gives you the skills to do both.  From the start of the Air Force ROTC runway, you can fly your way to whatever star you desire in your future.  Join the crew, build and train the team, develop your tactics, design a strategy, win the war.  How to fly, fight and win…that is what Air Force ROTC is all about.  Anytime…anyplace…in any military or civilian role the lessons you learn here may be the most important ones from any college experience.  If you want college to lead someplace someplace…you found it on this web page.  You’ve taken step one to your future.

        Air Force ROTC also understands that college must be affordable.  The Air Force has a variety of competitive scholarship programs.  Details of these can be found by following this link.

www.afrotc.com gives you a lot of information about the Air Force and its scholarship opportunities.  You can also visit our Air Force homepage at www.af.mil to find out more about what the Air Force does to support our nation and better the world.  

       Carolina is one of many campuses offering Air Force ROTC.  In South Carolina alone, the Citadel, Clemson and Charleston Southern also offer the program.  Many smaller schools and historically black colleges and universities have Air Force ROTC as part of cooperative schools agreements (referred to as cross-town arrangements).  Presently, students at Claflin University, Benedict College, South Carolina State University and Midlands Technical College have cross-town arrangements with the Gamecock ROTC program.  With so much availability, why not choose Air Force ROTC.  Or conversely, why choose to join Air Force ROTC at South Carolina or its cross-town schools? 

      The principle reason is success…your success!  The Gamecock Detachment works to develop red shirt freshmen into college successes with the same dedication that Coach Steve Spurrier works his football program.  College is a successful endeavor when you graduate.  Consequently, Air Force ROTC provides structure and tools to help you make it to graduation and a commission in the United States Air Force.  In Air Force ROTC, you will find the instructors spend a lot of time in an advisory role for they have a vested interest in your success.  In Air Force ROTC, you are more than a student…you are a member of the Air Force family.  Just ask any Air Force ROTC student and they'll tell you the full story, honestly.  

       Like many successful university football programs, Air Force ROTC also concentrates on developing your “whole person.”  You succeed when you have the skills and the mental attitude of a winner.  The Air Force lives and breathes its core values, “Integrity First, Service before Self, and Excellence in All We Do!”  In Air Force ROTC at USC, this translates into a focus on you because your excellence is important to the future of this country. 

        Air Force ROTC is here to help you.  Whether you are an undergraduate or graduate student, there may be a place for you in ROTC and the United States Air Force.  The Air Force prides itself on being the premier flying and space organization in the world.  The University of South Carolina prides itself on being the premier university in the State of South Carolina.  Whatever your career aspirations, this is an incredibly powerful combination of professional qualifications for success

        We are glad you have taken the time to read this far.  A successful life is a sequential set of good decisions, and you may have just made a truly correct one.  Don't squander the effort or the moment.  You are invited to explore the rest of this web site to learn more.  For additional information, please contact the detachment at how to join.  Get those gold lieutenant bars and enter the gateway to a bright future.  For more information also see:

• Undergraduate Studies Bulletin
• Undergraduate Admissions Information
• On-line Undergraduate Admissions Application
• A NOTE FOR MINORITY STUDENTS

Apply for a Air Force Scholarship