An interview with a member of the Rutgers Air Force ROTC program

We’ve seen the students in army uniforms walking around Rutgers and wondered what they were doing. They are the students of the ROTC program at Rutgers. ROTC has been a long-lasting tradition that has produced many prospective leaders. According to their official website, The Rutgers Air Force ROTC is a “program  built around developing leaders and commissioning officers of the United States Air Force.” We interviewed Sean Han, a member of the AF ROTC program, to find out more about the program.

Tell me about yourself and why you decided to join AF ROTC.

To introduce myself I am Sean Han and 27 years old . My hobbies are very cliche, such as watching movies, eating good food and playing basketball. I am outgoing and like meeting new people. Thus I guess that is why people say I am easy to approach and get along. AF ROTC was a different taste compared to other majors. I just wanted to settle down and become an officer in the branch because it is a stable and safe career path. I don’t really have a great desire to make billions of dollars so it seemed a path worth looking into. AF ROTC allows me to become an officer and lead instead of follow orders. Most people might join for the scholarship or other reasons, but my intention was simply to get into the Air Force as an officer. After I graduate with a degree we get commissioned, and that means we are officially in the air force and a lieutenant. Basically that is the time we take the oath. Then we start active duty.

What is a typical day like in the AF ROTC program?

In a week we do two physical trainings. Right now we do it Tuesday and Thursday 7 am to about 8:30 am. Every Friday we have something called a military leadership lab; pretty much where we train and learn how to march and do drills. That starts from 7 am to 10:30 am. The freshmen and sophomores get trained by juniors and seniors. The reason is because they already went to field training which is the equivalent to boot camp. Everybody needs to go to that field training the summer from sophomore going into junior. The freshman and sophomores are in GMC which is the general military course. Juniors and seniors are in POC which is a professional officer course. Our job is to come up with a plan so we can teach and train a sophomore. Each POC will plan a week’s wroth of training and get approval by the captain, and each week a different POC trains. We also have an air force class which is one time a week three hours for POC and an hour and a half for GMC. This is a three hour long class for us because we have lots more to learn such as history and how to become better officers. Obviously, we learn a lot of ethics.

What do you learn when you go from being a GMC to a POC?

First as a GMC, you learn how to follow orders and now, because you need to be a leader, you have a chance to lead people under you. You learn how to delegate orders and make sure everything is going well. If there are problems it is important to figure out how to take care of it and resolve them. All this will be applied in active training and that is why it’s important. Basically, it is four years of training in how to follow orders, lead and work as a team.

What do you think are the most important characteristics to be a good AF ROTC officer?

Be a good listener and follower would be the most important and basic characteristics. But, you also have to be able to influence others by both being motivated and motivating others. You also have to make sacrifices for the team and be a team player. If you are selfish, it would be hard to survive in the military.

How is your experience as an Asian American AF ROTC member?

In general as an Asian American and being in the military for my second country I am proud. I became a citizen in 2014, but being an Asian American does not bother me because the country itself is the United States of America. This means there is no set race for joining the military. There is diversity in the military and I do not feel different with the caucasian males in the military because the US military allows any race, religion as long as you are a citizen. There are surely people in the military that struggle with racism because that is just prevalent everywhere. I cannot speak for them but I do not feel anything wrong. We are very professional and we take racism and sexism very seriously. Part of the AF ROTC training requires that we learn how to deal with those problems as we grow within 4 years. Thus the AF ROTC has a good training environment overall.

What is your ultimate goal as an officer?

Another reason I joined AF ROTC is that it is a privileged experience. You cannot get this anywhere. I either want to do 20 years in the military and retire or use this experience and translate this to the outside world. A pilot who was in the air force changed to working at a commercial airline. Intelligence officers can move into the CIA or other government agencies. Once you are a AF ROTC member it does not mean you are obligated to one thing but all the experiences will help.

How do your parents feel about you being in the program and wanting to join the Air Force?

They support it – especially my father who was in the army in Korea. He supports it a lot because the US military is the strongest military in the world and a privilege and unique opportunity to be part of. For him to see me doing that is very proud and really good overall. He doesn’t want me to be a billionaire, but wants me to have a job that people can respect.  My mother is also very supportive and is proud of me.

Are you ever afraid?

Yes and no. For yes – yeah I am obviously afraid to die and take a bullet. At the same time, I know that the Air Force trained me in the best way so that I can survive and react to war or terrorism. I haven’t gotten all the training and have a long way to go, but in part I feel like this is why the American military is the best. We train every day to keep up with the standards of the American military.

What would you say to prospective AF ROTC students?

I like to think of ROTC as a long 4 year internship because the program is 4 years and we train for that time. We get evaluated by our peers and supervisors. Just because you are in the program does not mean you are going to make it. Do your best and work hard. It is very hard to maintain this position. Aside from military training you train physically, mentally and spiritually. You get more disciplined, learn how to be more responsible and you become more physically prepared. You also learn how to lead others. The AF ROTC mission: develop quality leaders for the air force. When you look at this obviously we are trying to find the best individuals to be good leaders. It is a long process because you have to find the best individuals. You cannot be selfish and not care about others; we need to be good team players that can also lead.