Stephen Bissainthe from Arlington, Mass., is training to be an Army officer and hopes to be deployed overseas.

MIDDLEBURY, Vt. — Standing six foot six and ramrod straight, Stephen Bissainthe ’18 enters Crossroads Café exuding confidence and composure. The Middlebury junior arrives a few minutes early, as he does for every meeting, because, he says, “If you’re not early, you’re late.”

Bissainthe is following in a long tradition of Middlebury undergraduates, and it’s not because he’s majoring in political science, plays football, or arrives on time. It’s because he’s enrolled in the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps, or ROTC, and will serve his country after graduation as a lieutenant in the U.S. Army.

ROTC was compulsory at Middlebury College from 1952 until 1966, and then voluntary from 1966 until 1976 when it was phased out. Since that time a few dozen Middlebury undergraduates have willingly incorporated ROTC classes and intensive Army training into their lives by being full participants with the University of Vermont’s Green Mountain Battalion.

Every Wednesday morning Cadet Bissainthe puts on his Army uniform, attends his Middlebury classes, and then drives to Burlington to take military science courses such as Foundations of Officership and Leadership, Training Management and Warfighting Functions, and the Ethics of Leadership. He also engages in regular field-training exercises at Camp Ethan Allen using M16 and M4 rifles and other battlefield equipment.

Last summer Bissainthe completed four weeks of intensive Cadet Initial Entry Training (CIET) at Fort Knox, Ky., where he learned basic soldiering skills and leadership strategies and took part in team-building exercises and high-adventure training. “It was a good experience for me,” the Arlington, Mass., resident said. “I know it helped build my character as a future Army officer and it definitely made me more disciplined.”

Bissainthe, who is following in the footsteps of his mother, Stella, who was a commissioned officer and an Army nurse, is already looking forward to next summer when he will return to Fort Knox for his Cadet Leadership Course, or CLC.

“That is going to be a big summer for me military wise,” he says, explaining how his performance at CLC will play a role in determining his occupational specialty. “I am interested in doing something that will give me managerial or logistical experience, like field artillery or signal corps. I would definitely like to have a specialty that I can apply later to my civilian career.”

At CLC, Bissainthe will take the Army physical fitness test—two minutes of push-ups, two minutes of sit-ups, and time on a two-mile run—and participate in other training exercises, including basic land navigation (day and night), cultural awareness, first aid, mission command, and tactical leader development.

ROTC training “really strengthens your potential as a leader in the military, while also giving you tangible skills you can use in life after the Army,” says Bissainthe. “It’s not easy—the early wake-ups, giving up my summers—but I hope it will pay off. I surprise myself every day with the things that I have accomplished with the program. The Army has definitely helped build my character and my confidence.”

After he is commissioned as a second lieutenant and graduates from Middlebury, Bissainthe plans to serve four years on active duty followed by another four years either on active duty or as a reservist. (He signed an eight-year contract with the Army.) But regardless of what he is assigned to do, Bissainthe yearns to travel.

“I hope to be deployed somewhere overseas where I will have the full opportunity to serve my country,” the 20-year-old said.

With Veterans Day fast approaching, the Middlebury student reflected on national holidays. “Memorial Day, Veterans Day, Fourth of July—they have always struck a chord with me,” he said. “And now that I have joined the military, national holidays like that mean a lot more to me.”

— With reporting and photography by Robert Keren