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thedrifter
06-19-07, 06:17 AM
June 19, 2007 - 12:00AM
Giving it the old college try

CHRISSY VICK
DAILY NEWS STAFF
Joshua Hamilton will have the chance to go into the gas chamber, learn martial arts, fly in a helicopter and fire a machine gun this week.

The Greensboro native and N.C. State chemistry student called it the experience of a lifetime.

"It's an experience you'll never get to do in your life anywhere else," said Hamilton, a midshipman with the Navy Reserve Officers Training Corps.

Through the NROTC scholarship program, more than 400 college students embarked upon a four-week career orientation training for midshipmen, or CORTRAMID East. They will spend one week at Camp Lejeune.

Each of the students is on a four-year full NROTC scholarship. The training allows sophomore-year scholarship recipients to familiarize themselves with various facets of the Navy and Marine Corps in preparation for serving as an officer upon graduation.

Students spent three weeks in Norfolk, Va., studying surface warfare, submarines and naval aviation before moving on to Camp Lejeune for Marine week. More than 400 students went through the program on the East Coast, and about 500 more on the West Coast.

"We try to give them a broad-based introduction to the Marine Corps," said Capt. Matthew Kutilek, operations officer for CORTRAMID East. "I think it does give them a good idea of what the Marine Corps is all about."

Students have had the opportunity to rappel from a tower, blow up a bridge at the engineering school and spend time at New River and Cherry Point air stations in various aircraft.

The Navy and Marine Corps use the yearly event as a recruiting tool, while students use it to determine a possible career in the military.

Col. Glenn Wagner, the commanding officer of the NROTC units at Villanova University and the University of Pennsylvania, said the program helps the Marine Corps predict the number of officers entering the service that year.

About 30 percent of students from the NROTC scholarship program enter the Marine Corps, while the rest enter the Navy.

"Our job is to introduce the student to the Marine Corps and find what job fits them best," Wagner said. "But as much as it is orientation, it's recruiting."

Students said it helps ensure them a career upon graduation and allows them to get a paid four-year degree.

"My family talked about everything going on in the world all the time, and one day I just decided to stop talking about it and do something," said Meghan Hoskins, who attends Norwich University in Vermont. "It's been a really eye-opening experience."

Hoskins said she recommends the program to young people because it allows students a variety of opportunities.

"It helps you realize your strengths and weaknesses," she said. "It's great to experience all the levels of the military that are open to us."

Joshua Loch, a student at Texas A&M, said the training gave him needed experience.

"We had a lot of physical, hands-on training here," he said. "It teaches you how to lead and allows you to interact with the Marines."

For more information on the NROTC scholarship program, visit www.nrotc.navy.mil or www.marineofficer.com.

Contact Chrissy Vick at cvick@freedomenc.com or 353-1171, ext. 8466.

Ellie