The U.S. Army is cutting ROTC units at 10 universities nationwide, including the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh. Dozens of other institutions, including UW-Stevens Point, will see fewer on-campus resources and staff for their ROTC unit because of federal workforce reductions.
The changes are slated to take effect in summer 2026 and tied to the Trump administration’s deferred resignation program, which encouraged federal employees to leave their jobs while continuing to receive pay through September.
In the Cadet Command, which oversees Army ROTC, 168 civilian workers resigned. That’s about 12% of its workforce, prompting a reassessment of the program.
“This rebalance and optimization effort ensures we meet the Army’s requirements for officer commissioning while being good stewards of resources,” Brig. Gen. Maurice Barnett, commanding general of U.S. Army Cadet Command, said in a statement.
About 40 students were participating in the ROTC program at UW-Oshkosh, according to Provost Ed Martini. Half of the students were enrolled at UW-Oshkosh. The rest attended other schools in the Fox Valley region.
No university jobs will be eliminated because of the Army’s decision to cut UW-Oshkosh’s ROTC unit.
“UWO is deeply saddened by this decision,” Martini wrote in an email, noting the program was established in 1967. “We value our longstanding partnership with ROTC and have been working to grow the program. We will work closely with the ROTC staff to ensure a smooth wind down of the program.”
Some ROTC students take military science courses at UW-Oshkosh. Martini said they will get customized teach-out plans to ensure they can complete their program. A final decision on whether to continue the military science major will be made later this summer.
The nine other universities that will have their ROTC units cut are:
UW-Stevens Point is among 40 universities where administrative aspects of the program are merging with another institution.
UW-Stevens Point has 49 ROTC cadets, and it remains to be seen how the reorganization will affect them, university spokesperson Carrie Heibler said.
ROTC programs remain at about 900 campuses, including more than a dozen in Wisconsin. The changes do not affect Junior ROTC programs at high schools across the country.
Kelly Meyerhofer has covered higher education in Wisconsin since 2018. Contact her at kmeyerhofer@gannett.com or 414-223-5168. Follow her on X (Twitter) at @KellyMeyerhofer.
This story has been updated to add video.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: ROTC cuts by Army will affect 2 University of Wisconsin schools
Reporting by Kelly Meyerhofer, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
