Left. Left. Left, right, left. On an otherwise quiet Wednesday afternoon, the muffled sound of boots can be heard coming from the mass of young men and women clad in U.S. Army uniforms on a patch of grass in front of the North Gym.

Cadets marching in formation are not a sight one expects to see on Fresno State̢۪s campus. Even more surprising are the nursing program students among them.

Fresno State̢۪s Reserve Officers̢۪ Training Corps (ROTC) offers a program specifically for nursing students. Students in the ROTC nursing program take all of the regular required nursing classes, as well as ROTC̢۪s military science classes.

The ROTC stresses teaching leadership skills to students. Upon completion of the program, students are commissioned as second lieutenants in the Army Nurse Corps.

“What they’re wanting the Army nurses to be are the leaders in the hospital,â€Â said Lt. Col. Michael Busteed, a military science professor in Fresno State’s ROTC program.

Busteed said that it can take many years for civilian nurses to reach the positions of leadership that Army nurses can hold not long after graduating from the program. Army nurses are also given specialized training that can help them get nursing jobs if they decide to leave the Army for a civilian hospital.

“Truly, one of the great benefits of going with the Army ROTC in nursing is the fact that they’re given those responsibilities so much quicker than on the civilian side,â€Â Busteed said.

Other benefits of the program can include paid tuition or room and board, a tax-free bi-monthly stipend, a Palm PDA complete with medical diagnosis and certification study software, a stethoscope and reimbursement for all other nursing program books and supplies.

Cadet Kimberly Hendricks, a fifth-year Fresno State student in the ROTC nursing program, wanted to join not only because of the benefits, but for the opportunity to assist soldiers.

“We are in a time of war,â€Â Hendricks said. “There’s a lot of opportunities for me to be a critical care nurse in this time of need and I would be able to support soldiers that are defending our country.â€Â

Hendricks would like to be a flight nurse, flying overseas to pick up soldiers and care for them as they return home.

Many students in the program, including Hendricks, also choose to take the Leadership Development and Assessment Course, and the Nurse Summer Training Program, which pairs students with nurses at Army hospitals for practical experience.

“Hands-on skills training that they get in the clinicals that they’re doing at the hospital as opposed to what they’re doing back here, it’s usually much more in-depth,â€Â Busteed said.

Cadet Jeku Arce experienced first-hand the responsibilities of an Army nurse when he enrolled in the nurse summer training program at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C.

“I dealt with soldiers that were coming from Iraq … those that were injured because of war,â€Â said Arce. “I got to see how the system works and what the nurses do, so it helps me put into perspective what I will be doing in the future.â€Â

Other opportunities for ROTC cadets include Airborne School, Air Assault School, Mountain Warfare School and Cadet Troop Leader Training

Managing time between school and all of the ROTC opportunities can be challenging.

Despite all of these opportunities, Busteed stresses that education is the key to the ROTC program.

“A cadet’s number one priority is school … you must graduate,â€Â Busteed said. “If I don’t get you through college, I can’t commission you as an officer in the United States Army, so education is paramount.â€Â