Six Junior Colleges Operating Non-Commissioned Officer ROTC Units

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Yang Nak-gyu] Starting this year, the Non-Commissioned Officer (NCO) ROTC program, which has been piloted at six junior colleges, will be officially operated.

According to the Ministry of National Defense on the 2nd, the NCO ROTC program has been piloted since 2015 to stably secure excellent NCO personnel. It will be operated as an official course.

The six junior colleges are Daejeon Science College, Gyeongbuk Junior College, Jeonnam Science College for the Army; Gyeonggi Science College for the Navy; Yeungjin Junior College for the Air Force; and Yeoju University for the Marine Corps.

The Navy and Air Force will start operation from April 1st of this month, and the Army and Marine Corps from April 1st. The quota is 40 for the Army and Air Force ROTC units, and 30 for the Navy and Marine Corps.

The NCO ROTC training period is 1 year and 6 months, and female NCO candidates will also be recruited.

The Ministry of National Defense explained that the pilot operation was converted to official operation because the NCO candidates demonstrated excellent qualities and showed outstanding unit adaptability after practical deployment. Since last year’s NCO candidate selection, the Ministry increased the quota for the Army and Air Force ROTC units from 30 to 40.

A Ministry of National Defense official said, "In the future, we will establish various measures to stably secure excellent NCOs in connection with the troop structure reform of 'Defense Reform 2.0.'"

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.