Each fall new students are welcomed to universities across America. Many of these new students participate in an orientation to learn the school and campus.

At more than 160 colleges and universities Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps (NROTC) midshipmen welcome new students looking to become officers in the Navy and Marine Corps. These students also go through an orientation to the unit and military called New Student Orientation (NSO) or Midshipman Orientation Program (MOP).

"The University of Notre Dame NROTC Unit conducted its standalone New Student Orientation (NSO) training aboard both the university campus and Fort Custer Training Center in Augusta, Michigan," said Capt. John P. Carter, professor of Naval Science and commanding officer of the unit. "The NSO training was synchronized with the University orientation program resulting in seamless integration to the campus environment. There was also a strong focus on quality of training and safety which resulted in zero mishaps and a spirited group of young men and women excited to start the academic year."

More than 1,750 freshman students looked to join an NROTC unit this fall. Of that number more than 850 were NROTC scholarship students. Not all NROTC midshipmen are on scholarship. They are known as college program midshipmen. These are students who have arrived at a university without scholarship but have signed up, or look to sign up, for Naval Science courses and would like to belong to an NROTC unit. For many college programmers who desire a career as a naval officer, they can also apply for an NROTC scholarship before their junior year.

The NSO or MOP is not a required event but is highly encouraged. There is no "failing" and there is no negative program or enrollment consequence if the orientation is not completed. It is designed for freshmen students but it can include any new unit member despite their academic year or progress since it aims to familiarize students with the NROTC unit, the Navy and Marine Corps.

There are several objectives that the NSO or MOP attempts to meet. Uniforms are issued and instruction in Navy uniform regulations and grooming standards are conducted. The new students are given instructions in basic military customs, courtesies and traditions. They are taught the organization of the Navy and of Navy commands, they are instructed in unit regulations and they are taught the chain of command for their unit and for the Navy all the way to the Commander in Chief.

The new students are instructed in basic military drill and ceremony. They must perform physical fitness and swim testing to determine readiness to meet NROTC program and Navy/Marine Corps requirements. They are also instructed in privileges and in the benefits of participation in the NROTC Program and what their individual responsibilities will be in the unit for the years with the unit.

Like other university or college freshmen, orientation is provided in other subject matter as desired by the unit and/or the university, i.e., how to use the library, availability of tutoring services, university rules and regulations.

One of the most important objectives taught throughout the week-long NSO/MOP is team work and how the Naval Services function as a team.

"I didn't know what to expect," said University of Wisconsin-Madison Midshipman 4th Class Katie Katula, from Stillwater, Minnesota, an incoming freshman. "I ended up learning so much about myself, and we became very close as a class. I'm excited for the future."

The curriculum for the week of orientation for most NROTC units included daily physical training, uniform inspections, close order drill, and classroom academics, including Navy and Marine Corps history. The midshipmen were able to use on campus training facilities and, for many units, nearby military facilities. On these facilities the units can take the students through obstacle courses, leadership reaction courses, and land navigation courses.

"My favorite part of the week was definitely the leadership reaction course," said Midshipman 4th Class Samual Fetherston, from Ossea, Wisconsin, also an incoming freshman at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. "I really enjoyed getting to know my classmates and working together to complete the course."

According to Carter, the key to Notre Dame's NSO success was the screening, selection, and training of the upperclassmen that served as the NSO cadre. At every NROTC unit across the country the NSO/MOP is run by the upperclassmen of the unit, similar to the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. Each NSO/MOP training cadre is supported by unit staff Navy and Marine Corps officers and by Assisted Marine Officer Instructors (AMOI) or enlisted Marine Non-commissioned Officers (NCOs).

"They (the new midshipmen) were led by our active duty staff and a hand-selected group of 13 upper-class midshipmen," said Carter. "This core group of upperclassmen developed a strong freshman team successfully integrated into the battalion with a sense of belonging and purpose to both the Navy and University of Notre Dame."

Rear Adm. Stephen C. Evans oversees the NROTC program as commander of Naval Service Training Command (NSTC) headquartered at Naval Station Great Lakes, Illinois. NROTC was established to develop midshipmen mentally, morally and physically and to imbue them with the highest ideals of duty, loyalty and Navy core values in order to commission college graduates as naval officers who possess a basic professional background, are motivated toward careers in the naval service and have a potential for future development in mind and character so as to assume the highest responsibilities of command, citizenship and government.

NSTC oversees 98 percent of initial officer and enlisted accessions training for the Navy, as well as the Navy's Citizenship Development program. NSTC includes Recruit Training Command (RTC), the Navy's only boot camp at Naval Station Great Lakes, the NROTC program, Officer Training Command (OTC) at Naval Station Newport, Rhode Island, Navy Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps (NJROTC) and Navy National Defense Cadet Corps (NNDCC) citizenship development programs at more than 600 high schools worldwide.

For more information about NROTC, visit www.nrotc.navy.mil.

More information about NSTC can be found by visiting www.netc.navy.mil/nstc or visiting the NSTC Facebook pages at www.facebook.com/NavalServiceTraining.

For more information, visit www.navy.mil, www.facebook.com/usnavy, or www.twitter.com/usnavy.

For more news from Naval Service Training Command, visit www.navy.mil/.