This is the report of a policy research study that examined the potential outcomes of instituting a standardized "Joint Reserve Officer Training Corps" during the first two years of college. Focus groups at three ROTC universities and interviews with subject matter experts were conducted to explore the meaning and purpose of jointness and the distinct cultures of the military Services. The data were gathered through three focus groups and interviews with three senior subject matter specialists and analyzed following the Qualitative Paradigm.

As students complete their secondary education and make decisions related to attending college they face myriad issues in selection of a school, major, and eventual career path. Colleges generally accommodate goal changes students may experience in the early college years by providing opportunities to delay declaring an academic major while taking courses that satisfy core courses required in most or all majors. For those considering entering military service as graduates of an ROTC program, these decisions are further complicated because they often know little about the relative benefits of each branch of Service, or what career path within a Service they might wish to pursue upon commissioning. Hence, the purpose of this study was to better understand the potential outcomes of instituting a standardized "Joint Reserve Officer Training Corps" during the first two years of college.

This study yielded no evidence to support extending Joint Professional Military Education (JPME) to the college pre-commissioning level. However, it was found that exposure to all military Services during the first two years of college could yield several benefits for students. This exposure would help candidates to determine their academic field of study preference as it relates to choice of a major consistent with skills and knowledge valued by the separate Services. Finally, allowing students two years to make these decisions could significantly reduce the average fifty percent dropout rate for each ROTC candidate's class, and potentially save millions of dollars yearly in each military Service and the Department of Defense. This concept is worth further study and evaluation by the Department of Defense.