The No Fear Battalion, the joint Reserve Officer Training Corp. program at Wake Forest , Winston-Salem State and Salem College is more diverse than the U.S. Army.
Thirty-eight percent of the No Fear battalion is African American. This number is almost double that of the number of African Americans in the U.S. Army.
According to the Office of Army Demographics [2008] African Americans make up 19.8 percent of the Army; 62.7 percent is White, 10.9 percent is Hispanic, 3.4 percent is Asian and the last 3.2 percent is other.
Twenty-two of the 24 cadets at WSSU are African American and two are white according to Master Sgt. Ronnie Evans, the Senior Military Instructor of the No Fear Battalion.
Three of the cadets at WFU are African American and 38 are white, and there is one African-American cadet in Salem College as well.
Salem College is the newest member of the ROTC, entering just last year.
While the number of African-American cadets in the No Fear Battalion account for a large portion of the program, Master Sgt. Evans is the only African-American instructor.
In the No Fear battalion there are seven instructors, one instructor for each academic year class, and three non-commissioned Army Officers. Master Sgt. Evans says that African-American cadets may at times feel more comfortable in approaching instructors of a similar race at first.
“In the Army there is no color, just green [color of the Army uniform],” says Master Sgt. Evans.
This sentiment is carried by the cadets as well.
“Our program stresses unity,” said Cadet Major and Executive Officer Matt Young. “We train and study together.”
While cadets at WFU are predominantly White and those at WSSU are predominantly African American, some have similar military backgrounds said Master Sgt. Evans.
The No Fear Battalion’s cadets graduate and are placed in the position of 2nd Lt. as a commissioned officer.
Among the African-American ROTC graduates from WSSU is Gary Lomack who is a 2nd Lt. stationed in San Antonio.
In 2009 four cadets from WSSU will be graduating; three are African American.