Indoctrination for Midshipmen (INFORM)
The NROTC unit at the Georgia Institute of Technology conducts INFORM beginning freshman year in the NROTC program. This program is held during the week immediately preceding the start of fall semester classes. The scope of the program includes military instruction and drill, issuance and instruction of the proper wear of uniforms, lectures and familiarization on military customs, courtesies and laws, and introduction to the NROTC staff. The program is organized and run each year by NROTC Battalions of Midshipmen from both the Georgia Tech and Morehouse College Battalions. This type of peer training enables new midshipmen to emulate the military examples set by the senior class. The training program is NOT a mini-boot camp and is strictly voluntary. However, history has shown that freshmen that attend the program and keep themselves open to the learning experience it provides are more easily integrated into the Battalion of Midshipmen and are less likely to drop out.
Leadership — Learn by Doing
NROTC midshipmen are given an opportunity to excel at all levels of the Battalion of Midshipmen. As freshmen they serve as squad members and learn military discipline from their immediate superiors. Those who display a highly developed sense of leadership go on during their sophomore year to be squad leaders or platoon guides. During the junior and senior years they advance to chief petty officer positions or serve as Battalion officers, setting leadership examples for the underclassmen and honing the skills they will need to become active duty officers following commissioning.
Midshipmen, under the advisement of active duty Navy and Marine Corps Officers, run the entire Battalion structure. The proper use of the chain of command is stressed from day one. As they progress, midshipmen earn more responsibility by excelling in the Battalion structure. This growing sense of responsibility allows midshipmen to acquire the confidence to become competent Battalion Officers. Leadership, like medicine is a practice. You continue to develop skills throughout your career. In NROTC, leadership is learned by doing.
Drill
In addition to academic classes, NROTC midshipmen are required to wear uniforms and participate in military drill evolutions every Tuesday and Thursday at 1100 during the academic year. Drill evolutions include close-order drill training and professional instruction. It is also during drill that midshipmen will be inspected on the neatness of their uniforms, and their knowledge of basic naval information such as chain of command, code of conduct and general orders of a sentry. During GMT briefs, midshipmen are educated on subjects from stress relief to sexual harassment, and some drill evolutions allow midshipmen the opportunity to speak with some of the highest officers in the Navy and Marine Corps. Students are required to wear their uniform from 0800 to 1600 on Tuesdays and from 0800 to 1200 on Thursdays, but are not required to wear their uniforms to lab classes.
Physical Fitness
A professional officer must maintain high standards of physical fitness. Military duties demand this level of physical fitness to ensure efficiency and safety of the Navy and Marine Corps. Physical fitness is also an essential part of achieving success in college. A healthy and physically fit student is better able to cope with the stress and strain of the demanding academic environment at Georgia Tech. As such, a program of physical fitness is demanded by the NROTC program.
Twice each year, midshipmen are required to successfully complete the PFA for Navy midshipmen or the PFT for Marine option midshipmen. A copy of the Navy-wide program standards is provided on the website here so that prospective midshipmen can get an idea of what the physical requirements of the NROTC program will be. Midshipmen who do not meet the necessary standards must participate in remedial physical training programs conducted by the Battalion of Midshipmen.
In addition, NROTC midshipmen are required to demonstrate their swimming proficiency and pass at least a third class swimming evaluation. Weak or less than confident swimmers should put in extra work to increase their level of swimming skill. Midshipmen can work on their swimming during midshipmen sponsored help sessions.