When the topic of military service is brought up at Brandeis, many students probably think of Israel's army before the United States' armed forces cross their minds. Should the latter topic enter a discussion here, as on other liberal campuses, it's often discussed in negative light. But for two Brandeis students, their involvement in the U.S. Air Force's training program has given them opportunities for education, divertissement and growth. Claymore Auspitz '08, of Rochester, N.Y., is studying Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies and says he "enjoys the region [that he studies], and would like to spend some time there in the future." But his choice to pursue this course path and attend Brandeis was guided by his involvement with the U.S. Air Force's Reserve Officer Training Corps program.

"Because of the strength of its department of Middle Eastern Studies and my ability to balance a curriculum between Judaic studies and Islamic Studies, I chose Brandeis," Auspitz says. "But the Air Force also had expressed interest in me taking this course of study."

The attitude that Auspitz, as well as Cat Kearns '09, have toward their involvement with the Air Force ROTC characterizes an symbiotic arrangement in which the U.S. military gets what it wants from trainees, who in turn can benefit from merit-based financial assistance.

Auspitz, who transferred here from the University of Rochester, participated in Crosstown, a program run through Boston University that allows students at other area schools to attend ROTC classes on BU's campus, but stopped this semester because of scheduling conflicts.

He says he originally joined because he was enthusiastic about participating in some form of national service.

"I hoped to gain commission as an officer, of course, but, more importantly, an education in professionalism and leadership," he says. "[Those qualities are] something you don't get often in college. You could do newspaper or clubs, but ROTC really focuses on leadership and character development."

Sinewy and sporting a crew cut, Auspitz has an air of rigor and discipline about him. He seems to ardently hold to certain political stances, but grasps his cards close when speaking on them, for the sake of discretion and for the sake of respecting President George Bush, the United States' Commander-in-Chief. ROTC cadets are not allowed to question the president while in uniform, and are discouraged from espousing certain views publicly.

Auspitz says his experience in ROTC has allowed him opportunities for growth and camaraderie, and even claims there was distinct moment when he felt he had made it as a cadet.

That turning point came for him while attending the University of Rochester, when he participated the saber fencing team there.

Auspitz recounts the experience with levity and reverence.

"We were supposed to take off our swords and throw them to each other" he says. "A-types, guys who want to be engineers and pilots, were involved. I would say that I enjoyed saber team because of the self-selection process and the types of individuals that are attracted. Everyone gets a chance to take on leadership roles as well as learning the importance of being a good follower, dealing with the stress of performance is one way to demonstrate that leadership."

Kearns, of Burlington, Vt., is still active in the Crosstown program and says she had a variety of reasons for enlisting.

"My initial thought was to challenge myself," she says. "I'm the type of person that nobody thought would do this. Everybody who found out . was shocked."

Kearns says that late in her college decision process, Brandeis was one of her top choices, but seemed rather pricey. At first she was worried about not being able to participate in the ROTC.

"I really wanted to come here," she says. "I was looking for any opportunity to do that and ROTC came up in some search engines, and fortunately it appeared that there was a crosstown program."

She describes the Air Force's requirements for active duty, emphasizing she sees no delineation between what she does solely to fulfill duties in the program and what she does for the sake of her future.

"Physically, there's a test one has to pass, get a passing score every semester. [It's] higher for scholarship kids," she says. "The higher scores you have give you more opportunities, such as being considered for priority careers. All of your scores contribute to your future."

Kearns also enjoys how ROTC allows her to branch out from the Brandeis community.

"There's such a different crowd there than here. I love being able to interact with people there and with people here," she says.

For all the good that can come from ROTC, Kearns does not describe her experiences as entirely positive.

"I hate what anyone would hate most," she says. "Standardization, having to the same all the time, custom courtesies- I dislike being held to a certain constraint. I don't like the constraints of having to defer to authority figures a certain way."

To Kearns, these are necessary-but not completely disruptive-evils. She notes that whimsically awkward situations can arise in the vicissitudes of operating on such strict terms.

"You have second lieutenants being able to command chief master sergeants just because they don't have an officer status," she says.

"And if someone has to answer to someone that is potentially 20 years their junior because of a technicality, they may resent that."

Kearns says she is very interested in serving in the Federal Office of Special Intelligence.

"I met up with a couple of [Special Intelligence workers] over the summer, pro-development training, and I went for a week to Oklahoma," she says. "I was briefed by two OSI agents."

She rolls her eyes flabbergastedly, recounting the immense pressure of meeting with the officers. "Basically what I got out of the briefing was that you have to be the best at everything you do."

In addition to ROTC-intensive activities, Kearns says that she and her fellow trainees come together and bond over pastries and ice skating. Kearns hardly has time for those diversions, though. She is majoring in Creative Writing, Chinese and Russian, because her scholarship program with ROTC, the Foreign Language Express Scholarship, sponsors students based on the number of language majors they declare.

"I'm taking seven classes, am heavily involved with theater and of course, have my ROTC commitments."

The petite Kearns does not seem, superficially, like someone who would enlist, but maybe that says something about the Air Force.

"I wanted to challenge myself mentally, physically, spiritually. To my surprise I love it," Kearns says. "I'm very much enthused and I'm very excited for active duty.