Lt. Ted Oats is the new head of Veterans Affairs at Texas A&M University-Commerce. His job is to ensure veterans are adjusting to their new lives and receiving the money and benefits for school the government promised them, as well as provide information to anyone interested in ROTC.
He said his number one goal as head of veteran affairs is to take care of the vets. There are 324 veterans enrolled at Commerce according to Oats.
“I make sure they receive full benefits, school and otherwise,” Oats said.
Another of Oats’ goals is to inform veterans of two acts: The Montgomery GI Bill, which promises veterans up to $100,000 for school tuition, and the Texas Hazlewood Act, which helps Texan citizens and long-time residents collect tuition money after the Montgomery GI bill is exhausted. The Hazlewood act also helps children whose parents are in a war zone by paying for their tuition as well.
Oats also plans to inform current recruits who are stationed overseas in Iraq and Afghanistan they are able to take online classes while on active duty, which enables them to use their tuition and college time to their full potential.
Oats said it would probably take the rest of this semester to get the program completely set up, as his office was recently relocated to the One Stop Shop. Debrah Homes, who keeps all the veteran students on file, is kept busy informing veterans of what aid they can receive.
For those considering joining ROTC, Oats said there is an option for students on campus.
“It is a misconception that there is no ROTC on campus,” he said. “Students can drive to University of Texas at Arlington once or twice a week and receive training there.”
Sgt. Kevin Hust is a member of UT Arlington’s ROTC program, and he has been helping get other schools involved. Hust said ROTC has helped him in his career goals.
“ROTC opened a whole new world of opportunities,” he said. “It allows me to witness a whole new level of camaraderie and brotherhood. Not only that, but it has opened up career opportunities that I could never imagine in my life.”
Hust said he felt like the enlisted side of the Army had shown him all there was to offer, and although it is always a challenge, it is worth it.
“[Physical] training is the toughest part,” he said. “You have to be able to run two miles in fifteen minutes.”
Hust said it’s also a challenge conforming to military life itself.
“It is funny because you see people the first week come in with long hair, beards, piercings, and a lot of jewelry for women,” he said. “Then the next week you see a group of clean cut potential soldiers. It is weird to see a transition like that.”
Hust has high hopes to get new recruits for the ROTC program this semester. This not only can help UT Arlington’s program, but it can also help students from outside schools get their university its own ROTC branch if enrollment is high enough.
Hust said he also wants people to know there is pay involved.
“It’s $500 a month for seniors, $450 a month for juniors, $400 a month for sophomores and $350 for freshmen,” he said. “I also have a list of participating schools. A&M-Commerce is one of many on the list including University of North Texas, University of Dallas, Dallas Baptist University, Southern Methodist University, Texas Women’s University and all schools in the Dallas County Community College district.” ROTC is available for any students who are freshman to senior level. For more information about ROTC or veteran benefit questions, contact Ted Oates at 903-468-8664.