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The Army's ROTC program at the University of Arizona has high expectations.

"We (the Army) want scholar-athlete leaders," said the program's enrollment and scholarship adviser, Maj. Dan Rhodes, who is also an assistant professor of military science at the university. "They have to want to be officers, and it's my job to get quality people, along with the professor of military science having the final say."

Like any other student program, ROTC attracts different kinds of people.

"We get the patriotic, the gung ho, the Eagle Scouts, military brats, older students who want a second chance and even some who have already served," Rhodes said.

Among the 96 UA students in the program are Jennifer Thomsen and Chris Elliott.

Thomsen is one of those who have already served. Thomsen, who did her basic training in Missouri and later went to ordnance disposal school in Florida, is a junior at the UA and in the final phases of the ROTC program.

Thomsen, 28, first had her heart set on being a crew chief on helicopters but went into explosives. "At the time, I wanted to do something really exciting," she said.

She was deployed to Kuwait from November 2001 to June 2002 then went to Iraq from March to December 2003 and served in Baghdad, Mosul and Tal Afar, disposing of weapons caches, she said. Her team also disposed of a few improvised explosive devices found along the roads, she said.

"At the time it was, you live every moment in the moment. I did not really worry what was going to happen next, " she said.

Honorably discharged in April 2004, she joined a National Guard unit in Northern Arizona, the 362nd Explosives Ordnance Disposal unit, and enrolled at the UA with a ROTC nursing scholarship. She plans to begin nursing college in the spring.

When she's done with school, Thomsen expects to return to active duty as an officer and Army nurse, she said.

"I wanted to finish college, but I did not want to be done with the Army," Thomsen said.

Elliott, 29, is an economics major and serves in the Arizona National Guard in an infantry unit and participates in the Army ROTC program. He plans to have two careers — one in financial management and the other as an Army officer.

As a Guard member, he went through basic training and advanced individual training to become an artillery forward observer, he said.

"I enjoy the opportunity the (ROTC) program offers. It gives you an opportunity to lead. It's not just book knowledge. It's hands-on training and experience," he said.

Elliott plans to graduate in May 2007, with a bachelor's in economics.

Upon completion of his degree and ROTC, he has a guaranteed position as a commissioned officer in the Guard because he was awarded a National Guard scholarship, Rhodes said.

ROTC requires students to pursue and complete a bachelor's degree and enter the Army as a commissioned officer and serve on active duty, Rhodes said.

Also known as the Wildcat Battalion, the program includes students from Pima Community College and Northern Arizona University-Tucson for a total of 123 students, said Rhodes.