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OHIO DESERVES A CONGRESSMAN WHO CAN FIGHT AND WIN FOR XAVIER’S ROTC PROGRAM

A Cleveland Democrat Saved Her District’s ROTC Program. Southwest Ohio Deserves the Same Fight.

CINCINNATI, OH — Today, Xavier University holds graduation. Quietly, it is also the last graduating class in the history of Xavier’s Army ROTC program, a top-tier commissioning pipeline that has exceeded its mission eight years running and serves four campuses across Southwest Ohio.

Eric Conroy, the Republican nominee for Ohio’s First Congressional District, says it doesn’t have to end this way and that this decision can still be reversed with the right representation in Washington.

There’s a model for how to win this fight, and it came from a Democrat who worked with the Army and the Trump administration. When John Carroll University’s Army ROTC program was slated for closure, Cleveland Congresswoman Shontel Brown, a Democrat, went to the mat. She made the calls, pressed the Army, and used every tool her office gave her. The Army reversed course. John Carroll’s program was saved. That is what effective representation looks like, regardless of party.

“Ohio needs a congressman who can bring people together and actually get things done, someone who will work with the Trump administration and with the Army. Not someone who reflexively opposes everything the Administration does and refuses to work with them when there is common ground and positive impacts that could be had. Cleveland kept its ROTC because a member of Congress fought for it. Southwest Ohio deserves that same fight,” said Eric Conroy, the Republican nominee for Ohio’s First Congressional District.

Conroy is a graduate of the United States Air Force Academy, a former Air Force intelligence officer, and a former CIA Case Officer. He knows that ROTC commissioning sources aren’t bureaucratic line items. They are the pipeline that produces the officers who lead America’s sons and daughters in harm’s way. The decision is not yet final. It can still be reversed.

Unfortunately, Southwest Ohio has a Congressman in Greg Landsman who always puts party over country. It’s time for a change. Southwest Ohio needs a Congressman who can work with the Administration and leaders in both parties in DC and Columbus. Landsman only knows partisanship.

BACKGROUND:

Xavier University’s All for One Battalion has been one of the highest-performing Army ROTC programs in Ohio for nearly a decade. Its five-year commissioning average is approximately 23 officers per year, and it has exceeded its assigned mission for eight consecutive years. When the Army raised the Battalion’s mission from 15 to 18 officers for FY25, the program exceeded that benchmark as well. Army metrics rank it as a top-tier program nationally.

The Battalion serves not only Xavier but also Miami University of Ohio, Mount St. Joseph University, and Thomas More University, making it one of the most regionally significant commissioning sources in Southwest Ohio. The reclassification will result in the loss of four military staff positions and the merging of the program under the University of Cincinnati, which already hosts an Air Force ROTC program.

In June 2025, the U.S. Army Cadet Command announced a nationwide ROTC rebalance, reclassifying Xavier’s program from a host unit to an extension unit as part of broader workforce reductions stemming from the Department of Defense’s Deferred Resignation Program. The changes are expected to take effect at the start of the 2026-2027 academic year.

Greg Landsman sent a letter to Brigadier General Maurice Barnett, Commanding General of U.S. Army Cadet Command, requesting a reassessment of the decision. No further public action has been reported.

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