{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.cochran.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/news-releases?ContentRecord_id=7043557f-5535-43c6-a8fa-7b1394816abd", "COCHRAN & WICKER:  ARMY DELAYING USM ROTC CLOSURE FOR AT LEAST TWO YEARS", "2013-11-06", "2013", "2013-11", "Republican", "House", "MS", "Thad Cochran", "C000567", "www.cochran.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 A U.S. Army decision to delay the termination of the U.S. Army ROTC program at the University of Southern Mississippi (USM) was met with praise today by U.S. Senators Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) and Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), who this week sent correspondence to the Army regarding ongoing concerns with the closure plan.\r\nThe Office of the Secretary of the Army on Wednesday notified Cochran and Wicker of the decision to delay for at least 24 months any action to close the Army ROTC program at USM.\u00a0 All programs targeted by the Army will be put on probationary status during the delay.\r\n\u201cAn examination of the Army\u2019s rationale for closing the Southern Miss ROTC program made it clear that more analysis is needed.\u00a0 Two years will give the Army plenty of time to more carefully consider the successful history of the Southern Miss program,\u201d Cochran said.\u00a0 \u201cI am grateful to Secretary McHugh for this decision, and salute Dr. Bennett and Governor Bryant for their work to preserve this ROTC program.\u201d\r\n\u201cI am pleased with the Army\u2019s decision to delay the closing of the ROTC program at USM,\u201d Wicker said. \u201cIt is unfortunate that we even need to discuss this issue given USM\u2019s long-standing importance to our nation\u2019s fighting forces. This delay represents just the first step in our fight to protect USM\u2019s proud ROTC tradition. I join Senator Cochran in congratulating Gov. Bryant, Dr. Bennett, and LTC Worley on their efforts to help save the program.\u201d\r\nThe Mississippi Senators, along with Representative Steven Palazzo (R-Miss.), this week wrote John M. McHugh, Secretary of the Army, to request that top Pentagon officials meet with USM President Dr. Rodney Bennett to discuss the methodology used to determine which ROTC units would be closed.\u00a0 The lawmakers also asked that the Army provide them with responses to Bennett\u2019s questions.\u00a0 The correspondence was the latest action taken by the lawmakers to have the Army justify targeting its ROTC program at USM.\r\n\u201cSince 1951, USM has produced more than 1,500 diverse and superbly-qualified Army officers for service to our nation, sixteen of whom have achieved flag rank,\u201d the lawmakers wrote McHugh.\u00a0 \u201cGiven the significant contributions the graduates of this program have made to the Army, we are convinced that terminating USM\u2019s Army ROTC program would be a disservice to the state of Mississippi and our nation.\u201d\r\nCochran is vice chairman of the Senate Defense Appropriations Committee.\u00a0 Wicker is a senior member of the Senate Armed Services Committee.\r\nIn early October, the Army announced that 13 of 273 Reserve Officer Training Corps programs would be closed by the end of the 2014-15 academic year.\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.cochran.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/news-releases?ContentRecord_id=7043557f-5535-43c6-a8fa-7b1394816abd"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.7384771015495062, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}