NROTC, Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps, has recently had a few things that have taken place that have ultimately affected the unit.

Iowa State NROTC cadets posted inappropriate picture online

• According to The Associated Press (AP), seven members of Iowa State’s NROTC faced corrective actions after posting explicit photos to a Facebook page.
• It was reported that the explicit photos were posted on March 4 and featured the cadets in various locations across Iowa State’s campus, according to the AP.
• The photos were posted to the Glorious Order of the Sextant Facebook page, which is a page for a student group with ties to the NROTC, according to the AP.
• NROTC leaders were informed of the cadets’ actions the day after the incident took place and took necessary action to remove the photos from the Facebook page, according to Lt. Sean Brophy, spokesman for the Naval Service Training Command.
• Although “appropriate administrative actions” were taken against the cadets, they will remain part of the program, according to Lt. Brophy.
• The dean of the College of Liberal Arts was notified of the incident.

NROTC event cancelled following explicit photo incident

• Iowa State’s NROTC Dining-in event was cancelled following the explicit photo incident.
• Capt. Scott Curtis, commanding officer of Iowa State’s NROTC unit, sent an email to the unit, also forwarded to the Iowa State Daily, explaining that the unit would not be conducting the event and that he was out to protect the unit after all of the media attention.
• A NROTC cadet forwarded another email that all midshipmen had received to the Iowa State Daily stating that if they were approached by the media they should reply by stating that they are not authorized to comment.

The recent NROTC events have shown that social media can ultimately cause more damage than good and that it is important to use proper social media etiquette when needing to display a professional persona.

Check out the recent article from the Iowa State Daily Editorial on proper social media use relating to the recent NROTC events.