Lab 18 (IMT)

"Dodge, Dip, Dive, Duck, and......Dodge"

Evasion was the name of the game, or games rather at this week’s Lead Lab for the IMT and the remaining POC of the wing. We were greeted with our normal briefings from Captain Anderson and Cadet Colonel Midgett bringing us up to speed on all things in the world of ROTC, and then it was time to let the fun begin. The cadets this past week were given a chance to show off their marching, as well as their planning skills and have a little fun doing it.
First up on the agenda was a game known as Tank. Now I promise you, it is not as brutal as it sounds. In the game of tank, two out of the four squadrons are assembled in formation to battle at one time. The object of the game is to get the front of your squadron to “ram” either the side or the back of the other squadron that you are competing with. The only catch is that in order to do that, the cadets have to execute the drill commands that they have been learning both last and this semester. It certainly is not as easy as it sounds. In order to come out victorious in Tank you have to have a commander who can think quick on his feet, as well as have a flight that is able to execute those commands and get the job done. Cadets also have to stay inside of a set boundary, and keep their flight in proper formation or penalties will be accrued. After 5-6 rounds of grueling battle on Tuesday between the Raptors, Eagles, Falcons, and Warthogs, it was none other than the Ferocious Falcons who came out on top to grab the glory. Both being able apply the direct hits, and also able to dodge their way to victory without racking up the penalties.
After the cadets had finished Tank, it was time for some more Wing fun with the event of Juggernaut coming up next. (I promise not all military sports names sound this violent) In Juggernaut, it is played mostly like a game of dodge- ball, except for a few exceptions. Every player on the team has a certain role that they have to play in order for the team to achieve victory. These can range from Medics who can heal a downed teammate, blockers to act as “Hulk-like” human shields, suppliers grabbing the balls for the team, and finally the attackers who bring the blistering heat. You might think that this sounds crazy enough as it is, but this week a twist was added to get the cadets using the planning skills that they had been taught. Each team before the match began was given a certain mission that had to be carried out to achieve absolute victory. These missions ranged from eliminating the other teams medic or commander to finding a way to keep all of the balls on your side. Cadets had to decide what would be the best number to have of each role in order to gain victory. The intense battles raged on, and you could see the cadets adapting their strategies and using the skills that they had learned in ROTC at every turn to fine tune their strategies. After 3-4 games there were no clear winners, but each team reached success at least once in their missions. This past Lead Lab showed both in Tank and in Juggernaut, that in the military you have to find the perfect balance of evading the enemies attack and applying that critical strike to achieve victory.

Lab 18 (FTP)

Cadet Emily Stephens

Leadership Laboratory (LLAB) is always interesting if you are a sophomore cadet preparing for Field Training, however, LLAB 17 was particularly busy for these cadets. During this LLAB, C/Swartz, C/Byrd, C/Anderson, and myself, C/Stephens, were given the task of presenting the sophomores with a brief overview of some important aspects of Field Training (FT). The two-hour session consisted of two parts, dorm maintenance and dining hall procedures, both being very important to their respective evaluator’s initial opinion of the cadets’ ability to organize, lead, and follow.
The first hour of LLAB was spent teaching Field Training Preparation (FTP) cadets everything they will need to know for dorm maintenance. Their training session included everything from learning how to make a couple different types of beds for certain circumstances, to learning where to place their underwear in the specified drawer. If any FTP are reading this, yes, your respective Flight Training Officer (FTO)/Cadet Training Assistant (CTA) will check your underwear drawer, so do not feel obligated to buy white undergarments, but let’s keep the “Cutie with a Booty” britches at home. After the dorm maintenance training was completed, the cadets moved on to the place with which every FTP has a love-hate relationship…the dining facility (DFAC).
A typical day at FT will start at 0400, and from that point on, there is no stopping. Because of this, the cadets are always hungry, and it is impossible to eat enough. So, the second portion of the training involved learning how to enter, proceed through the line, sit down, eat, clean, and exit the DFAC. When your dining priority rolls around and you realize that you are finally going to eat and stop feeling like a walking shell of a human, you are filled with a certain hope that perhaps you will make it to the next meal; however, these dreams are promptly dashed when you come to and remember that in order to get in and out of the DFAC, you have got to get your flight past some very unpleasant people (FTOs and CTAs), and they really do not seem to be as hungry as you. While one training session is not enough for the FTP to understand these procedures exactly, they were given a good idea as to how the process works.
In the minds of most college students, it is hard to imagine this sort of discipline and organization; however, for every LLAB that they take seriously, the FTP will be one step closer to success at FT. More than them graduating top-third or being a distinguished graduate in their flight, the Professional Officer Cadets (POC) involved with the training of the FTP are concerned with giving them the information they need to do a personal best at their encampment. In doing so, each of them will return having made their flight, family, the detachment, and most importantly themselves, very proud.

Lab 17

Cadet Richard Gannon

This week in R.O.T.C was a challenging one. As usual, the day started off with our scheduled Aerospace studies classes. In class, we learned about Operation Northern Watch, Southern Watch and Somalia. Then the pace quickly changed. After class we had a Field Training Prep meeting with our fellow P.O.C. During this time, myself and my classmates were informed of the many challenges that lie ahead in Field Training.

After the meeting, we transitioned into Lab. Lab was an eventful time, in which we learned proper guidion procedures and how to march a flight across a road intersection safely. It was a time for hands on experience, in which we also had the opportunity to try it ourselves, make our own mistakes, and learn from them. Overall, this past week proved to be a productive one. I took away knowledge of the challenges that lie ahead, and bits a pieces of the puzzle that will help me be successful when I reach those challenges.

Lab 16

“Even with snow on the ground, you can’t keep Det440 down”
By
Cadet Joshua Bailey

Snow, snow, and more snow seemed to be all that you could see at Det440 for the 2nd Lab of the semester, both on the ground and in the air. Detachment 440 was noticeably smaller, due to the fact that we were missing our counterparts from UCM, as a result of road safety conditions. Nevertheless Lab carried on as usual and started off with the prestigious cadet award ceremony. The award ceremony was centered on cadet academic achievement from the previous semester. One thing was for sure, and that is, that even though the snow was coming down, the cadets grades continued to climb. A record number of cadets received the Academic Honors ribbon for posting at least a 3.0 G.P.A. the previous semester. Cadets are always urged to maintain high academic standards, and after this ceremony, you could definitely see that, that challenge is taken to heart. Cadet Popp walked home with the biggest award of the day, posting an outstanding 4.0 term G.P.A. Overall; it was a great award ceremony for Det440 in the category of academics.
After a recruiting briefing by Cadet Bailey, the cadets made the wintery journey to the Student Recreation Center to participate in wing-wide drill. The Field Training Preparation (200s) cadets and the Initial Military Training (100s) cadets were split up to cover different aspects of drill. The FTP cadets learned more about Road Guard procedures and how to use them to get your flight through an intersection safely; a skill that they will be using very frequently at Field Training this coming summer. The IMT cadets were on the opposite side of the Recreation Center going over some basic and advanced drill techniques, such as column movements, flanks, and facing movements. You could absolutely see the wisdom being passed down from the upper-classmen, to the IMT and FTP cadets and see them take it and put it into action like a well oiled machine. Overall both classes took outstanding leaps in drill this week, and both continue to excel both in their skills and in their teamwork as a class. You can also see the leadership techniques being fine tuned by the upper-classmen as well. Even though the snow was all around, there was no way that it would keep Det440 down.