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On the morning of September 22nd, at 0430, Cadets of Nittany Lion Battalion reported to Bigler Field to be accounted for by their squad leaders and have their equipment policed before the “step off.”

One cadet, of Alpha Company, Second Platoon, third squad, still disoriented and feeling good from the night before, who, having not slept at all, hammered several energy drinks before crawling from his dorm in full kit to Bigler field, reports to his squad leader that he has lost his eye protection. After a quick reprimand, those of which the lowly freshmen or as they are called in ROTC, “MSIs” or less informally “drags”, are used to at this point, the platoon leader generously grants him his extra pair of eye protection glasses.

That unnamed cadet was me. To say the least it was not my morning. Cadet Wright tends to be “low speed, high drag” sometimes.

After all the cadets were accounted for, and it was evident that all cadets had the required equipment for the weekend, we stepped off for a short two mile ruck. The destination was the FTX- field training exercise. The odyssey of a weekend we were about to embark on was to be a collection of stations pertaining to Army skills like camouflage and squad movements separated by miles of “rucking.”

When my company arrived to the vast stretch of woodlands in which we would be conducting our exercises, we were all issued a rifle and our MREs for the weekend. After breaking into one of the meals, and some further accounting of all the cadets and our equipment, we began the ruck to our first station. Our first training exercise was the assembling and dissembling of the M249 and M240 SAW weapons systems. Weapons drills have always been a favorite of mine and it is easier than it looks in the movies to strip and put back together a weapon. So easy, a cadet can do it.

After weapons, we moved on to squad movement, followed by camouflage and claymores, field hygiene, patrol base procedure, and mission radio protocol. The stations were all highly informative and applicable to things a cadet would need if they embarked on a career in the infantry.

As mentioned before, their was a fair bit of rucking in between the stations and by the end of the day I estimate we had rucked about 14 miles. Everyone just wanted to crack open an MRE and go to sleep. That would not be the case however. To simulate what it would be like staying in hostile territory, we were going to be setting up “patrol base” and maintaining 33-100% security all night. Fall weather also blew in that night and temperatures dropped to the high 40s. The problem with the ACU (Army Combat Uniform) is that it traps in heat when it is hot while also being paper thin and providing zero warmth when it is cold. I maintained security for most of the night, freezing my motivation off and trying not to nod off while I pointed my rifle into nothingness.

It was a long night. When morning finally came, we ran a simulation mission with my squad. The objective was to take an enemy mortar position against opposing forces. Though we got slightly lost on our way to the objective, we eventually successfully completed the mission and finished our field training exercises. We turned in our rifles, and made the journey back to campus.

Closing words-FTX was a ton of fun and I slept for 18 hours afterwards.

For the first post on this blog, I thought that I would just try to tell everyone what the deal is with Army ROTC. Everyone has seen them- the loud, proud, full of themselves, star spangled kids in camouflage fatigues strutting around campus every Tuesday and Thursday. Or maybe you have heard us yelling cadences at 6 am. When people think about ROTC I think the things that come to mind are tuition and early mornings. Some people think that it looks horrible. They see us running in company formation and rucking for miles and think that its not for them.

These things aren’t wrong but they aren’t entirely true. ROTC is not something reserved for those kids who always wore combat boots to school, nor is it for former boy scouts, or the sons of military families. Anyone can do ROTC. The only thing a college student needs to succeed in ROTC is at least some desire to serve, a little bit of work ethic, and an alarm clock.

ROTC at its most basic level is a program to train officers for the army while they attend a university. For one to understand what the Reserve Officer Training Corps is, they need some context to the basic organization and function of the army. The soldiers that are in charge of the operation of units and groups of soldiers are the officers. To become an officer, a person must be fit to serve, have a bachelor’s degree, and have completed the necessary training and education to lead soldiers. This training can be completed in three ways; Officer Candidate School, West Point, or ROTC at a university.

When one joins ROTC, theres is no commitment to serve. One only commits to the program when they “contract.” Contracting is when a cadet hands over all their administrative and biographical documents, having certified that they are physically fit to serve, and sign the dotted line saying that upon completion of their bachelor’s degree, they will either serve in the Army either Active Duty or in the Reserve or National Guard Components. For their commitment to serve, the Army will pay a part or all of a students tuition.

Now, yes we wake up early. Monday through Friday report time for PT (physical training) is typically 0550. This was a hard adjustment for every cadet but something that surprised me, was how used to it you get. Before long, it becomes easy to wake up that early. To be completely honest, your sleep schedule gets disturbed by ROTC. Depending on the major, it can be a feat of time management to do the program and get adequate sleep.. But believe me, before long, you will surpass sleep and not even need it.

The day to day life of a cadet is just like anyone else’s at Penn State with just a few exceptions besides PT of course. We take Army 101 classes, two days a week we wear our uniforms, and we do training on Thursdays, and a training weekend once a semester.

Everything I have said about ROTC probably makes it sound daunting. It seemed like that for me at first too. The truth is, ROTC is an extremely enriching experience I never regret my choice to join. The fun I have in the program, the activities we do, and the friends I have made make it something I love and I hope that the posts I add to this blog may persuade some people who may have been on the fence about joining.

http://unlarmyrotc.blogspot.com/