ROTC programs encourage students
Air Force alumnus returns
for honor, chance to inspire
Matt Bender, cadet wing commander at
UNL, presented the hall-of-fame plaque to
Bolton. Bender said he was honored “to be
associated with the same institution as
(Bolton) is.”
Jen Trippel, cadet wing executive, said,
“He is a good eye-opener for cadets, espe
cially for freshmen. It gives them something
to strive for and puts focus in their lives.”
Before the induction ceremony, which
was held at the Culture Center, 333 N. 14th
St., Bolton also spoke to cadets about the Air
Force Materiel Command, where he is direc
tor of requirements at Wright-Patterson Air
Force Base in Dayton, Ohio.
As director of requirements, it is Bolton’s
job to provide war fighters with equipment,
training, tools and testing. Bolton listens to
requests and then works with contractors,
Congress and other military personnel to get
what they need.
Richard Gaddie, Air Force ROTC com
mander for Detachment 465 at UNL, said
Bolton was chosen to be the first inductee
into the hall of fame for several reasons.
Gaddie said Bolton represented the uni
versity through the ROTC program and the
electrical engineering department, where he
is a member of the board of directors. He
also has been back to speak to UNL cadets in
the past few years, and he was the only gen
eral officer to receive his commission
through Detachment 465.
His success in the military makes him a
role model for cadets, Gaddie said.
Bolton joined the Air Force in 1969 and
received his wings in 1970. Throughout his
career, he has served as squadron and wing
safety officer, instructor pilot, test pilot, F
16 program monitor at the Pentagon and
deputy program director for the B-2 system
program office at the Pentagon.
Bolton said although his career has been
exciting and extensive, he was still envious
of young people coming into the military
because they had so much ahead of them.
“We’re putting down the foundation now,
and it’s up to you to come and make it better
By Jessica Fargen
Staff Reporter
He flew 232 combat missions during the
Vietnam War. He has flown more than 2,700
hours in 27 different types of aircraft. He was
a test pilot for the F-4, F-l 11 and the F-16.
And when he attended the University of
Nebraska-Lincoln in the 1960s, he bussed
tables at the Selleck Hall cafeteria.
Brig. Gen. Claude M. Bolton Jr., a gradu
ate of UNL, walked back onto the universi
ty’s campus on Friday to become the first
person inducted into the Air Force ROTC’s
Detachment 465’s Hall of Fame.
Bolton was here to be honored, but he
also was here to educate, encourage and
inspire UNL ROTC cadets.
Bolton said he was honored and thrilled
to be inducted into the hall of fame and
jumped at the opportunity to come back to
UNL, which he called “the best university in
the land.”
Before Bolton was inducted, he spoke to
cadets about his expectations for them.
“Challenges can be made a reality with
people like you. You have to do better than
myself and my colleagues,” he said.
Bolton told cadets they are living in chal
lenging times for the military, as the budget
is being cut and bases are being closed. He
said U.S. citizens do not want a large military
when there is no immediate threat to their
safety.
There are several things cadets can do
now to prepare themselves for the future,
when they go out into the real world, Bolton
said. y
Bolton said cadets should know a history
of the Air Force as well as understand other
U.S. and foreign military services, should
become experts in whatever they do and
should not look at their careers as jobs.
“This career has never been a job. I never
had a bad assignment because it has every
thing to do with people. You will meet people
that are truly world class,” Bolton said.
Army cadets make name for
Nebraska at national camps
By Ted Taylor
Senior Reporter
Ahhh, Nebraska.
It’s a state known throughout the country
for its football, corn, vast expanses of God’s
green earth and ... exceptional Army ROTC
cadets?
It may sound odd, but that soon may be
the case after recent years of outstanding
work at summer training camps have put
UNL’s training corps in the same class as
some of the nation’s best.
This summer, nine cadets from
University of Nebraska-Lincoln traveled to
Fort Lewis, Wash., for ROTC Advanced
Camp, where they basically kicked ROTC
butt.
In every one of the performance and
leadership evaluations conducted at the
camp, including physical fitness, land navi
gation and rifle marksmanship tests, UNL’s
senior cadets placed higher than the camp
average, Lt. Col. Rick Barrera said.
It was the first time for such an accom
plishment in more than 10 years, he said.
“Traditionally we have done at or above
the average,” he said, “but there was always
one area where we didn’t do so well.”
Dawn Lenz, UNL’s only female senior
cadet, was also UNL’s highest-scoring cadet.
The business administration major from
Sioux City, Iowa, said her work at the camp
was something for the younger female
cadets to look to.
But bragging about how well she did this
past summer isn’t what will make better
cadets, she said.
“I don’t play up my camp score a lot,”
she said. “It was a big honor for me, but I
just talk to them about having to work hard
, er because they are women and it’s a man’s
army.
“If they’re not ready, they’re going to get
stomped on by the other schools who are
trying to achieve the same goals.”
66
We have some very
outstanding leaders
coming out of the
program
Lt. Col. Rick Barrera
Army ROTC officer
Teamwork with cadets from all over the
nation is the most important aspect to doing
well at the camp, she said.
None of the regiments at the camp
include more than one person from a school.
“You can’t survive without the help of
your teammates,” Lenz said.
Barrera said the military science profes
sors counted on the seniors to use what
they’ve learned as cadets and at the
advanced camps in helping the younger
cadets.
“We rely on them to train next year’s
(camp) attendees,” he said. “They set an
example for the juniors this year who will be
going next year.”
UNL’s battalion commander, Brian
Medcalf, who is in charge of all of the cadets
on campus, said their work at the camps may
help put Nebraska’s name on the map.
“People have stereotypes about
Nebraska,” said the civil engineering stu
dent from Clearwater. “But when you go
and do well, you become better respected.”
More than 3,000 cadets from about 250
schools across the country took part in the
summer camp, Barrera said.
“Doing well at the camps, what it signi
fies for us, as a program, is that our cadets
went there very well-trained and prepared,”
he said. “Leadershipwise, we have some
very outstanding leaders coming out of the
program.”
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