of the military officer fields.
Active Army is going to be Sitter’&dioice.
He grew up watching war movies and reading
Army books in elementary schools, thinking
about the military for a long time. For him, it’s
good job security - and a sense of adventure.
“When you’re sitting out in the rain. You’re
hungry. You’re cold. And (the cadets) don’t care
and they’re smiling and saying, ‘Yeah! Yeah!,’
that’s the kind of people who like military com
bat. They like being miserable.”
Final orders
Even though some cadets will use the tacti
cal lessons in field-training exercises more than
others, they say there usually isn’t a difference
between die leadership performance of a cadet
planning on an Army career or one opting for the
Reserves and a job in the private sector.
The cadets’ top leader is senior Brian
Medcalf, who holds the highest cadet rank of
battalion commander. Watching him focus on
the task at hand - almost oblivious to die small
talk around him - while he prepares instruction
for die younger cadets may be a good sign
Medcalf is ready to take on his own platoon.
But the structural engineering major plans to
marry his fiancee, find a job and hopefully
attend graduate school somewhere near an Army
base so he can fulfill his Reserves duty. He can
turn his ROTC leadership skills into what he
calls “life skills.”
Kim Stanley expects to be in the same situa
tion. While she might find some use for ROTC
field training in the future, she plans to spend
most of her career in a medical center.
During the field-training exercise, die fresh
man nursing major did get to practice a little
medicine - on herself - after a tree “jumped out”
leaving a long red scratch on her face.
“I’ve never even been camping before,” she
admitted.
She, like many younger cadets, say they’re
just there to follow the leaders, the MS His like
Salinas and Willbanks, in her squad and listen to
their advice.
After her squad’s third mission, they huddled
around the advice of Capt. Fleming Jones, a
West Point U.S. Military Academy graduate.
“We want you to think. And that’s what it’s
all about,” he said in front of a circle of cadets.
“Did you learn anything, Stanley?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Do you want to be an infantryman?”
Stanley paused at the question with only one
right answer.
“Yes, sir,” she said, grinning
“Good answer!”
On the next mission, it seemed that Stanley
took that to heart. She was
A ImUa Taa*v* i '
to keep everybody up on what was going on
and try not to let everybody down. I was
doing my job so everybody else could do
theirs.”
Simpson gave the cadet a special card
noting her achievement - which will go
toward the points she receives for her com
mission. As Stanley left with some antibiotic
ointment for the scratch on her cheek, she
rejoined her squad for their last mission
As billowing, inky clouds crouched over
the rolling forest hills, the cadets readied
themselves for a platoon night mission -
pondering die potential for rain. Their opera
tion will go well into the night.
By the time dew sets, peace will have
been restored to Nebraska. On its return to
UNL, die Big Red Battalion will write die
final chapter of a victorious mission.
Now, how’s that for a litde homework?
TUP LEFT: CADET JARED CLIN6ER starts his
■sriiai hy camouflaging bis face. Cadets
darken the high parts of their face and lighten
the lev te minimize features that could set
thorn off from the brash they use far caver.
TOP MGHfr CADET CHRISTOPHER MEASEL holds
his M-16 assault rifle while resting between
BOTTOMRflMTCCADET WES MADDEN practices
tactical formations with his squad for STX (Squad
Tactical Exercises). ROTC cadets practice with
the same squad far an bathe school year.
BOTVIN CENTER: CADET MADDEN, a sophomore
ROTC cadet, reads his FMA-S infantrymen’s
BOTTOM LEFT: SENIOR CADETRON^rrTERS
prepares himself for the day’s field tests as
underclassmen cadets line up In formation
behind him. Senior cadets were responsible for
evaluating the performance of Junior cadets
throughout the field missions.
ROTC history at UNL
began with 1862 grant
Students have been able to receive mil
itary training at the University of
Nebraska-Lincoln for about 20 years
longer than they’ve been able to cheer for
the Nebraska Cornhuskers. .
But while football is linked to campus
by tradition, military training is tied to
campus by law.
Under the 1862 Morrill Act, federal
land was granted to universities in
exchange for programs and services that
would return benefits to the state. One of
the requirements was to provide military
training.
After being founded on this land-grant
mission in 1869, the university began the
Military Science program in 1876 with 57
of die 100 male students at UNL enrolled.
A real boost to the program came when
Gen. John J. Pershing was commander of
the Armed Expeditionary Forces to Europe
in World War 1.
As a lieutenant from 1891 to 1895?
Pershing bbosidd
menLoftheaAifel^ fori^&i'eKte&ill
team called the Pershing Rifles. It exists
today at more than 100 universities.
The program officially became the
Army Reserve Officer Training Corps in
1916 under the National Defense Act and
enrollment was compulsory.
In 1941, there were 2,300 cadets. In
1964, under die ROTC Revitalization Act,
enrollment became voluntary and numbers
dropped.
In 1969, the academic and military
aspects of ROTC were fused under the
Joint ROTC Curriculum Committee com
bining the direction of UNL and ROTC
administrators
Il^-L TT___x x_ x1_L_11_
11V1U IIUttvj OdOldlOUl IU U1V LUOI1V/VUUI, .
said the ROTC program provides “a very -
good career opportunity” ... •
“About half the officers in the U.S. mil
itary have been trained on campuses just
like this,” he said. “The ‘citizen soldier’
has been kept alive by the universities of
this country.”
Nationally, the $253 million ROTC
program operates at 255 universities
across the nation with cross-enrollment
programs at 15 additional universities.
More information about the UNL
Army ROTC program can be found at its
Web site at http:/Avww.unl. edu/armyrvtc/
or by calling (402) 472-2468.
a ajL|/uu> AVUU1
leader, which is uncommon ^
for a freshman. In the post- DMHMMnfin A* the size of tteAmy decreased, so did the need for ROTC to produce officers.
P Programs are sdH working to recruit more students and keep enrollment steady.
mission evaluation, Sgt. 1st
Class Andy Simpson praised “®
her for her leadership.
Freshmen don’t receive
advanced leadership training,
he said, but Stanley “jumped
right on it.”
Stanley, who spoke very
little during the missions,
said she was “a little scared.”
“I didn’t know what I was
doing,” she said. “I did what
my squad leader said. \
, |i| was just doing what J*f
we ve been doing and trying Source - Cadet Command, Fort Monroe, Va. Aaron Steckleberg/DN
.
