Thirteen cadets in the Army Reserve Officers’ Training Corps at UCLA and San Diego State University marched in silence through high grass and bramble under the sweltering San Diego sun.
They paused to check for direction. Without warning, a round of gunshots was fired off in quick, deafening succession from a nearby bush.
“You’re dead!” a voice screamed, and a cadet fell to the ground.
The remaining cadets looked anxiously at their squad leader, who yelled for them to drop their backpacks and take cover.
After an exchange of gunfire, three terrorists were killed and an evaluator signaled an end to the mission.
To most, this experience might be taken as alarming or unnerving, and certainly unfamiliar.
But for the 180 cadets involved in the Army ROTC at these schools, the exercise was nothing out of the ordinary.
Field Training Exercises
The cadets participated in spring training at Camp Pendleton near San Diego from April 16 to 18. There, they were put through dozens of field training exercises designed to prepare them for service in the Middle East and other conflict zones.
The missions required cadets to, among other tasks, deactivate roadside bombs, run patrols in Bradley infantry fighting vehicles, and identify minefields.
Most cadets said success on the field is an issue of mind over matter.
“How much of what we do here do you think requires physical strength?” said Paul Han, a first-year business economics student.
He paused, then said, “It’s 10 percent physical and 90 percent mental.”
While most were able to endure the long hours of strenuous activity without complaint, nearly every cadet agreed on one hated aspect of the training program.
“Waking up in the morning is ““ it’s awful,” said Chris Bardon, a first-year business marketing student at the University of San Diego.
Others nearby nodded in agreement.
Alarm clocks were set to ring before sunrise, and the first field exercises began at 5:30 a.m. Training lasted up to 18 hours at a time, with no breaks in between missions.
Food was consumed on the go, conveniently prepackaged under the label “Meals Ready to Eat.” The meals are each designed to last for five years ““ longer, one cadet said jokingly, than a soldier can survive on them.
Camp Pendleton itself was unremarkable. Porta-Potties stood out against backgrounds of grass and trees as the only man-made structures in an otherwise barren wilderness.
At the end of the first day, the cadets were instructed to set up camp and sleep. Thin foam pads were laid out on the ground. Cadets then encased themselves in sleeping bags to stay warm. (Temperatures dropped from more than 100 degrees during the day to the mid-30s at night.)
Around 1 a.m., enemy soldiers simulated an ambush of the campsite, killing scores of bewildered cadets. After that, security was maintained even at the oddest of hours.
After two days of intensive training, the cadets were transported to a military barracks about 30 miles away.
At the barracks, they spent six hours cleaning guns with Q-tips and chatting freely about politics, women and guns.
Third-year business economics student Andrew Kreitz called this period of monotonous gun-cleaning a textbook case of “Hurry up and wait” ““ an unofficial but commonly used term in the Army.
He offered another example: “They once made us wolf down our food, jump into vans, and speed off into the fields. We got there, then waited around for 45 minutes for our mission. In the Army, you run everywhere and wait when you get there.”
The People
Cadets agreed it takes a certain level of determination to tough it out in Army ROTC.
Students must balance training with regular schoolwork. Many choose to serve in the National Guard while in college as well.
Those who resolved to join the program were enthusiastic about its benefits.
Kreitz decided to sign on with Army ROTC after hearing a recruitment pitch his freshman year.
“At that time, the war in Iraq was not going well, and joining the Army seemed like the right thing to do,” he said. “So I said, “˜What the hell! I’ll do my part and support what I believe in.'”
Kreitz said the decision to join ROTC was one of the best he’s ever made.
He said the highlight of the program so far was getting to ride in a Blackhawk helicopter during field training in the fall.
Although he is president of Bruin Republicans and is active with a number of other groups on campus, Kreitz said Army ROTC is where his attention and affections lie.
“The training is fun and the people are great. We’re a very close-knit group, a real band of brothers,” he said.
Having served for one year in the National Guard, Kreitz said he wants to continue with the guard after graduating as an armor officer. He added that he hopes to pursue a civilian profession as well, possibly in accounting or management consulting.
For Bridgette Tuquero, a UCLA alumna, joining the Army was an ambition she held for as long as she can remember.
“My dad went to West Point, and I’ve always wanted to follow in his footsteps and become an officer,” Tuquero said.
When she got into UCLA, Tuquero said she decided to join Army ROTC so she could train to be an officer while working toward her degree.
Until she graduated at the end of winter quarter, Tuquero divided her time at UCLA between being an Army ROTC cadet and acting as captain of the cheer team.
Tuquero said that while Army ROTC is a lot of work, it can, at times, be “absolutely exhilarating.”
“I got to go to Airborne School over the summer and jump out of a plane five times. How many undergrads can say that?” she said.
Tuquero said she intends to join the National Guard as a Signal Corps officer, a position that specializes in radio communications.
She said she also hopes to attend law school and become a lawyer, a career she has been interested in ever since she was assigned to defend the fictional character Robin Hood in a seventh-grade mock trial.
Others said they joined Army ROTC having previously enlisted in the armed forces.
Fourth-year history student Matthew Lee served for five years as a medic in the Navy before deciding to attend UCLA to pursue a medical degree.
Lee, now 27, said he found the premed program at UCLA too difficult, although he said he still hopes to go to medical school after graduation.
He said Army ROTC will pay for his college education and allows him to continue his career in the military.
“ROTC is really what you want to make of it. At its core, you get your college degree and serve your country,” Tuquero said.
“But you also learn how to be a leader. You learn to figure things out and get things done. And more than that, ROTC is a family,” she said.
The Program
The Army ROTC program trains college students to become commissioned second lieutenants, a rank they receive upon graduating and obtaining their degree.
The program requires cadets to take one military science class each quarter and to participate in physical training three times a week.
Cadets also attend fall and spring training camps, where they apply skills taught in the classroom to real-life battle scenarios, said Maj. Casey Miner, an assistant professor of military science at UCLA.
“Spring training at Camp Pendleton is the culmination of a year’s worth of instruction, and it gives us a sense of where the cadets are and what they still need to work on,” Miner said.
Classes teach basic tactics, leadership skills and ethics.
“The goal of the program is to teach cadets to grow and develop as leaders,” Miner said.
UCLA Army ROTC is currently working to introduce a minor in military science, he said.
Cadets who complete the Army ROTC program receive a full scholarship toward tuition or housing.
In return, they commit to serving either four years of active duty abroad or eight years in the National Guard or Army Reserves, Miner said.
Once commissioned, officers train in one of 16 specializations that include aviation, medicine, armor and engineering.
“Being in the Army means you do have to give up some of your freedoms,” Miner said.
“But it’s all part of being in a selfless career, of serving a cause greater than yourself.”