The sergeant moved quickly through his ranks, staying low to the ground to avoid being shot.
“Lets move!” he yelled over machine-gun fire.
Five soldiers sprung up from the trenches and sprinted forward with superhuman intensity, their lives gripped in the balance of these few, critical seconds.
They reached the hostile bunker. One soldier pitched a grenade into the thick of the enemy combatants; the others fired off rounds from their M-16 rifles.
The scene paused, and the lights came back on.
“OK, who can tell me what offensive techniques were used in this example?” Capt. Donald Hong asked the class.
Hong, an assistant professor of military science at UCLA, teaches Military Science 23: Subordinate Development and Army Organization.
The class is aimed at instructing second-year cadets in the UCLA Army Reserve Officers’ Training Corps, which prepares students to become commissioned second lieutenants when they graduate.
Hong teaches the basics of Army structure and the role of the military in international diplomacy.
“Its amazing how the fundamentals are set here and then build up,” he said.
The topic of the day was offense.
Students took turns reading PowerPoint slides that detailed the various offensive maneuvers used in combat operations.
Hong then quizzed them on how these maneuvers would be carried out and when they should be used.
It being fifth week, he ended the class by passing out take-home midterms.
As part of their training, cadets are required to enroll in one military science course each quarter. Classes teach leadership skills, basic Army tactics and organization, and military ethics.
The ROTC program also organizes field training exercises twice a year. These exercises model battle conditions in modern regions of conflict, such as Iraq and Afghanistan.
But before cadets are prepared to lead each other through stressful combat missions, they have to learn the basics of leadership and squad command.
“Military science classes give you the groundwork of what you need to know,” said Terrence Donahue, a third-year political science student. “We learn things like land navigation and operation orders in the classroom, and then we take that out into the field and apply it.”
With about 80 cadets enrolled in UCLA ROTC, classes are kept to around 20 students each.
This allows for a more active environment than most other courses at UCLA, Donahue said.
“In military science classes, you’re part of the class. You’re talking and briefing, and you participate the whole way through,” he said. “It’s not like a lecture.”
Donahue said this structure is not only engaging, but also encourages students to become more active leaders, an attribute he said is essential to becoming a competent officer.
“They don’t teach you leadership here. It’s more than that. They put you in enough leadership positions until you just are a leader. You get used to being in the role,” he said.
Donahue said he has never doubted his intention to enlist in the Army after graduating from college.
“It’s something I’ve always wanted to do. We’re not here to get rich or be movie stars, but it all goes back to selfless service ““ it’s about doing something you could never do in any other job,” he said.
While many students in military science classes said they also plan on pursuing careers in the military after graduating, there are those who take the classes for other reasons.
Hong said he has two students who do not participate in ROTC.
“I’ve always had an interest in the military and this seemed like a fun class to go to,” said Matt Lanter, a first-year aerospace engineering student.
Lanter is enrolled in Hong’s class, the first military science course he has taken at UCLA.
“I’ve gotten to see how the Army thinks, and I’ve learned about some of the different leadership styles that are used,” he said.
Lanter said he is likely to take another military science class in the future.
Although he signed up for Hong’s class out of general curiosity, he said he is now considering joining ROTC as well.
“Before I enrolled I was just thinking it would be cool to learn about the military, but this has definitely convinced me to look into ROTC,” he said. “I’ve only been to five classes so far. But I’m definitely leaning towards joining.”