Hands-on education
Reserve Officer Training Corps camp instills confidence,
real-world skills
By John Digrado
Daily Bruin Staff
CAMP PENDLETON — Traipsing through the wilderness on a rainy
Saturday night is hardly most students’ idea of a good time.
That is, unless you happen to be navigating to a checkpoint in
the middle of a field using nothing but a compass and a
topographical map.
And for several Army Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC)
cadets training at the Marine Corps Camp Pendleton facility last
weekend, nothing could have been more enlightening – or more
dangerous.
A 20-foot cliff stood in between the cadets and their first
destination. Hardly out of the starting gate, the
students-made-soldiers walked back to their starting point, code
named Delta, to tell their commanding officer about the cliff.
"You’re just going to have to navigate around that," military
science Professor Capt. Ben Chu ordered. The students returned to
the cliff and searched for a way to circumnavigate the drop
off.
After the exercise, cadets held an impromptu tailgate party
behind an Army Humvee, drinking strong, black Army coffee and
water, cheering their success or lamenting their bad luck.
For the nearly 60 cadets who traded their normal relaxing
weekend attire for an Army uniform, 40-pound backpack and nearly
tasteless Army food, the excursion made for the perfect atmosphere
to learn leadership and field skills in a proper military
atmosphere.
The participants represented one of the most diverse groups on
campus. UCLA’s ROTC programs serve students from 27 schools in the
Southern California area.
Students worked on individual abilities needed in the field, but
the implicit focus was more on teamwork rather than battle skills,
organizers said.
"We’re working on individual skills that will be put together
collectively in a field environment," Chu said. "Physically and
mentally, (the cadets were) challenged this weekend. (We used)
ambushes, raids and the like to develop a leader … they all apply
to officership in a combat setting," he said.
Cadets were loudly awakened at 5 a.m. by their commanding
officers, and were responsible for marching out to formation
properly dressed and at attention within 10 short minutes.
Since the weekend was the first training exercise for many of
the cadets, lining up and marching was at first a harrowing task
often involving duplication of mis-performed actions. Cadet
officers commanded their subordinates to do and redo each exercise
until completed to their satisfaction, even in the cold, dark early
morning.
"They just took 20 minutes to perform a five-minute task," said
2nd Lt. Josh Pickell following the exercise. "But as the weekend
progresses, they will come together and make it work.
"The most frustrating thing about this is just how frustrating
and inefficient everything is," Pickell added.
After a breakfast of eggs, grits and ham, cadets piled into
Humvees and heated vans, convoying to the top of a mountain to
begin the day’s field exercises. Cadets were meant to run through
eight of nine mock-combat exercises, but only completed four.
In the field exercises, cadet leaders were given situations and
orders from "base camp." Leaders were then required to carry out
those orders to the best of their ability.
One exercise required cadets to stage an ambush on a moving
convoy of Army vehicles, taking care to keep out of sight and to
raid the trucks and its occupants of their possessions. Several
cadets were "killed" when they found "live" hand grenades on
"enemy" soldiers, with commanding officers forcing the squad to
repeat the execution of their exercise until they got it right.
The exercises represented hands-on training for a field that
many students hoped might become a lifelong career.
"Out here, you get to be trained in everything," said
fourth-year political science student Jenniper Tyler as she secured
her position in a defensive circle. "(The excursion) is planning
for my future. (ROTC) builds confidence. If you can get out here
and do all of this, you should be able to do that in real
life."
Students in the ROTC program do not always move on to careers in
the military, said Cal State Northridge student and medical officer
John Burr. Participants have the opportunity to drop out of the
program after two years without committing to military service.
However, should a student want to make a much longer commitment
to the service, they can continue with their training in military
science and ROTC.
After being in ROTC for three years, students attend a summer
camp where their leadership skills and field talents are put to the
test for six weeks, Burr said.
"After camp, they decide which branch (of the Army) they want to
be in. Cadets then go before an accession board, and once they find
their branch, they graduate and become a 2nd lieutenant," Burr
explained. ROTC cadets then move straight into Army
officership.
Should they decide to make this larger commitment, cadets must
serve several years in the Army, either on active or reserve duty.
Students who enter a military contract may also receive
scholarships in addition to a monthly stipend for participating in
the program.
Though students join ROTC for many different reasons, Burr said
that the program offered a kind of "home away from home" when he
decided to go back to college after his four-year prior commitment
to active duty.
"I didn’t participate much in other types of clubs," he said.
"(ROTC) is sort of like a fraternity or sorority, in a way. We may
not be as social, but we try to become a close-knit group."
Other cadets expressed similar sentiment, explaining that the
values learned in ROTC can be transferred to many aspects of
civilian life.
"If you can get through this crap, you can get through anything
in life, not just (ROTC), but the military as well," said Cadet
Charles Hattendorf, who also currently serves in the reserves.
Though the field events last weekend were only mock exercises,
cadets seemed to know what kind of an impact their training has on
the future of the military and the country.
"We’re here to protect everyone’s rights, regardless of what
they believe in," Hattendorf said. "We’re here to serve every
American. Nothing in this country would be here without
soldiers."
FRED HE/Daily Bruin
(Clockwise from top right) Jenniper Tyler practices setting up a
land mine. Kyong Jin Lee’s fieldpack is adorned with a smiley face.
Tae Yun and other cadets hike up hill.
FRED HE/Daily Bruin
Lance Yu and Christopher Soriano (in line) load up on
rations.
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