|
NEWS
| april 9, 2004
Student Organizations
ROTC students practice in real-life
situations
UTA’s ROTC joined TCU and
Tarleton last weekend for Field Training Exercises.
 |
| The Shorthorn: Mark Roberts |
| ROTC cadets clean their weapons
Thursday outside College Hall. The cleaning process can
take hours because each cadet has to clean every crack
and crevice of his or her gun. |
|
By English
Young
Contributor to The Shorthorn
Justin Carlton stood in the University
Center mall with an M-16 rifle in his hands. He squinted in the
evening sun.
Then he took the rifle apart.
He and approximately 90 other Reserve Officer Training students
took part in the final activity of field training exercises—weapon
cleaning. Cleaning tools included solvent, pipe cleaners, Q-Tips
and torn bits of shirts and nylon.
“During [training] we fire blanks, which leave a carbon buildup;
that buildup can cause the rifles to jam,” said Carlton, a
political science junior and cadet second lieutenant.
All rifles must be cleaned after the conclusion of infantry training
by the students who used them, just like in any military unit.
“It can take 30 minutes, three hours or three days to clean
a [rifle],” said Darryl Beatty, an international studies junior
and cadet sergeant.
ROTC cadets from UTA, Texas Christian University and Tarleton State
completed a joint operations training exercise at Fort Wolters in
Mineral Wells over the weekend to develop infantry and leadership
skills.
“The toughest part about training is actually executing the
things we learn in class. It’s more difficult than it seems,”
said Carrien Henley, a political science junior and cadet.
The first Military Science class (MS-1) is composed of first-year
students who learn the basics of the military, MS-2 has second-year
students who assume leadership roles over the lower ranks, MS-3
is made up of third-year students who prepare for Warrior Forge
and MS-4 is Cadet Officers and battalion company staff.
“[MS-3] combined units [with other universities] in order
to learn to maneuver in small and platoon levels,” said Chad
Hoes, a broadcast junior and MSI cadet. “The combination taught
us to how to trust people in a combat situation.”
The cadets learned basic infantry skills and combat techniques.
“It was an educational experience for those who haven’t
done it before,” said Charles Kelsey, a political science
junior and cadet first class sergeant.
The cadets participate in field training exercises as preparation
for MS-3’s Warrior Forge, the most important training event
for ROTC.
“This training leads to Warrior Forge, which leads to graduation,”
Kelsey said. “Every cadet between his junior and senior year
goes. It is a test of all the skills we’ve learned.”
On the first day of training, the cadets participated in a land
navigation. They were given a map and told to navigate to specific
locations through an area of about 100 square kilometers.
On the second day, they woke up at 4 a.m. and participated in a
situational training exercise. They learned to react to ambushes
and attacks in simulated war training.
“A smoke bomb was thrown, and I couldn’t see,”
said Joseph Cederstrom, criminal justice freshman and cadet private
first class, “I ended up jumping into a cactus and rolling
through it.”
On the third day of training, they woke up at 5 a.m. and marched
six miles around the campsite.
“It was a tactical round march and there were attacks on us
from the opposition (higher ranks). We had to cover and return fire,”
Hoes said.
The ROTC program allows cadets to learn the basics of how the military
works.
“We want to become commissioned officers in the U.S Army,”
Hoes said. “This evolves us as leaders. [The ROTC] allows
us to learn to rely on each other and work as a team.”
CORRECTION
In this story Chad Hoes should have been identified
as a broadcast freshman.
|
|
