News – Page 14 – EWU Army ROTC

Day #1 of EWU Army ROTC Winter Field Training Exercise Tests Cadets on Land Navigation

03/09/2020 by jstafford3

Over the weekend the Eastern Washington University (EWU) Army Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) “Fighting Eagles” battalion conducted its annual Winter Field Training Exercise (FTX). The first day of the exercise featured the Cadets gathering at Cadet Hall to conduct inspections of their equipment before deploying to the Cheney Waterworks Training Area via bus.

EWU Army ROTC Cadets stand in formation outside of Cadet Hall.

EWU Army ROTC Cadets march to the buses parked outside of Cadet Hall.

EWU Army ROTC Cadet, Kyle Collins steps off the bus at the Cheney Waterworks Training Area.

Once at the Cheney Waterworks Training Area, the Cadets immediately began their first training event of the Winter FTX, a daytime land navigation assessment. Cadets were given four grid locations that they then had to plot on their maps and then use their compasses and pace counts to navigate to. The land navigation course was meant to be significantly more difficult than past lessons by having points significantly farther apart from one another so Cadets were forced to put more thought into planning a route. To pass the daytime land navigation assessment the Cadets had to find at least 3 of the 4 points they were given.

Cadet First Sergeant Hunter Smith holds formation at the Cheney Waterworks Training Area.

Cadet William Chamberlin plots his point during the daytime land navigation assessment.

Cadet Cierra Neumann finds a land navigation point.

The course challenged the Cadets’ land navigation fundamentals that they have learned throughout the academic year at leadership labs. After eating a dinner consisting of Army Meals Ready to Eat (MRE) the Cadets waited until dark to begin the night land navigation assessment which would prove to be even harder. For this assessment each Cadet was given 3 points to plot on their map and navigate to in the darkness. Each Cadet had to successfully find 2 of the 3 points to pass the test.

Cadet Christopher Millward plots grid points on his map using a red head lamp.

Cadet Taylor Stitch reports into the tactical operations center to have his night land navigation assessment graded.

Mastering land navigation is an important skill for Cadets to learn because most of the Cadets will attend Advanced Camp during the summer between their Junior and Senior years in college. At Advanced Camp being able to successfully pass the land navigation course at Ft. Knox, Kentucky is required for all Cadets. The land navigation training offered by the EWU Army ROTC program ensures that Cadets are ready to succeed at Advanced Camp. Our Cadets will conduct another land navigation assessment during the Spring FTX at Camp Seven Mile at Riverside State Park in May. There the course will be even more expansive and feature a number of large hills to truly challenge the Cadets’ land navigation skills prior to attending summer training at Ft. Knox, Kentucky.

Go ROTC! Go Fighting Eags!

Note: More pictures from the 2020 Winter FTX can be seen at our Flickr page link.

Fighting Eagles Cadets on the Defensive During Weekly Leadership Lab

03/01/2020 by jstafford3

By: Cadet Marcos Sanchez

On the 27th of February 2020, Eastern Washington University (EWU) Reserve Officer Training Corp (ROTC) Cadets once again traveled out to training site “Waterworks” to conduct the eighth lab of the Winter quarter. The purpose of this lab was to have the MS3, Junior grade, Cadets demonstrate their ability to conduct area and perimeter defense to standard. Not only will this help them excel at the upcoming Winter Field Training Exercise (FTX) but it will also help them at Advanced Camp this upcoming summer at Ft. Knox, Kentucky.

EWU Army ROTC Cadets prepare to conduct Leadership Lab and the Cheney Waterworks training area.

In order to maximize the efficiency of the allotted time for training, Cadet Christian Goldbach, the officer in charge, had the MS3 Cadets also conduct missions with Recon and Surveillance (R&S) and Listening Post Observation Post (LPOP) teams. These are two tactics that will be used often at camp and practicing them will help them tremendously. The purpose of the R&S teams is to identify any threats in an area of interest and report the information back to the main element. The LPOP is similar to the R&S team but serves as a patrol bases early warning system. They stay out a good distance from the main element and report if any incoming threats are approaching all while remaining undetected.

Cadets in action — Cadets Jenna Knight and Gervacio Camacho overlook a potential enemy.

Throughout the training exercise Cadets were hit with indirect fire which forced them to call out a direction and distance in order to move their squad to a safe distance. This was only done if they were not meeting time restraints, but also helps with using their mental agility. This is a strategy that many Cadre use at camp in order to maintain timelines and disciplines such as noise and visibility. This all helps to give the MS3 class Cadets the most realistic training possible to prepare them for future upcoming field training exercises.

Third year Cadet, Valentino Olmstead directs his troops.

Note: You can view more images from the lab on our EWU ROTC Flickr page.

Fighting Eagles Battalion Holds Contracting Ceremony for Army ROTC Nursing Scholarship Winner

02/29/2020 by jstafford3

This week the Eastern Washington University (EWU) Army ROTC battalion conducted a contracting ceremony for Cadet (CDT) Olivia Roble. CDT Roble is a second year Cadet at EWU who is originally from Auburn, Washington. In high school CDT Roble applied for an Army ROTC National Scholarship to help her achieve her dream of becoming a nurse. CDT Roble was selected for a National Scholarship that will pay for four of the five years required for a nursing degree. After finishing her first year at EWU, she became eligible this year to contract into the U.S. Army and activate her scholarship benefits.

During the ceremony Cadet Roble was given the Oath of Enlistment by Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Stafford, the Professor of Military Science for the EWU Army ROTC program.

The contracting ceremony was a special moment for CDT Roble since her dad, a retired Coast Guard veteran was on hand for the event. After taking the Oath of Enlistment, her father placed the EWU patch on her right shoulder sleeve signifying her as being a contracted Cadet.

contracting ceremony hug — EWU Army ROTC Cadet, Olivia Roble receives a hug from her father after contracting into the U.S. Army to become a nurse.

Contracting into Army ROTC activated CDT Roble’s scholarship benefits which include:

Full tuition and mandatory fees (or $10,000 annually for room & board)
$1,200 annually for books and supplies
A monthly stipend of $420
Ability to apply for Army sponsored internships
Opportunity to attend advanced military training

congratulations — EWU Army ROTC Cadet, Oliva Roble (center) is contracted for contracting into the Army by fellow Cadets, Cierra Neumann (left) and Isabell Pannell (right).

Cadet Roble is part of the largest Army ROTC nursing program in Washington State and the Inland Northwest. If you want to become a future Army nurse like Cadet Roble, EWU ROTC can help get you there. We have scholarships available to qualified applicants. You can read more about how to become an Army nurse by clicking the below tab or contacting the Army ROTC office at rotc@ewu.edu .

Go Army Nursing! Go Fighting Eags!

Leadership Lab Trains Fighting Eagles Cadets on Ambush, Recon & Break Contact Drills

02/23/2020 by jstafford3

By: Cadet Marcos Sanchez

On the 21st of February 2020, Eastern Washington University (EWU) Reserve Officer Training Corp (ROTC) Cadets traveled to training site “Waterworks” to conduct the seventh lab of the Winter quarter. The purpose of this lab was to have the Cadets demonstrate their ability to execute Ambush, Recon and Break Contact to standard in order to prepare them for the upcoming winter Field Training Exercise (FTX).

EWU Army ROTC Cadets patrol through the wooded terrain of the Waterworks property adjacent to the city of Cheney.

Cadet Chad Triplett was the Officer in Charge (OIC) of the lab and he went about executing this by splitting the two platoons into two separate Area of Operations (AO), which had four objectives in each. At each objective there was a different task that needed to be complete; the Ambush, Recon, Break Contact and Setting up an Objective Rally Point or ORP. The MSIII Cadets were then graded on their ability to do these to standard based on the Ranger Handbook.

EWU Army ROTC Cadet, Thomas Luce participates in Leadership Lab training.

The MSIII Class, which is comprised of Junior level students, will be attending the Cadet Summer Training (CST) within the next 6-7 months so it is crucial that they get the most realistic training as possible. In order to accomplish this, OIC Triplett had them perform land navigation from one objective point to the next. This is something that will be done at CST so building confidence now helps them tremendously. Another, method which was used was to have the Cadets set up a proper ORP and conduct a leader’s recon. Two things that will be tested repeatedly at Advanced Camp during CST.

MS-III Cadet, Emma LaTour prepares a brief for her squad during Leadership Lab training.

This lab was also conducted at the Waterworks which is where the Winter FTX will take place. As the MSII’s and MSIII’s have been in this area in years pasts, this helps the MSI class become more familiar with the area because they have only seen this AO a handful of times. Cadets will continue to work in this AO for the remainder of the quarter in order to get used to wooded terrain similar to what they will experience during CST at Ft. Knox, Kentucky this summer.

Note: You can see more pictures from the training below and at this link.

Eagle Strong! Go Fighting Eags!

Throwback Thursday: Swoop in the 1997 Lilac Parade

02/20/2020 by jstafford3

From our our Eastern Washington University (EWU) Army ROTC photo archives comes this picture of our beloved EWU mascot, Swoop riding in the back of our ROTC Jeep during the 1997 Lilac Parade in Spokane.

Leadership Lab Trains Cadets on Squad Operations

02/15/2020 by jstafford3

By: Cadet Marcos Sanchez

On February 13^th 2020, Eastern Washington University (EWU) Reserve Officer Training Corp (ROTC) traveled out to Montague’s Farm, adjacent to the Cheney Campus, in order to refresh Cadets on basic squad operations. The squad operations training consisted of Attack, Movement to Contact (MTC) and Reacting to Indirect Fire (IDF). Cadet Cesar Guzman, the officer in charge (OIC) of planning the lab, did this by splitting up the lab into three iterations.

EWU Army ROTC Cadets train in the fields of the Montague’s Farm property adjacent to the EWU campus.

The first iteration was actions on contact leading into reacting to IDF. During the lane when the Cadets took contact from an enemy they were also hit with indirect fire which allows them to exercise their mental agility and maneuver the element to safety. The second iteration was an MTC exercise which is a search and destroy tactic. The purpose of an MTC is to move into an area where the enemy is known, take contact and then destroy the enemy using various tactics such as flanking. The third iteration was a squad attack which is similar to the MTC but in this case the exact enemy location is known so the Cadets squad is the one who initiates the contact.

Cadet Isabelle Erickson directs her personnel to maintain security.

One of the Cadets conducting these lanes was Cadet Valentino Olmstead. The way he went about excelling at these tasks was by maintaining good communication with his team leaders. To Cadet Olmstead “communication is one of if not the most important part of controlling an element because without it, your subordinates don’t know what to do”. Another key process he used was After Action Reviews of AARs which allowed him to talk with his squad and figure out what went well and what could have been improved on.

Cadet Cesar Guzman directs personnel during the Leadership Lab.

This week’s lab was the last of the crawl phase when it comes to squad tactics during the Winter Quarter. What this means is that future labs will be held in the forested terrain of the Cheney Waterworks property. The densely forested terrain will make commutation and line of sight more difficult compared to the Montague’s Farm property. Overall the progressive training events will prepare the Cadets for the upcoming Winter Field Training Exercise (FTX). The FTX will test the Cadets over 24 straight hours on all the skills they have learned this quarter during leadership labs. It will be a challenging training event that our Fighting Eagles Cadets will undoubtedly excel at.

Eagle Strong! Go Fighting Eags!

Note: More pictures from the lab can be seen below and a complete album of pictures can be seen at this link.