On November 14th, 2019 the Eastern Washington University (EWU) Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) “Fighting Eagles” battalion conducted the Combat Water Survival Test (CWST). The CWST is an event that every Cadet must pass in order for them to commission as officers. The test was held in the Aquatics Center on the EWU campus.
Cadets came in their assigned uniforms excited because of the fact that CWST is the only swimming event scheduled in the regular academic week. Even though the CWST is serious and is necessary for all Cadets, many Cadets also see it as the highlight of the academic quarter.
The first events are a 10-minute swim that requires all Cadets to not touch: the walls of the pool, the floor of the pool, or any other Cadets. After a short rest, Cadets then enter the pool again to tread water for 5-minutes. The other events include a step off the high dive board with a rubber M16, a gear ditch, and a 15-meter swim with a rubber M16 in hand and a fighting load carrier on the body. All of these events (besides the 10-minute swim and 5-minute tread) but be completed in a uniform that includes physical training shorts, tan tee, and ACU top and bottoms.
Due to all the Cadets finishing the CWST early, this allowed Cadets to have some free time. The Cadets used this free time to go over various water survival skills (like inflating a pair of pants for a flotation device) and also do some water-resistant exercises. Not only did over 90% of the Cadets pass the CWST, but they had a great time doing so as well.
Go Fighting Eags!
Note:You can view more pictures from the CWST below:
Our Eastern Washington University (EWU) Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) Cadets that were selected for active duty after graduation next year, were given their branching assignments earlier this week. An Army branch is the equivalent of the job a student would work after graduating from Eastern. During the beginning of their senior year, Cadets rank in order of preference which of the 17 branches in the Army they want to assess into. The Army’s accessions process then assigns a score to each Cadet based of the academic aptitude, fitness, Advanced Camp performance, and a few other variables. This score is then used to help determine which branch each Cadet receives; the higher the score the more likely a Cadet will receive their first branch choice.
The 2019 EWU Army ROTC Active Duty commissionees hold up their branch crests.
Here are videos of our Cadets opening the envelopes that revealed which branch they received:
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Our U.S. Army Reserve and National Guard Cadets go through a different branching process which we are still currently working to solidify. We will announce the branches our National Guard and Reservists received once complete. Congratulations to our senior Active Duty Cadets on receiving their branches.
Go Fighting Eags!
Air Defense Artillery
The mission of Air Defense Artillery is to protect the force and selected geopolitical assets from aerial attack, missile attack, and surveillance.
Coy Odiorne
Armor
Armor’s mission is to close with and destroy the enemy using fire, maneuver, and shock action.
Jameson Palmer – Distinguished Military Graduate – Top 20%
Robert Wheeler – Branch detail Armor; control branch of Signal Corps
Chemical Corps
The Chemical Corps is the branch of the United States Army tasked with defending against chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) weapons.
Joseph Jordan – Branch detail Chemical; control branch of Signal Corps
Engineers
An engineer officer is responsible for providing full support to the wide range of engineering duties in the Army. They can help build structures, develop civil works programs and even provide combat support.
Erling Anderson (Distinguished Military Graduate-Top 20%)
Samuel Coutts
Field Artillery
The mission of the Field Artillery is to destroy, defeat, or disrupt the enemy with integrated fires to enable maneuver commanders to dominate in unified land operations
Cheyenne Sweet
Ian House – Branch detail Field Artillery, control branch of Military Intelligence
Infantry
The infantry officer is responsible for leading the infantry and combined armed forces during land combat.
Chad Triplett (Distinguished Military Graduate – Top 10%)
Nursing Corps
Nurse Corps officers lead a nursing team that cares for Soldiers and their families.
Josiah Bryan
Sarah Mullen
Ordnance Corps
Ordnance officers are responsible for the maintenance of Army weapon systems, ammunition, missiles, and vehicles.
Megan Anderson
Signal Corps
A Signal officer is responsible for providing communications and computer capabilities to Army forces spread across the world.
Austin Pfennig
Transportation Corps
Transportation officers are responsible for moving people, equipment, and supplies around the world by sea, air, and land.
From the 7th through the 9th of November 2019, the Eastern Washington University (EWU) Reserve Officer Training Program (ROTC) “Fighting Eagles” battalion executed its annual Expert Fighting Eagle Battalion (EFEB) test. The EFEB is an event based competition where every Cadet in the program who does not already has an EFEB, participates in a variety of individual skill events that tests their mental and physical attributes. Everyone who passes the test is awarded an EFEB to where on their Cadet uniforms. The EFEB test historically only has a pass rate of 15% which ensures that only the most prepared Cadets pass. In order to receive the EFEB, a participating Cadet must pass every event labeled as, “must pass” as well as only being allowed to fail two of the remaining 11 other events.
The Expert Fighting Eagles Badge.
Must Pass Events
There are five must pass events the Cadets must pass. The events are:
Score at least 70 points in each event of the Army Physical Fitness Test (APFT) and an overall score of 240 or higher.
For day land navigation the Cadets must find 3 of 4 points
For night land navigation they must find 2 of 3 points
Complete a 6-mile ruck march in under 90 minutes followed by an equipment layout to ensure all gear was correctly packed.
Complete the obstacle course in front of Cadet Hall which includes climbing over a 6 foot wall and a rope climb.
Additional Events
The other 11 events where Cadets can only fail two of are:
a hand grenade course
an ASIPS radio test
assembly and disassembly of of the following weapons systems
M4 rifle
M240
M249
hand and arm signals
creating a range card
performing tactical combat casualty care
conducting a SALUTE report
written land navigation test
individual movement techniques.
EFEB Day 1 and Day 2
The first day of testing is when the APFT occurs. Any of the Cadets that were eliminated from the competition because of the APFT still continued on in the competition to build experience to be ready for next year’s EFEB test. The second day of testing had many Cadets going from event to event with little to no breaks. The events started with the hand grenade assault course and ASIPS radio test and ran until almost 9 pm where cadets finished with assembly and disassembly of three different weapon systems.
Cadet Crystal Cruz (left) and Joseph Jordan (right) take apart an ASIPS radio.Cadet Everett Kuhnel disassembles an M4 rifle.
EFEB Day 3
On November 9th, at 3 am, the competitors gathered around to hear about the land navigation course that would be held in the wooded terrain at the Cheney Water Works property. The course was designed to be tough enough where Cadets would have to walk from corner to corner on the course in order to find their points. Points were also almost invisible due to the darkness caused by the heavy cloud cover. This forced Cadets to be precise with their use of plotting points, establishing a route plan, and movement to their plotted points. Even with the darkness and removal of any sort of help from an outside source, most of the Cadets that were still in the competition passed the necessary event.
Cadets work on plotting their night land navigation points.
After a written land navigation test and short Meal Ready to Eat (MRE) breakfast, the Cadets were immediately given new points for the day land navigation test. This event proved much easier to all the Cadets that were still competitive for the EFEB. After land navigation, the Cadets then went through an individual movement techniques lane and finally the ruck march.
Cadet Austin Bristow briefs Cadets on the day land navigation course.
The ruck march is 6 miles long and had Cadets hold a minimum weight of 35 pounds, all while being expected to complete the ruck in 90 minutes or less. The course took the Cadets from the Cheney Water Works property, through downtown Cheney, and ended at Cadet Hall on the Eastern Washington University campus.
Cadet Justin Mebes carried the unit guide on and finished with the fastest time of 57 minutes on the six mile ruck march event.
When the Cadets finally made the march back to Cadet Hall, there was still more must pass events. The obstacle course tested the physical and mental strength of the participants after completing the ruck. After the climbing wall, the Cadets then had to climb a rope to have their bodies reach a certain point before they can slide down and conduct a gear layout to ensure there were no light rucks over the competition.
Final EFEB statistics
After all these events, only 7 Cadets passed the necessary requirements to earn the coveted Expert Fighting Eagles Badge:
The 7 of 51 who earned the EFEB meant the test had a pass rate of 14% once again demonstrating how challenging receiving the badge is. Of the seven EFEB recipients only one Cadet earned “True Red” status. To earn “True Red” status, the Cadet must pass every single course with no fail. This proves very difficult, considering that many Cadets who earn the EFEB fail at least one event, this does not mean they are not still competitive for the badge though.
Expert Fighting Eagles Badge recipients (from left): Isabell Erickson, Sam Yancey, Evan Lien, Adam Burnside, Liam Hewey, Justin Mebes, & John Drohman (true red).
Cadet Drohman, the only Cadet this year to not fail a single event, said he prepared for the competition with frequent exercise in his own time, as well as studying all the performance measures to be absolutely sure there were no misunderstandings about the rules. Congratulations to Cadet Drohman and our six other recipients of the 2019 Expert Fighting Eagles Badge.
Go Fighting Eags!
Note:More pictures from the 2019 Expert Fighting Eagles Badge test can be seen below.
First formation before the start of the annual Expert Fighting Eagles Badge test.Cadet Cierra Neumann assembles an ASIPS radio.Cadet Sam Yancey conducts the hand grenade assault course.Cadet Sayliana Palmer conducts the weapons assembly/disassembly test.Cadet Taylor Stich disassembles an M249 machine gun.A Cadet conducts the Tactical Combat Casualty Care test.Cadets conduct the range card test.Cadets plot night land navigation points in the early morning darkness.Cadet Jazmin Castrejon finds a land navigation point.Cadet Everett Kuhnel finds a day land navigation point.Cadets Allyson Burnette (left) and Janu Lee (right) pose for a picture.Cadet Caleb Geringer executes the SALUTE report test.Cadet Christian Goldbach provides a safety brief prior to the ruck march event.Cadet Ethan Smart conducts the ruck march event.Cadets John Drohman (left) and Collin Galbreath (right) conduct the ruck march event.Cadet Adam Burnside conducts the ruck march event.Cadet Samantha Knight pulls herself over a wall on the obstacle course.
Cadet Crystal Cruz successfully climbs up the rope obstacle.
Cadet Kaitlynn Taylor climbs up the rope obstacle.
Cadet Liam Hewey climbs up the rope obstacle.At the end of the EFEB Cadets got to enjoy a catered meal of Mexican food at Cadet Hall.
We recently had everyone’s favorite mascot, “Swoop” attempt to join the Eastern Washington University (EWU) Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) program. Let’s just say that things did not go to well. See the video below:
Ranger Challenge is an annual competition where Army ROTC teams from 11 university’s located in the Inland Northwest, Montana, Idaho, and Northern California compete to be the best team in the region. The teams compete in various military themed events that challenge the Cadets both physically and mentally. This year between 24-26 October 2019 the Spokane region played host to the 2019 Ranger Challenge Competition.
The first day of the competition was planned and executed by the Eastern Washington University (EWU) Army ROTC program. The events were all hosted either on campus or in the Cheney region. Something new tried for this Ranger Challenge was that scores for each event were being posted online for family, friends, and alumni to keep track of the competition. Additionally complete descriptions of the events with scoring standards were posted for not only the competing teams to view, but for spectators as well to understand the challenging events the Cadets were executing.
Paddling Event – 2nd Place
Our EWU ROTC team began the competition at the Cheney Trailhead of the Columbia Plateau Trail. From the trailhead the team had to roadmarch 4 miles to Fish Lake where they then had to complete a rafting course. At the end of the rafting course a 9-Line MEDEVAC request was called up using clues found along the route. Our EWU team did outstanding in this event by finishing in 2nd place to the University of Montana. The Eastern team during the event demonstrated their well practiced paddling skills on Fish Lake.
The EWU Ranger Challenge team arrives at the Cheney Trailhead of the Columbia Plateau Trail
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The EWU Ranger Challenge team nears the end of the ruck march to Fish Lake.
EWU Ranger Challenge team crosses the finish line of the ruck march at Fish Lake.
The Eastern team prepares to begin the paddling event.
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The Eastern team paddles across Fish Lake.
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Weapons Range Event – 1st Place
After the event at Fish Lake the Eastern team then took a bus to the weapons range at Medical Lake. At this event the team had to conduct a written general Army knowledge test, an M17 pistol range, and a M4 rifle range that included having to pull a sled with 200 pounds up and down a hill. The Eastern team dominated this event by shooting very well, getting the most laps completed with the 200 sled, as well as the highest scores on the written test.
Cadet Christian Goldbach takes the written test.Cadet Cesar Guzman takes the written test.Cadet Jameson Palmer engages targets on the M17 pistol range.
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Cadet Cheyenne Sweet engages targets with her M4 rifle.
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Cadets drag the weighted sled.
Combat Water Survival Test (CWST) – 2nd Place
For the CWST Event, each member of the Ranger Challenge team completed a five-minute buoyancy test without a ruck, jumped from a high diving board and swam across the pool, and then conducted a two-stroke test using the sidestroke and breaststroke. The EWU team took a one point penalty on the breaststroke test which knocked the team down to 2nd place for the event.
Cadet Kaylie Watters conducts the buoyancy test.Cadet Justin Mebes conducts the two-stroke test.
Cadet Kaylie Watters jumps off the diving board.
EWU ROTC’s Ranger Challenge team members pose during the CWST event.
Commander’s Challenge – 4th Place
For the Commander’s Challenge event, each Ranger Challenge team member had to ascend a climbing wall, then complete the Spring, Drag, Carry event of the new Army Combat Fitness Test (ACFT), and then negotiate an obstacle course. Since this was the fourth event of the day our Eastern team was quite tired and had some challenges with the climbing wall. However, the team did well enough on the Spring, Drag, Carry and obstacle course to finish a solid 4th place for the event.
EWU Cadets conduct the climbing wall event.
Team takes picture with the EWU mascot, Swoop after completing the climbing wall event.
Cadet Cesar Guzman pulls a weighted tire as part of the spring, drag, carry event.Cadet Christian Goldbach crosses the monkey bars.
Cadet Hunter Smith climbs a rope on the obstacle course event
Helicopter Transport to Camp Seven Mile
After each team completed their Day #1 events they then headed over to the upper parking lot behind “The Inferno” at Roos Field. At the parking lot UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters from the Washington Army National Guard landed and then transported the Cadets to Camp Seven Mile. The camp is located just north of Spokane within the boundaries of Riverside State Park. EWU Army ROTC thanks the 96th Aviation Troop Command out of Joint Base Lewis-McChord for supporting Ranger Challenge 2019.
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Night Land Navigation – 2nd Place
One the night settled in on Camp Seven Mile, the team then participated in a night land navigation course. Being proficient in land navigation is one of the key skills taught to ROTC Cadets. For this course the team had to find as many points as possible and return at a set time or be penalized. The land navigation points were scored by the closer ones being worth smaller scores and the longer distance points being worth higher scores. Our EWU Army ROTC team excelled at this event by finishing second in the amount of points found.
Cadets from each Ranger Challenge team receive the night land navigation brief.The sun sets on Camp Seven Mile.
Hand Grenade Assault Course – 2nd Place
On Day #2 of Ranger Challenge, the Cadets woke up early and marched to their first event of the day, the Hand Grenade Assault Course. For this event the team had to patrol through the woods, identify targets, and then successfully engage the targets by throwing hand grenades. The team came one point short of getting the maximum score on the course, thus finishing in 2nd place.
Cadet Andreas Brazier calls for a halt during a movement on the hand grenade assault course.
Cadet Hunter Smith throws a grenade into a building.
HMMWV Push – 3rd Place
For the HMMWV Push event the Cadets had to push an uparmored HMMWV filled with gear across a large grass field. This was an extremely physically demanding event that the Eastern team finished 3rd place in.
The Grinder – 3rd place
For the Grinder event, the Cadets had to evaluate a casualty and provide medical care. After correctly applying medical care they then had to put the casualty on a stretcher and transport it to the top of a steep hill. At the top of the hill the Cadets then had to correctly call in a 9-Line MEDEVAC to extract the casualty. The Eastern team narrowly finished in 3rd place in this event.
Cadet Cesar Guzman evaluates the casualty on the Grinder event.
Mystery Event – 1st Place
Prior to the start of Ranger Challenge each team was given a packet on what all the events would be so they could train for them. However, one event was unknown which became known as the Mystery Event. The Cadets were going to have to complete this event with no prior knowledge of what they would be asked to do. In the event the Cadets had to climb a wall, sprint across a field, and then conduct a Call for Fire course. The Eastern Ranger Challenge team ended up having the fastest time and placed 1st overall in the Mystery Event.
The Eastern Ranger Challenge team climbs over a wall on the Mystery Event.Cadet Jameson Palmer successfully executes the Call for Fire event.
Ruck March – 5th Place
The final event of Ranger Challenge 2019 was a 12 km ruck march. Going into this event the Gonzaga and Eastern teams were both tied for first place. Despite a valiant effort the Eastern Ranger Challenge team came up short on the ruck march with Gonzaga winning the event and the overall Ranger Challenge competition.
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Congratulation to Gonzaga ROTC for their win, but EWU ROTC is extremely proud of the effort put forth by our Ranger Challenge team. The team finished 1st in two events, 2nd in four events, 3rd in two events and then a 4th and 5th place finish. This demonstrated how competitive and well rounded the team was in every event at Ranger Challenge. We look forward to building and training another highly competitive Ranger Challenge team next year as well.
The Eastern Washington University Army ROTC Ranger Challenge team takes a team picture after completing the ruck march event: Back Row (from left): Jameson Palmer, Chad Triplett, Christian Goldbach, Kaylie Watters, & Hunter Smith; Front Row (from left): Andreas Brazier, Justin Mebes, Coy Odiorne, Cheyenne Sweet, & Cesar Guzman
On October 31st, the Eastern Washington University (EWU) Reserve Officer Training Corp (ROTC) “Fighting Eagles” battalion conducted its third and final land navigation course for preparation for the upcoming Expert Fighting Eagle Badge test. The land navigation course was meant to be significantly more difficult than past lessons so leadership could assess the Cadets land navigation skills. In order to make the course more difficult, Cadets were encouraged to work alone so they could see where they are truly at. The course also had points significantly farther apart from one another so Cadets were forced to put more thought into planning a route.
Cadet James Dutton (left) plots points and Cadet Ian House (right) explains the course to other Fighting Eagles Cadets.
Cadets were truly put to the test. Many Cadets were seen using various land navigation fundamentals to change their route to the next point or just making sure they are at the point in accordance to the map. When asked about how the course was compared to previous ones, Cadet Caleb Bullard said, “This one was a real challenge, it felt more like a test rather than a lesson.” Bullard also said, “I had a rough time, but was happy to see what I needed to work on.”
EWU Army ROTC Nursing Cadets, Jennafer Knight (left) and Kaylie Watters (right) conduct the land navigation course.
When the land navigation course ended a contracting ceremony was held for Cadet Crystal Cruz. By contracting, Cadet Cruz after graduation will commission as Second Lieutenant in the United States Army. As a contracted Cadet, she will also receive a $420 a month stipend and a $5,000 bonus for completing ROTC Basic Camp this past summer. We are so excited for Cadet Cruz and her future in the United States Army!
Cadet Crystal Cruz contracts into the U.S. Army. Retired Army Major, Rob Riedel gives the Oath of Enlistment to Cadet Cruz.
