Eastern Washington University – Page 17

Five More “Fighting Eagles” Battalion Cadets Graduate from ROTC Advanced Camp

08/27/2019 by jstafford3

The Eastern Washington University (EWU) Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) recently had 5 more Cadets graduate from Advanced Camp at Fort Knox, Kentucky. Cadets Ian House, Joseph Jordan, Jazmin Castrejon, Coy Odiorne, and Melinda Leen all graduated as part of Advanced Camp’s 9th Regiment on August 8th.

From left: Ian House, Joseph Jordan, Jazmin Castrejon, Coy Odiorne, and Melinda Leen pictured together following graduation from ROTC Advanced Camp at Ft. Knox, Kentucky

Advanced Camp is Cadet Command’s premier annual training event that assesses Cadets on their ability to conduct basic officer leadership tasks. Cadets usually attend Advanced Camp during the summer between their junior and senior years of college. Passing Advanced Camp is a mandatory requirement for all Cadets who want to commission as an officer in the U.S. Army after graduation. With the successful completion of Advanced Camp, Cadets House, Jordan, Castrejon, Odiorne, and Leen are one step closer to commissioning as Second Lieutenants after graduating from Eastern.

The completion of Advanced Camp however was not the end of summer training for some of these Cadets. After graduating from Advanced Camp three of the Cadets left to participate in Cadet Troop Leadership Training (CTLT). At CTLT a Cadet gets hands on experience with being an officer within an active duty U.S. Army unit. Cadet Odiorne is currently embedded with Taskforce Talon, a missile defense unit assigned to protect the island of Guam from ballistic missile attack. Cadet Castrejon and House both traveled to Ft. Hood, Texas to take part in a CTLT experience with transportation and chemical units.

Congratulations to all five Cadets for graduating from Advanced Camp and achieving one of the most important accomplishments of the ROTC program.

Eastern Washington University ROTC Cadet Graduates from the U.S. Army’s Airborne School

08/26/2019 by jstafford3

The Eastern Washington University (EWU) Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) program is pleased to announce that one of its Cadets, Chad Triplett has recently graduated from the U.S. Army’s Airborne School at Ft. Benning, Georgia. The completion of Airborne School makes Cadet Triplett a qualified paratrooper within the U.S. Army authorized to wear the Parachutist Badge on his uniform.

EWU ROTC Cadet, Chad Triplett (right) pictured with a fellow Cadet after after graduating from the U.S. Army’s Airborne School.

Airborne School is a 3-week long course that challenges Soldiers both mentally and physically to become paratroopers within the U.S. Army. The course teaches Soldiers the techniques involved with parachuting from airplanes and safely landing in combat conditions. The U.S. Army has been training paratroopers since June 1940 when its first Airborne test unit was activated. In the following years Airborne units were established and saw heavy combat during World War II, particularly during the Allied invasions of Italy and France. Airborne units continue to be an important part of today’s U.S. Army.

The U.S. Army’s Parachutist Badge worn by all Airborne qualified personnel.

Being able to attend advanced Army training such as Airborne School is one of the benefits of contracting into the ROTC program. Cadets can initially enroll into ROTC in a non-contracted status to explore if military service is for them. ROTC is the only place where a person can explore military service WITHOUT actually being in the military. For Cadets who determine that they want to contract into the U.S. Army, advanced military training such as Airborne, Air Assault, Mountain Warfare, Combat Diver, and other schools are open to them to apply for. Please read the EWU ROTC Contracting Page for more information on how to enroll or contract into the ROTC program.

Cadet Triplett is an incoming senior Cadet at Eastern Washington University studying criminal justice. He has excelled not only in ROTC, but in the classroom as well where he was selected earlier this year for the prestigious Chertok Scholarship from EWU’s College of Social Sciences. EWU ROTC congratulates Cadet Triplett for his impressive accomplishment of completing Airborne School and becoming a U.S. Army paratrooper.

Go ROTC! Go Fighting Eags!

Throwback Thursday: The Eastern Washington University Campus in 1964

08/15/2019 by jstafford3

EWU Campus 1964

Here is a picture of what the Eastern Washington University (EWU) campus looked like back in 1964. Back then the school was called Eastern Washington State College. Cadet Hall is pictured next to the old Fieldhouse that burned down back in 1970’s. The Computing and Engineering Building was built in its place next to Cadet Hall in 2006. The football stadium that is pictured was replaced by today’s Roos Field constructed on the other side of Washington Street from the EWU campus. The old football stadium has been knocked down and replaced with the construction of the JFK Library and a grassy area known today as JFK Field. This field is where we hold some our weekly ROTC leadership labs at during the year.

Three Eastern Washington University Cadets Graduate from ROTC Advanced Camp

08/13/2019 by jstafford3

Congratulations to Eastern Washington University (EWU) Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) “Fighting Eagles” battalion Cadets Austin Bristow, Jacob Villasenor and Hunter Smith for graduating today from Advanced Camp’s, 10th Regiment at Ft. Knox, Kentucky.

From left: Austin Bristow, Jacob Villasenor, and Hunter Smith take a picture together during the Field Training Exercise (FTX) portion of Advanced Camp at Ft. Knox, Kentucky

Eastern’s ROTC program sent 22 Cadets to Advanced Camp this year and our final two Cadets will graduate from Advanced Camp’s 11th Regiment on August 18th.

With the successful completion of Advanced Camp Cadets Bristow, Villasenor, and Smith are one step closer to commissioning as Second Lieutenants after graduating from Eastern. Congratulations to all three Cadets for achieving one of the benchmark accomplishments of the ROTC program.

Go ROTC! Go Fighting Eags!

Eastern Washington University Cadet Graduates from ROTC Basic Camp

08/11/2019 by jstafford3

Congratulations to Eastern Washington University (EWU) Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) Cadet Andrew Gannon for graduating from Basic Camp at Ft. Knox, Kentucky. Here is a picture of Cadet Gannon’s unit, 3rd Platoon, Bravo Company, 5th Regiment:

Here is a closer look at Cadet Gannon seated right below the drill sergeant:

cadet gannon

Basic Camp is a four-week leadership training course designed for college students, typically between their sophomore and junior years to attend if they did not join ROTC during their freshman year of college. After completion of Basic Camp the Cadet is then eligible for entry as a third year Cadet in the four year ROTC program. The Cadet is also eligible to contract and receive scholarship and stipend benefits.

Once again congratulations to Cadet Gannon for graduating from Basic Camp!

Go ROTC! Go Fighting Eags!

Subscribe to EWU Army ROTC

There are multiple ways to keep up-to-date on all the latest EWU Army ROTC news and notes. The first way is by subscribing by using the sign up widget in the right sidebar. Every time a new post is published you will be sent an email notifying you. Subscribers to the site can cancel their email subscription at any time. The other options are to follow our EWU Army ROTC social media channels:

We publish a lot of great content about our outstanding Cadets and never use it for spam purposes. Thank you for interest in the EWU Army ROTC program and we hope you become a subscriber.

Throwback Thursday: EWU Army ROTC Cadet Attends Advanced Camp in 1965

08/08/2019 by jstafford3

With some of our Eastern Washington University (EWU) Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) Cadets still going through Advanced Camp this summer. I thought it would be fun to show one of our alumni going through Advanced Camp back in 1965 at Ft. Lewis, Washington. Does any of our EWU Army ROTC alumni recognize the pictured individual?

By the way here is a picture of the sleeping accommodations at Advanced Camp back then: