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Students at the University of Cincinnati spend their weekends in an amalgam of events, but three freshmen in the Reserve Officer Training Corps spent the Nov. 4 weekend in Battle Dress Uniform (BDU). They wrestled to manage field maneuvers and battlefield tactics, along with repelling from a 70-foot-tall tower among the outdoor elements.

For these freshmen, their first Field Training Exercise (FTX) is also an evaluation on the application of the knowledge they have acquired through the first six weeks as part of the ROTC Battalion.

In addition to their academics, these freshmen are evaluated on their physical condition throughout the year and are expected to assume leadership positions in their battalion as they progress in the ROTC curricula. They also dedicate a part of their week to classroom lectures and “lab” training to become proficient in the different tasks — land navigation, physical training, rope bridge construction and rappelling and weapons qualification — which are required by the U.S. Army as part of the ROTC program.

“Lab is every Wednesday at 1600 [in Sheakley Athletic Lawn] by the baseball field in Varsity Village. There, we get to practice what we have learned in lectures, but it’s not the same as a field exercise,” Sarah Mikkelson, a 20-year-old cadet and a first-year mathematics student, said.

Thus, each quarter, cadets take the knowledge they’ve gained in the classroom lectures and apply them in larger scaled “real life” training scenarios. For the first time, some of them have to perform military movements, fire several weapons in a simulator and complete tasks that could mean facing their fears. The FTX was a three-day exercise during which cadets refined their land navigation skills using only a compass, map, protractor and pencil to find their way from point to point on a course of several square miles over various terrain features.

During the FTX, cadets learned how to operate as a military unit in the field. Cadets were then put through situational training exercises, where they led squadrons in a variety of missions, from obstacle courses to hostage rescues In FTX, the situational training exercise challenged cadets to think on their feet as real life scenarios and variables, not defined in their field manuals, occurred.

THE FTX CHALLENGE

Friday afternoon, at 1300, the ROTC Battalion deployed to Camp Atterbury, Ind., for their first FTX of the
academic year.

As soon as they arrived at the camp, their tasks were scheduled meticulously: “Friday 1600 arrival to Camp Atterbury; 1630 tent assignments; 1645 move to Kings Hall for Dinner chow,” read the schedule on the battalion orders.

The freshmen have been studying battlefield maneuvers and tactics from the battlefield maneuver manual. Thus, the first task for the first-year students to accomplish at Camp Atterbury is implementing battlefield tactics, while the upper class cadets move to a more challenging task: Land Navigation.

“We’ve been preparing ourselves through the quarter for this moment,” Mikkelson said. “It’s good to be able to see how the theory is applied in the field.”

As they recognized how to utilize the different battlefield movements, the freshmen broke into the basic military unit: the squad. These squads would be the same throughout the weekend to build team work and camaraderie among the squad members.

Every member of the squad serves as the leader at least once. They learn how a squad functions and maneuvers through the battlefield.

The objective in this part of the exercise was for two squads to traverse a field to engage the enemy. The squad leaders learned to maneuver through battlefield and adjust their movement so they would not accidentally fire upon the other squad.

Friday night ended with basic drill movements; however, for some, their duties weren’t over. Throughout the night, cadets took turns conducting “Fire Guard” duties.

Fire Guards were responsible for guarding over the troops throughout the night and ensured their safety.

Saturday morning came soon, and the wakeup call was at 0530; the cadets needed to be ready, with personal hygiene completed, their tents cleaned and arranged uniformly, by 0600 to start their second day of training. Saturday’s training guaranteed to be more challenging and engaging. The training schedule would take them through simulated engagement, repelling, rope-bridge building and battlefield tactics with paintball guns.

“Today, we’ll actually get to move about in battlefield,” said Douglas Strange, 18, a first-year mechanical engineering student. “We’ll apply what we have learned and see how effective the movements are.”

The first item in the freshmen training agenda was “EST.” The EST2000 is a laser-based unit, indoor, multipurpose arms trainer. In EST 2000 training, cadets had the opportunity to be introduced to the initial marksmanship training, static unit collective gunnery and tactical training. Cadets were able to simulate the usage of M-4 rifle, M-249 machinegun and the .50 caliber machinegun.

“I really like shooting the .50 Cal.; It gives you the illusion that you are actually firing it,” Strange said.

As midmorning arrived, cadets moved to the much anticipated battlefield tactics exercise. In this portion of their training, the freshmen were issued paintball guns and paintball masks to maneuver and implement their battlefield tactics knowledge in an engagement scenario. Their respective squads move about to engage several of the upper classmen who took ‘arms’ against ‘newbies’ in a friendly paintball battle.

“The battlefield tactics was awesome. It completely changed the show from what we learned yesterday. We helped each other navigate the battlefield and engage our enemy. We put into practice what we learned in class,” said Samuel Miller, 19, a first-year economic and business student.

In the mid-afternoon came the overpowering 70-foot-tall repelling tower, where the cadets had to repel either using a wall as aid or free style without aid of the wall. For some, even though they have been practicing repelling from a UC wall, the tower presented the biggest challenge: one hand is your safety and the other is your support. To coordinate both sometimes became difficult, especially when nervousness took over. The repelling tower served to conquer one’s fear of heights and build self-confidence.

“Even though, I’ve been practicing for a while, to actually do it from a tower is very different and challenging. You have to know what your hands are doing all the time,” Mikkelson said.

Sunday morning came too soon and the cadets were up and ready by 0600. There was clean up and then an obstacle course to complete, but it’s only an introduction. There would be many opportunities for the freshmen to complete the course through the four-year ROTC program.

By 0700, everything was packed; they were off to the obstacle course. The obstacle course is the culmination of the FTX. Every FTX concludes with the obstacle course. As with every event of FTX, the obstacle course is a prelude to the Leadership Development and Assessment Course (LDAC). LDAC is the most important training event for an Army ROTC cadet. The 32-day course incorporates a wide range of subjects designed to develop and evaluate leadership ability.

The challenges are rigorous and demanding, both mentally and physically. The Leadership Assessment and Development Course evaluate intelligence, common sense, ingenuity and stamina.

These challenges provide a new perspective on an individual’s ability to perform challenging tasks and to make difficult decisions in the most demanding of situations — war.