The next generation of military leaders is at Colorado State University.
ROTC cadets are some of the most visible student leaders on campus, with a unique set of skills forged in the classroom and in the field. Army ROTC cadet Lianna Lincoln, a senior majoring in biomedical sciences, was put to the test this past summer in Fort Knox, Kentucky, conducting military exercises in conditions that vacillated between soggy and scorching.
“The weather was very brutal,” Lincoln said. “There’s never really a second that you’re in Fort Knox that you’re going to be dry.”
Lincoln was one of 18 cadets from CSU who participated in the U.S. Army’s annual Cadet Summer Training in July and August, which encompasses 35 days of objectives to sharpen leadership skills and reinforce military core values.
Lincoln said the experience was invaluable, noting that CSU helped prepare her for the grueling experience, which included operating on little sleep and eating freeze-dried MREs, standing for “meal ready to eat,” for 12 days in a row.
“I feel like I’ve changed,” she said. “I was worried about the training. But as soon as I got there, I jumped right in and made the best of the situation. Because of (CSU’s ROTC program), we weren’t seeing anything for the first time.”
Center photo: CSU AROTC cadet Lianna Lincoln (Right) with Master Sgt. Wesley Gipson (center) and Michael Wolfe at 5th Regiment Graduation.
Lt. Col. Matthew Tillman, who leads CSU’s Army ROTC program, said that 8,000 cadets from across the country spent more than a month in the Summer Training Leadership Symposium in sessions ranging from physical fitness and team building to marksmanship and first aid.
As the program progresses, the cadets focus on leadership, executing Army tactics around Fort Knox. Tillman explained that the drills get more complicated as the cadets work through the hands-on leadership training.
All this eventually leads to the cadets’ rankings within their platoons at the symposium, in which CSU cadets received high marks, Tillman explained.
“These are students from our campus,” said Tillman, who also is a graduate of the CSU Army ROTC program. “We just provide them with the opportunity to challenge themselves and grow as leaders. When they come back from Fort Knox, they’re different people. They know that they can face a challenge.”
Army ROTC cadet John Henselman, a senior majoring in construction management, explained that the experience has helped enhance his communication skills in the classroom.
“Going out there with a group of people who you’ve never met before, and having to just accomplish whatever task is in front of you when everyone’s tired and hungry, forces you to step into a leadership position,” Henselman said. “It definitely trains you to deal with difficult situations.”
Janice Nerger, CSU’s interim provost and vice president for academic affairs, traveled to Fort Knox for several days to see how the program shapes the country’s next generation of military leaders. As part of the experience, she did a tandem parachute jump with the Golden Knights, the U.S. Army’s elite parachute team.
She explained that the Army ROTC is an asset to CSU and its land-grant mission because the program provides invaluable instruction on how to face challenges and work as a team.
“I can’t tell you how much I’m impressed with the ROTC program because they are teaching life lessons,” she said. “And they’re doing it in a way that most of us don’t learn it, but it absolutely transfers over to the classroom, life and relationships.”