Courtesy of Rhys JacobsonDuring the weekend of September 30, the Army Reserve Officers Training Corps Department went on its biannual Field Training Exercise at Camp Ethan Allan Training Site in Jericho, Vermont. The exercise consisted of cadets navigating through the rugged, unfamiliar Vermont terrain with nothing but a map and compass, going to the range to improve their marksmanship, and practicing their skills in squad missions. Cadets slept outside, ate field rations called Meal, Ready to Eat, and set up patrol bases to defend at night and conduct missions during the day. At the range, they learned about basic rifle marksmanship, got to zero in their M4 rifles, and shoot to qualify on the Army weapons qualification course. They also did land navigation, which consisted of plotting coordinates on a map, then finding them in the woods. For this exercise, cadets took into consideration elevation change, bodies of water, and time constraints into their route planning, something they had been taught and gotten to practice before. This all culminated towards the squad missions. Cadets had trained up to this point to prepare for squad missions. Classes and practical exercises gave cadets the experience and confidence to perform tactical first aid, handle enemy prisoners, move as a team, and much more. The biggest takeaway for most cadets was the ability to work and function as a team. There are a variety of jobs as an officer in the United States Army, from being an infantryman to a human resources officer, but they all require that team-based mentality as a foundation.
Rhys Jacobson ’19