CU-Boulder cadets learning by doing

By Nicole Jenkins | CU-Boulder

Thrust into the day-to-day operations of active duty life.

Taking on a month of mentally and physically challenging courses in humid, buggy conditions.

Immersing themselves into the culture of a foreign country.

CU Army ROTC cadets have a wide range of summer experience and training opportunities to further develop their leadership skills.

“Ultimately we want our cadets to excel as leaders within the Army's Officer Corps and within their communities,” explains LTC Aaron Roof, Commander of the CU ROTC unit. “The summer experiences combined with their academic work here at CU and the rigorous leadership training they receive on campus as ROTC cadets prepares them well for success.”

Seven CU Army ROTC cadets reflected on their 2014 summer experiences in three distinctly different programs offered through the Army.

Cadets Briana Zuckerman and Stephen Velisek went through Cadet Troop Leader Training (CTLT). Cadet Troop Leader Training allows selected cadets to serve in a leadership position with an active duty or reserve unit (on annual training). The program is approximately three weeks in duration.

Cadet Zuckerman spent her three weeks attached to a Field Artillery Fire Support Officer in Fort Bragg, North Carolina. While there, Zuckerman shadowed many branches and experienced active duty life.

"One of the most important things I learned at CTLT was to depend on your NCO's and trust your Platoon Sergeant. They have a great deal of experience and a willingness to teach, which further developed my leadership abilities. The NCO's gave me a lot of great advice that I will bring with me into my professional career."

CU resources for militaryStephen Velisek spent his Cadet Troop Leader Training experience planning and executing daily operations for a Field Artillery platoon at Fort Hood. Velisek was attached to a tenured CU Boulder 2nd Lieutenant, Elizabeth Martin.

"Going into this experience I was under the impression that I would be shadowing Lieutenant Martin and acting similar to an intern, learning the basics of her job. This was far from accurate. I was able to fully immerse myself as an acting platoon leader. This included taking on responsibilities like planning and leading physical training to overseeing maintenance of the platoon's vehicles. Being able to take responsibility really allowed me to learn a lot through the raw experience."

The ROTC Leader Development and Assessment Course (LDAC) put cadets Jeffrey Milhorn and Alessandra Angueira through a 29-day camp that incorporates a wide range of subjects designed to develop and evaluate leadership ability. The rigorous and demanding challenges during LDAC provide a new perspective on an individual's ability to perform exacting tasks and to make difficult decisions in demanding situations.

Cadet Milhorn's ROTC experiences at CU Boulder had him well prepared for the course with high standards for success, critical problem solving skills and resiliency.

"As a leader, you will succeed by both accomplishing the mission and taking care of your people. One does not come before the other, but rather these two things work hand-in-hand."

"The other lesson that I took away was that no matter how miserable you may feel, or how many things seem to be going wrong, there is always something positive to be gained from any situation. Through physical and mental determination you can accomplish any goal you set for yourself."

Cadet Angueira shared a similar account of her LDAC experience.

"Teamwork was a huge part of LDAC and it was essential to the success of all missions that we conducted. I would say that the most important lesson I learned at LDAC was that, even if we try to be perfect, we will make mistakes, and that's okay. Making mistakes only becomes a problem if you keep making the same errors over and over again."

Through the Cultural Understanding and Language Proficiency program (CULP) cadets experience a cultural immersion internship to gain better understanding of foreign cultures and languages. Cadets are exposed to the realities that other countries have vastly different lifestyles, economic standing and world perspective. Cadets spend about a month traveling in small groups led by a senior leader cadre.

CU cadets Christopher Badger and Robert Faass both spoke highly of their cultural immersion experience. In addition to the work of their groups, typically focused on teaching English, the cadets had time to explore the countries they visited, experiencing the markets, festivals and each country's unique geographical and cultural landmarks.

Cadet Badger called Indonesia home for a month where his group's primary goal was to teach English to Indonesian military at the Ministry of Defense language academy.

"Most of the Indonesian military we worked with had been learning English since grade school as we would learn Spanish or French here in the U.S. We did a lot less grammar and bookwork and a lot more conversing between one another so that they could practice with a native English speaker."

In Lithuania, Cadet Faass' group conducted a conversational English class at the Military Academy of Lithuania. A typical day consisted of five hours of instruction where the group was given little guidance to create their own lesson plans.

During an event similar to a "Field Day" in the U.S., Faass' team ran stations for a large group of Lithuanian and Polish orphans. The children circulated through a series of stations, with Faass' group teaching the children t-ball and running a basketball station.

"After we finished our stations, some members of our team played soccer with the children. They really didn't speak any English, but it was easy to enjoy soccer with them. Sports are a language all their own. It was a very rewarding and humbling experience."

Cadet Hayden Smead also completed a CULP program in a very different manner. For nearly four weeks, Cadet Smead completed a military-to-military assignment in Guyana, South America, learning jungle survival skills. Over the course of the experience, cadets were put into stressful challenges both mentally and physically.

During the first phase of the experience, the Army cadets were teamed with Guyanese cadets where they completed numerous courses and competitions in preparation for the next phases of the experience. Phase two of the trip was Jungle Amphibious Training School where cadets learned to survive in the jungle. "The first three days were spent learning how to survive in the jungle with the last night spent on the ground of the jungle in order to increase our confidence in a survival environment," shared Smead.

All of this culminated in their final expedition to Kaieteur Falls, one of the largest single drop waterfalls in the world at 741 feet.

"For two nights we moved through native villages. During these nights we encountered the worst rain of our entire trip. They were long, wet, loud nights," according to Smead. On the final day they ascended over a mountain and through the jungle 6 miles to the top of the Kaieteur Falls.

"My favorite part about my trip was how mentally challenging it was, especially during our jungle survival school. There were times when I felt like quitting because I was fatigued from not eating for two days and dehydrated from drinking small amounts of boiled, brown river water. The main thing that got me through was my squad. Knowing that I wasn't the only one suffering, and that we were all suffering together, made me push through it. Teamwork is everything in a situation like that. You really need other people to get you through it." 

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