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Greetings! It is astonishing to realize our semester is

complete. Your cadets have been extremely busy, balancingtheir academics, R.O.T.C. activities, and supporting theRichmond community. I would also like to recognize our Ranger Challenge Team for a great semester as they defeatedregional rivals UK and Morehead State to take over the topspot in our Task Force.

A huge reason for this semester’s success is attributed to the leadership of our junior and senior class. Most of ourseniors have led from the front during every R.O.T.C. event as they strive for excellence. Many of our seniors have received their component and branch selections and we arepleased to announce all of them received their top 1 or 2preference.

I would also like to take this time to thank MSG

Nicolaus and his family for their years of dedicated service tothe Colonels Battalion. His efforts have no doubt led to theproduction of quality 2LT’s into the Army. Good luck to himas he takes over a 1SG position within the 82nd Airborne Division.

It is an honor and a privilege to be a part of this organization. Have a great Christmas and we will see your Cadet’s in the Spring semester. LTC Jerimiah Corbin

I N S I D E T H I S I S S U E 1. Colonels’ Pride! 2. Cultural Understanding Leadership

Program (CULP) 3. Ranger Challenge / CST OPFOR 4. German Armed Forces Proficiency

Badge (GAFPB) / ROTC Color Guard 5. Throwback November 6. The Semester in Pictures

Support the Colonel’s Battalion Your donation to EKU’s Army ROTC Cadet Development Fund will help prepare the next generation of U.S.

Army Officers. Give Now! For more on how you can support EKU’s Army ROTC program, contact LTC Jerimiah Corbin at [email protected] or call 859-622-1205.

EASTERN KENTUCKY UNIVERSITY ARMY ROTC ROTC Alumni Newsletter Winter 2018

Colonels’ Pride! By LTC Jerimiah J. Corbin

ROTC Alumni Newsletter Winter 2018

From Rural Kentucky to the Land of an Empire By Cadet Matthew Perry

On Monday I woke up in my house

in a small town called Bagdad, Ky. ByFriday I was looking out the window ofan airplane to see the expanse of theGobi Desert before me. The planetouched down at Chinggis KhaanInternational Airport and customsofficials greeted me and the rest of myteam with smiles. I looked up to see alarge sign painted in golden letters:Welcome to Mongolia.

The fall semester of my sophomore year I was told about a program called CULP, the CulturalUnderstanding Leadership Program. The program would allow me to travel to a foreign country and trainwith their military. I was doubtful I would get selected but applied nonetheless. To my surprise, I wasaccepted and informed that I was going to Mongolia. Until that point, my knowledge of Mongolia consisted of a brief lesson in AP World History and a John Waynemovie called The Conqueror. It wasn’t until I walked off the plane and was driven to the capital city that ithit me. I was standing halfway around the world from my home. In a country that had been formed overhalf a century before our own. Everywhere I looked I saw a rich history that the country proudly displayed.Dedications to Genghis Khan (pronounced Chinggis Khaan as I was quickly informed by the locals) wereeverywhere, along with statues of important revolutionaries in their battles for independence. The capitalcity of Ulaanbaatar contained over one million people and was where I had the delight of staying. In aninteresting turn of events the presidential election was occurring while I was there, and the new presidentowned the hotel where I was staying. (I even managed to get a glimpse of him through his security the nightbefore the election.)

While in Mongolia, I had the opportunity to train at the Five Hills Military Base in the desert. It wasincredible to see how the Mongolian Forces made up for their lack of man power and equipment through purededication and discipline. My final week in the country was spent touring the Gobi Desert. It was incredibleto see the ruins and historical sites scattered throughout the countryside. I had the opportunity to visit thetraditional Buddhist monasteries and to partake in traditional Mongolian games (I was quite good at “bonedice” a game similar to jacks in the US but found myself very outmatched in Mongolian wrestling!).

The chance to tour Mongolia was one I would have never gotten outside of ROTC. Thanks to CULP, mycultural view of the world was broadened as I got to experience life outside of America and see the customs and lifestyles of a foreign country. My experiences in Mongolia are ones I’ll never forget and have helpedshape me into the leader I am today.

Summer CST OPFOR By Cadet Jonathan Meyer

During my first two years in the Army ROTCprogram here at Eastern Kentucky University I havelearned a lot about myself, leadership, and the Army.All the things I have learned, have contributed to mysuccess in ROTC as well as my classes outside of ROTC.ROTC has helped to provide a sense of focus andpurpose for me as I progress through College. Now inmy third year of ROTC it continues to give me themotivation that I need when college gets toughbecause I am constantly reminded that I’m workingtowards the goal of becoming a Second Lieutenant inthe United States Army.

This past summer I was given a very special

opportunity to grow in my leadership and enhance mytactical knowledge through my time working as theopposing force (OPFOR) during advanced camp at FortKnox, KY. OPFOR plays an integral role in thesuccessful training of cadets at advanced camp. Notonly did we play the role of the enemy, but we alsogot to experience many of the challenges we wouldface later as upperclassmen going through advanced

camp. For example, we were given the opportunity to experience land navigation, rappelling, and the future leaders’ reaction course.

During this time, I learned a lot about

myself as a person and as a leader. I was assigned a platoon and met a lot of new cadets. I discovered that I tend to be quiet especially around new people. However, that quiet side of me didn’t last long once we began to conduct training. I got to know the other cadets in our platoon and learned what it meant to be a true team player. As we continued to rotate leadership I was eventually put into the role of Platoon Sergeant. Although this role made me feel uncomfortable, I learned a lot from it and it helped build my confidence as a leader. Though everyday as OPFOR may not have been super exciting and fun, every day was packed with new life lessons that bettered me both as a leader and person.

Congratulations to the EKU Ranger Challenge team for winning their Task Force competition against UK and Morehead State. Way to represent the Colonels Battalion!! #colonelspride

Ranger Challenge is a special team that is a big partof EKU ROTC and in order to make the team you must be physically and mentally tough. You could say that the RangerChallenge team is the ROTC version of a Varsity sport in which Cadets compete against regional rivals like MoreheadState University and the University of Kentucky at the TaskForce level. Once the team is formed the Cadets rigorouslyconduct PT five days a week in order to build the strength,camaraderie, and teamwork needed to win. Our RangerChallenge team accomplished more before 0800 than 95% ofthe EKU student population does throughout their entireday. After a few year’s hiatus the EKU Ranger team’s hardwork paid off as we soundly defeated UK and Morehead Stateat the yearly Task Force competition held in Lexington. Wewere selected and proudly represented the program at ourBrigade competition at Fort Knox against schools likeMichigan State, Notre Dame and 17 others a part of the 7th

Brigade.


Ranger Challenge By Cadet Dylan Siler

German Armed Forces Proficiency Badge By Cadet Collier Young


The GAFPB or the German Armed Forces ProficiencyBadge competition is a military event where you get theopportunity to compete for a German Military medal. There arethree different awards, Bronze, Silver, and Gold that youcompete for and can earn a medal from the German Military thatcan be worn on the dress uniform for the US Army. Thecompetition consists of a pistol shoot, a 100m swim, a chemicalMission Oriented Protective Posture (MOPP) test, a combat life saver test, German Basic Fitness Test (BFT) and finished with aruck march.

The test is very strait forward and the events themselvesare not difficult to complete but when competing for time in-order to qualify for the medal you want they become moredifficult. The German BFT is composed of 11 x 10 meter sprints,the flexed arm hang, and a 1000 meter run. The shuttle sprintwas difficult because after each 10 meter sprint you have to laydown in the prone and touch your hands behind your back. Whenthe time came to complete the flexed arm hang event we knewthat it wasn’t a slow loss of strength that you can muscle throughbut it was an event that you go until you hit muscle failure andthen you drop. In order to qualify for gold on the arm hang youmust hang for 65 seconds. Moving from this event you can feel allthe muscles in your arms are throbbing from hitting musclefailure and your legs are still tired from the sprint, but youradrenaline is pumping and you’re ready for the third and finalevent. The 1000m sprint equates to 2 ½ laps on a 400m track andin order to qualify for gold you must complete it in 3:45 or less.Training for this event knowing that you’re going to be tired wewould conduct 1000m sprints back to back, trying to pushourselves faster, and faster even as we were getting tired. Afterthe BFT events are completed your scores are averaged to tellyou which tier you qualify for and will determine which roadmarch you need to complete. Your BFT average will place you inthe Bronze, Silver or Gold range and you will then have tocomplete the appropriate ruck march as follows: 3.5 miles in 60minutes for

ROTC Color Guard By Cadet Brady Hooper

When I joined ROTC here at EKU I was looking for ways to stand out withinmy class and get involved within the Colonels’ Battalion. Through colorguards with ROTC over the last 3 years, I have been able to attend severalevents on campus and throughout the community that has allowed me to meet citizens, veterans, and students that I would not have had the honorto know if I did not take this opportunity. Coordinating these events hashelped develop myself and the underclass cadets into better planners,and communicators. This semester, as a team, we have completedapproximately 20 color guards and 2 saber guards around Richmond andEKU. Of all the events this semester, my personal favorite was a detail at McCready Manor Retirement Home in Richmond that was performedduring their Veteran’s Day ceremony for all of the residents who have served. My team and I were grateful and fortunate to have had this opportunity and several others that were afforded to the color guard detail.

The Color Guard participating in the EKU homecoming ceremonies.

Bronze, 5.5 miles in 90 minutes for Silver, and 7.5miles in 120 minutes for Gold. To train for this eventwe would ruck at a 15-minute or faster pace thatalready put us ahead of the pace for the event. The only event that caused any worry due to thedifficulty to prepare for was the pistol shoot. Due tothe lack of locations to practice shooting, we wereunable to practice the pistol shoot prior to thecompetition. To qualify for gold, you must shoot 5/5, 4/5 for silver, and 3/5 for bronze.

Overall the entire competition was a greatexperience. We got to travel to another state andmeet with people on the same path as us who havetrained similar ways. Finally, once it’s all over andyou have completed all the events and you know youhave pushed yourself to the best of your ability, youget to leave with an award from a foreign countrythat you wear for the rest of your career.

Published Thursday, November 12, 1981

Eastern Kentucky University ARMY ROTC, 521 Lancaster Ave. Begley 524, Richmond, KY 40475 www.armyrotc.eku.edu or [email protected] or at 859-622-1205


Congratulations to the below Cadets for their component and branch selections. We will have five additional Cadets complete CST the summer of 2019, upon graduation they will find out their component and branch.

Cadet Jikang Active Duty, Infantry Cadet Martin Active Duty, Chemical Corp Cadet Perry Active Duty, Military Intelligence

· Branch Detailed Armor Cadet Pettit ARNG, Ordinance Cadet Villegas ARNG, Ordinance

COMPONENT AND BRANCH RESULTS March 1st, 2019- Military Ball at 5:00PM in the Keen Johnson Ballroom March 22nd, 2019- Staff Ride, Perryville Kentucky March 29th-30th 2019- German Armed Proficiency Badge Competition, Bloomington Indianna April 5th-7th, 2019- Field Training Exercise, Fort Knox, KY April 25th-26th, 2019- Mountain Man, Gatlinburg TN May 2nd, 2019- ROTC Awards Ceremony at 3:30PM at the Ravine May 9th, 2019- Spring Commissioning at 2:00PM at the O’Donnell Auditorium, Whitlock *For more event information contact [email protected]

SPRING 2019 ARMY ROTC EVENTS


The Semester in Pictures

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