Army ROTC

By Col. Jamie Cogbill and Cadet Katie Honan

The Army ROTC New River Battalion (NRB) came into the fall semester riding high from an excellent summer of training and excited for the opportunities laying ahead. We started the new academic year with eight new members of our cadre as we said farewell to 10 others. We’re confident that our new team has what it takes to continue the battalion’s recent success. We also were happy to welcome 130 new cadets as part of our freshmen class, all aspiring to become officers of character for our Army. Looking back at summer activities, our cadets absolutely excelled at 2022 Cadet Summer Training (CST). We were proud to have 23 of them earn the highest overall rating of “Outstanding” at Advanced Camp and 23 earned the coveted Recondo badge. In addition, 13 cadets ranked first in their squad, 12 were in the top three of their platoon, and six were selected out of 600 other cadets for overall camp awards. Also of note, NRB cadets completed the following professional development courses: Air Assault, Airborne, Jungle Ops Training Course, Cadet Troop Leader Training, along with defense internships. And for the second year in a row, the NRB was thrilled to have three cadets in the top 25 of the national rankings and was the only Senior Military College to have more than one cadet in the top 25. The rest of the battalion returned ready to mentor our newest members and share the lessons from their recent summer training.

Our fall semester has already included a battalion run, “oh-dark thirty PT,” leadership labs, a field training exercise (FTX), Ranger Challenge preparation, and the Army Ten-Miler. Our Army Ten-Miler team came in 1st place among all Army ROTC teams competing at this year’s event. Most recently, three Army cadets helped propel the VTCC Cyber Team to a 2nd place overall finish among 59 cyber teams during the US Army Central’s Best Cyber Warrior Competition.

Looking forward, our cadets graduating this December and next spring will soon find out their branches as they take the next step toward commissioning and a lifetime of committed service to the nation.

FTX

From 23-25 Sept., the New River Battalion conducted its semi-annual Field Training Exercise (FTX) at Radford Army Ammunition Plant New River Unit in Dublin, Virginia. The training was to prepare our cadets for Cadet Summer Training (CST) as well as reinforce basic warrior tasks expected of every 2nd lieutenant and soldier in the US Army. Operations conducted included day and night land navigation, round robin Army basic warrior task training, battle drill instruction and execution, and platoon patrol base operations. The FTX offered the opportunity for MS I’s to get their first experience in the field while MS II and MS III cadets built upon previous experience and learned from the experiences of the MS IVs who attended Advanced Camp over the summer. Throughout the FTX, MS IIIs were assessed on their operational knowledge and implementation of troop-leading procedures. Leading up to FTX, cadre and MS IV cadets from headquarters company planned the operation during Army labs. The culminating event was a rehearsal of concept drill, where cadet staff and company leadership briefed their roles and responsibilities to our professor of military science, Col. Cogbill and cadre.

Day one consisted of round robin training, night and day land navigation, and patrol base operations. MS III cadets began their day with round robin training on how to apply camouflage face paint, fieldcraft, tactical combat casualty care, and radio setup and use. After that, they transitioned into individual day land navigation. Cadets were provided with compasses and maps and they traversed miles of roads and thick brush to find their assigned points. Once complete, they were offered time to relax and refuel before heading back out onto the course for night land navigation. Meanwhile, MS I cadets learned tactical tasks like individual movement techniques and special teams’ duties on the objective throughout the day.

Day two consisted of tactical lanes for the MS II and III cadets. Attack, ambush, and raid lanes were conducted with MS III cadets getting their first experience at the platoon level. Their tactical knowledge and leadership abilities were showcased as platoon leaders, platoon sergeants, squad leaders, and fireteam leaders. During the lanes, they were evaluated by cadre and MS IV cadets who offered advice from their own learned experiences in the Army and at CST.

On the last day, the battalion held a final formation where cadets who had excelled throughout the training event were recognized by Col. Cogbill. In the end, the battalion accomplished its mission to train cadets in basic military tasks and give tactical leadership opportunities to those preparing for Advanced Camp, all thanks to the hard work and dedication of the cadets and cadre in the New River Battalion.