Congratulation to Eastern Washington University (EWU) Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) Cadets, Liam Hewey and Devante Hall for graduating from Cadet Command’s 3rd Regiment, Basic Camp today at Ft. Knox, Kentucky.
EWU Army ROTC Cadet, Liam Hewey is pictured with a howitzer while attending Basic Camp at Ft. Knox, Kentucky.
Basic Camp is a four-week leadership training course designed for college students, typically between their sophomore and junior years to attend if they did not join ROTC during their freshman year of college. After completion of Basic Camp the Cadet is then eligible for entry as a third year Cadet in the four year ROTC program. The Cadet is also eligible to contract and receive scholarship and stipend benefits. EWU ROTC sent a total of 11 Cadets to ROTC Basic Camp this year with five more Cadets that will graduating in the next two weeks.
Congratulations to both Cadets Hewey and Hall for a job well done at Basic Camp and we look forward to seeing the rest of our Fight Eagles Cadets graduating in the upcoming weeks.
Happy 77th birthday to the U.S. Army Transportation Corps. The branch was founded on July 31, 1942 during World War II. Below is a great posting from the U.S. Army Center of Military History that explains the origins of the Transportation Corps:
The historical background of the Transportation Corps started with the Services of Supply, American Expeditionary Forces, during World War I. Prior to that time, transportation operations were chiefly the responsibility of the Quartermaster General. The Transportation Corps, in its present form, was organized on 31 July 1942.
The Quartermaster Department coordinated transportation support for the Army until World War I. The Army’s experience in that conflict revealed the need for a corps of dedicated specialists and units. The newly established Transportation Corps, however, lasted for only a few years. The need and significant utility for coordinating military transportation again became apparent during World War II, and the Army reestablished the corps in mid-1942 to meet the unparalleled logistical demands of fighting in multiple distant theaters of a global conflict.
The famed “Red Ball Express” of World War II was a monumental operation largely executed by transportation truck companies. When the rapid advance of combat maneuver forces out paced the ability to keep them supplied by rail from the Normandy beaches, the assignment fell to Advance Section, Communications Zone. The Motor Transport Services provided direction and coordination while the Motor Transport Brigade handled the actual movement of vehicles. Until the flow of supplies by other modes improved, Transportation Corps soldiers insured the maneuver forces maintained the advance.
The Transportation Corps became a permanent branch in 1950. The Transportation Corps continued to demonstrate its capability of rapidly supporting U.S. Army operations in global theaters over the past seventy-seven years. [U.S. Army Center of Military History]
Former EWU Army ROTC Cadets Tyler Roylance and John Howard prepare to have their Transportation Corps insignia pinned on by First Lieutenant Thomas Burdick from the 1041st Transportation Company and former Transportation officer and retired Lieutenant Colonel Jerry Mellick from the EWU ROTC class of 1967.
The Randy Van Turner ROTC Scholarship is sponsored by the brothers from the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity, Zeta Nu chapter of Eastern Washington University (EWU). The scholarship is in honor of the fraternity’s EWU chapter co-founder First Lieutenant Randy Turner.
Randy Turner
Randy Turner was a 1968 graduate from the EWU Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) program who was a recipient of the Silver Star and in 1969 was killed in action during the Vietnam War. In 2018 his fraternity brothers decided to honor his service by establishing an ROTC scholarship program. The scholarship awards one year of tuition to selected EWU ROTC Cadets. The scholarship began awarding money to recipients in the 2019-2020 academic year.
Criteria for the Randy Van Turner ROTC Scholarship
ROTC student
Preference for student enrolled in simultaneous membership program (National Guard or Reserves)
Demonstrated financial need
Minimum GPA of 2.5
Sophomore standing or higher
Preference given to students majoring in a STEM or Health Sciences program
Cadets that meet the above criteria then participate in a board held by the EWU ROTC Cadre and a university representative to determine who will receive a scholarship. Cadets grades, physical fitness, leadership potential, and ability to answer questions are all considered by the board when selecting Randy Van Turner ROTC Scholarship recipients. Anyone interested in this scholarship should contact the ROTC office for more information.
2020 Recipients of the Randy Van Turner ROTC Scholarship
– Thomas Luce
– Crystal Cruz
– Destin Garcia
– Emma Latour
– James Dutton
2019 Recipients of the Randy Van Turner ROTC Scholarship
Keep up-to-date on all the latest news and notes from the EWU ROTC program and Cadet Command in general by subscribing to our website using the sign up widget in the right sidebar. You can also follow EWU ROTC at the below social media channels:
Remember if you have any questions about the ROTC National Scholarship process, please leave a comment, contact our office, or reach out to us through our social media sites. We are here to help and want you to be as successful as possible to receive an Army ROTC scholarship.
The 2020 Army Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) National Scholarship season has begun. Army ROTC National Scholarships are for qualified high school seniors planning to attend a four-year university and are interested in training to become a future officer in the U.S. Army. If you have already graduated high school please contact the Eastern Washington University (EWU) ROTC office because we have other scholarship options available.
Agree to accept a commission and serve in the Army on Active Duty or in a Reserve Component (Army Reserve or Army National Guard)
If you meet the basic requirements, below are the instructions on how to apply for a ROTC National Scholarship. You can get about 75% of the application completed in under an hour.
ROTC National Scholarship Process:
Step #1: You need to complete an on-line application that you can access through this link. Applicants must initiate the on-line application by 4 February 2020. Remember your login and password for your cadet portal. Your login is the email you use to establish your account.
Step #2: Submit high school transcripts (at least through junior year) and SAT or ACT scores. You can upload PDFs through your account in the Cadet portal.
Step #3: Take the ROTC Basic Fitness Test. A coach or PE teacher can administer this for you.
Step #4: Conduct an interview at one of the university ROTC programs (ideally where your first choice of college is). We can do this any time here at Eastern after you start the on-line application. We are more than willing to conduct a Skype interview if you live several hours away. Please reach us through our Contact page or call 509-359-6110 to setup an interview.
ROTC National Scholarship Timeline
The Army understands high school students could still be in the process of taking SATs and ACTs during their senior year. Because of this the Army has three different boards that meet throughout the year to select ROTC scholarship winners. Below is the board timeline.
1st Board
(Note: The first board dates were moved up to December, they were originally in October)
02 December 2019: All four steps listed above must be completed on the GoArmy site before this date to be considered by the first board. The application will not be considered if any of the steps are not completed. A benefit of completing the ROTC packet in time for the first board is that even if your packet is not selected it will be looked at again by the second and third boards thus increasing your chances of receiving a scholarship.
09 December 2019: This is the date that the first board convenes and reviews every packet that was submitted by the 02 December 2019 deadline.
2nd Board
28 December 2019: All four steps listed above must be completed on the GoArmy site before this date to be considered by the second board. The application will not be considered if any of the steps are not completed. A benefit of completing the ROTC packet in time for the second board is that even if your packet is not selected it will be looked at again by the third board thus increasing your chances of receiving a scholarship.
13-17 January 2020: This is the date that the second board convenes and reviews every packet that was submitted by the 06 January 2019 deadline.
4 February 2020: This is the deadline to initiate new 2019-2020 ROTC scholarship applications. If an application is not initiated by1159pm EST it will not be considered by the final board. Those who already have an application open can continue to modify it passed this deadline.
4 March 2020: This is the deadline to complete all edits to your online ROTC scholarship application. All edits must be complete by1159pm EST. After this date you will only be able to upload supporting documentation.
3rd Board
09 March 2020: All four steps listed above must be completed on the GoArmy site before this date to be considered by the third board. The application will not be considered if any of the steps are not completed.
23-27 March 2020: Board convenes and runs until every packet that was board ready by the start of the board, has been reviewed.
Please view the below video for more information about submitting an ROTC scholarship application.
ROTC Scholarship Selection
Selection for ROTC scholarships are highly competitive and at EWU ROTC we recommend getting your application complete and seen in time for the second board. The majority of scholarships are issued from the second and third boards and getting the application complete by the second board will increase your chances of receiving a scholarship. Decisions on the scholarships awarded are usually released two to four weeks after each board. Periodically check the Selection Status tab on your GoArmy application to see if you were selected.
2019 ROTC National Scholarship recipient to Eastern Washington University received scholarship benefits worth $77,000.
If you were not selected after the third board do not give up hope of receiving a scholarship. There is a secondary process for applicants to earn a scholarship. Any ROTC program can make an alternate offer to applicants that were not offered a national award. We get most of our new, incoming freshman on scholarships using this alternate process. Applying for the national scholarship is simply the first step. It is very simple and easy for us to make an alternate offer, but you first have to put together the ROTC application.
Please contact the EWU ROTC office for any additional details about how the scholarship selection process works.
Follow EWU ROTC
Keep up-to-date on all the latest news and notes from the EWU ROTC program and Cadet Command in general by subscribing to our website using the sign up widget in the right sidebar. You can also follow EWU ROTC at the below social media channels:
Remember if you have any questions about the ROTC National Scholarship process, please leave a comment, contact our office, or reach out to us through our social media sites. We are here to help and want you to be as successful as possible to receive an Army ROTC scholarship.
Below are the graduates from the Eastern Washington University (EWU) Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) battalion from 2010 – 2019. This list is compiled from the records we were able to find here at the university. To help make this list as accurate as possible we request that alumni send in any corrections or additions for this list via our contact page or by leaving a comment below. Go Fighting Eags!
Below are the graduates from the Eastern Washington University (EWU) Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) battalion from 2000 – 2009. This list is compiled from the records we were able to find here at the university. To help make this list as accurate as possible we request that alumni send in any corrections or additions for this list via our contact page or by leaving a comment below. Go Fighting Eags!