Eastern Washington University
See what the fantastic Cadets in the Fighting Eagles Battalion have been doing over the past month by clicking the below link to download an online PDF file of the September 2018 EWU ROTC Newsletter:
All the prior newsletters published by the EWU ROTC program can also be read by clicking the “Newsletters” link on the above menu bar.
Go Fighting Eagles!
Cadets in the Eastern Washington University (EWU) Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) program receive extensive training on basic land navigation. Our land navigation training for the first year Cadets began last month during the field training phase of our Jump Start program. This week’s leadership laboratory built on the skills learned during Jump Start and follow on classroom training. During the lab Cadets validated their pace counts, practiced plotting grid points on a map, shooting azimuths with a compass, and finding points on a land navigation course.
The lab was held in the wide open Palouse landscape east of the EWU campus. The rolling Palouse terrain makes for perfect conditions to teach basic land navigation to Cadets.
Cadets find land navigation points in the Palouse plains East of the EWU campus.
The Junior and Senior Cadets during the lab taught basic land navigation skills to the freshman and sophomores. Future land navigation training will occur in the wooded terrain to the east of Cheney that will add a further level of difficulty for the junior Cadets to better master their land navigation skills. Learning land navigation is an important skill for Cadets to learn because most of the Cadets will attend Advanced Camp during the summer between their Junior and Senior years in college. At Advanced Camp being able to successfully pass the land navigation course at Ft. Knox, Kentucky is required for all Cadets. The land navigation training offered in the EWU ROTC program ensures that Cadets are ready to succeed at Advanced Camp.
Below are pictures from the basic land navigation lab:
Cadet Isabelle Erickson (center) listens to the basic land navigation instruction.
EWU ROTC Cadets plot grid points on their maps.
Cadets Everett Kuhnel (left) and Austin Bristow (right) use their compass to navigate towards their next point.
Cadet James Tallakson (left) provides instruction on how to properly use a compass to Cadet Isabell Erickson (right).
Cadet Maddie Woodland (right) walks through the Palouse wheat fields to find her next land navigation point.
Cadet Nicholas Null traverses the land navigation course.
The below image from 1963 is of Cadet Fred Wong receiving an award as the top shooter of the ROTC Rifle Team. The award is being presented to him from the then Eastern Washington State College Professor of Military Science Colonel Erwin Nilsson.
Cadet Wong would go on to graduate in 1964 as a Distinguished Military Graduate and commission as a Second Lieutenant in the Signal Corps branch. Wong would later attend the Infantry Officer’s Advanced Course and serve as a Rifle Company Commander in Vietnam. After serving in Vietnam, the then Captain Wong came back to EWU as an ROTC instructor where he completed his Masters degree in guidance and counseling. Wong would serve a total 31 years in the Army before retiring in 1995 at the rank of Brigadier General (BG). Watch the below video where BG Wong describes his career after being honored in 2016 by EWU for his Exceptional Military Service.
It has been another good start to the week with our Eastern Washington University (EWU) ROTC Cadets conducting early morning Physical Training (PT). Despite the rainy and cool conditions this week, our Cadets have been working up a sweat over at the Inferno at Roos Field. The Cadets have been conducting rotational workouts at different stations that includes running the stadium stairs, sprints on the track, fireman carries, and other conditioning workouts. Building fitness is part of our mission of building leaders here at the EWU ROTC program.
Below is a few pictures from our PT sessions so far this week. Go Fighting Eagles!
I had the great privilege this weekend of meeting Mr. Bruce Peters who was a 1962 graduate of the EWU ROTC program.
He was accompanied by his lovely wife Irene to the October 6th home football game. Mr. Peters graduated with a degree in business and was commissioned into the US Army Reserve as a Second Lieutenant. He would later go on to serve in Vietnam and retire as a lieutenant colonel. In his civilian career he established a business that led to a lucrative career in sales of fine china, silver and crystal. Mr. Peters is another example of EWU ROTC alumni that have gone to accomplish great things in life. He is currently retired and a great supporter of the Eastern Washington University ROTC program and the Veterans Resource Center.
He picked a good game to return to campus since he got to see the EWU ROTC Cannon Crew fire the cannon after 7 home team touchdowns in a 55-17 rout of Southern Utah University.
Go Fighting Eagles!
This summer EWU ROTC Cadet, Nicholas Castro completed ROTC Advanced Camp at Ft. Knox, Kentucky and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant (2LT) in the US Army Reserve. Recently 2LT Castro was selected to be a Nurse in the US Army Reserve and was also recognized as being a 2018 Distinguished Military Graduate (DMG). Only Cadets that finish in the top 20% of all Cadets across the country receive the DMG honors.
In recognition of 2LT Castro’s achievements, his journey from being a sergeant in the US Marine Corps to an officer in the US Army Nursing Corps was featured in an article published on the official US Army website. I recommend everyone read the article and learn more about another EWU ROTC “Fighting Eagle” that is excelling in his career as a US Army officer.
Congratulations 2LT Castro and Go Fighting Eagles!
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