ROTC holds training exercise

The USM Army Reserve Officer Training Corp performed its first field training exercise (FTX) of the year at Camp Shelby this weekend.  The Army ROTC’s Eagle Strike Fall FTX was the first of three major exercises USM’s cadets will participate in this year.

Eagle Strike began last Friday with a compass-guided day and night navigation course. After sleeping in the field overnight, the cadets participated in a series of scenario exercises, including a mock attack on an enemy bunker using paintball markers. After each exercise, the cadets discussed what went right and what went wrong during the scenario. The FTX concluded Sunday with problem-solving drills that promote teamwork and leadership skills.

Second Lieutenant Curtis Allred, a USM alumnus and the Gold Bar Recruiter and Interim Recruiting Operations Officer for the USM’s Army ROTC, seemed pleased by the cadets’ performance over the course of the weekend. “Their classroom training really showed [during the three-day retreat],” Allred said.

This Eagle Strike FTX was the first exercise of its kind the USM Army ROTC conducted under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Joseph W. Power, IV. Lt. Col. Power is the university’s new Chair of Military Science, and plans to use his position to increase awareness of the Southern Miss Army ROTC program.

“My goal for the USM ROTC is visibility,” Power said. “I don’t want anyone to come to USM and leave thinking, ‘We have an ROTC program?’”

As part of his plan to increase the program’s visibility, Power invited several professors from different educational departments at USM to observe Saturday’s field exercises up close.  His goal was to give professors with Army ROTC cadets in their classes a better idea of what those particular students do in the ROTC.  Power believes that informing professors about the cadet’s activities will help the educators look at their ROTC students as more than just a uniform.

In addition, Power gave a short presentation about the Southern Miss Army ROTC program, explaining the cadets’ training and responsibilities.  He said that the training program follows a model of Outcomes Based Training and Education.

“[OBTE] seeks to merge the benefits of training and education in order to create thinking, agile individuals and organizations,” Power said.

Lt. Col. Power also detailed the benefits cadets receive from the program.  Scholarships available from the Army ROTC cover tuition, $1200 per year for books and fees, and about half of the cost for room and board at USM.  Beyond scholarship benefits, cadets who stick with the program and graduate with the rank of second lieutenant can expect to earn about $45,000 a year straight out of school.

For more information about the Southern Miss Army ROTC program, call Lt. Col. Power’s office at 601-502-6330, or visit the USM Army ROTC website at http://www.usm.edu/armyrotc/.