By Xhaxany Cuellar, Editor in Chief
Five cadets from UMHB Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) drove in a van to the annual Bataan Memorial Death March at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico on March 19. It was UMHB’s first time taking part with over 4,000 people – including cadets, civilians and military personnel, according to Carl Cook, Senior Military Science Instructor at UMHB. The event commemorates the American and Filipino WWII prisoners of war in the Philippines who were forced to march a deadly 66 miles in a transfer to forced labor prison camps.
Cook said that this was the first opportunity UMHB’s cadets have had to attend the March since it was temporarily closed in 2020, due to COVID. The march is one of many of the activities open to participating cadets enrolled in UMHB’s ROTC program. The cadets also do a Ranger Challenge, which is a competition of army skills between ROTC programs. They also take part in an Army10-Miler run in Washington D.C., or a Shadow Run 10-Miler at Fort Hood, and they all take part in a field-training exercise every semester. Additionally, cadets are involved in volunteer service throughout their years in the program and as well many other army-related events, Cook said. On April 12, the UMHB cadets are hosting a Junior ROTC Drill Competition on campus with four local high schools.
Regular enlistment into the military requires a soldier to climb through the ranks beginning at the lowest ranking, as a private, according to UMHB ROTC cadet Gabriel Feliciano. However, the ROTC offers students an opportunity to have a different path and entry into the military as a leader when they graduate from UMHB. Graduates have an opportunity for jobs in the military according to their majors, which can be paid at least partially by the military, Feliciano points out.
Men and women enter the ROTC program as cadets and then they commission as 2nd Lieutenants. In order to be an officer, one must have a bachelor’s degree, Feliciano explains.
The ROTC program at UMHB is similar to most universities’ programs, yet it is especially unique in that it is smaller than many others. According to Cadet Gabriel Feliciano, there are 23 total cadets in the program here now at UMHB. Because it is a small tight-knit group that spends a lot of time working to complete tasks together, a brother/sisterhood is formed between the cadets.
“Here it is literally like a family; your family away from home,” Feliciano said.
Training as a cadet at UMHB is just as rigorous as training as an enlisted service member on a base. In the morning, cadets wake up as early as 5:00 a.m. Then they complete their physical training (P.T.) which looks different each morning, Feliciano explained. During physical training, there are lead upper level cadets who direct the workout for the day. Often times the cadets do company runs with their platoon, they do CrossFit, or yoga.
“A lot of the physical stuff is just rucking, you will always be marching everywhere,” Feliciano said. “You will have to have some good cardio if you want to be rucking miles at times.”
Feliciano goes on to say that he does not see physical training as a frustration or exhaustive, he treats it as a good time with his friends, a task that they are all in together.
Along with physical training, there is the Army Combat Fitness Test (ACFT). Every semester a cadet must take one of these tests to make sure they maintain their eligibility for their scholarship.
When cadets commission, becoming a 2nd Lieutenant, they are evaluated and placed in different branches according to the needs of the Army. The amount of work and effort that a cadet puts in, as well as their volunteer hours at UMHB, contributes to the branch selection process..
“The effort you put in ROTC will result in what branch you get,” says Feliciano.
Cadet Abraham Ceballos is happy with his chosen path “It definitely keeps me busy,” Ceballos said. “It gives me the ability to mold myself into a leader. It gives me different responsibilities and [the opportunity to] meet new people. I enjoy it a lot!”
