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Ruddell: Training exercises,
battle drills part of cadet life
Continued from page 1
third-year military sciences students
and takes a full load of regular
course work.
It seems Ruddell’s hard work has
paid off, as he’s on-track to graduate in
June as one of the top ROTC cadets in
the nation. His goal: an infantry officer
position in the U.S. Army.
He said his enthusiasm to be a
soldier goes back to his days as a
kid playing with little green army
action figures.
“I’ve always wanted to do it since I
was little,” he said. “I wanted to go
into the service, which was contrary to
my parents, what they wanted.”
The idea of service touched a nerve
with Ruddell.
“I think it’s this image of the sol
dier that really caught me right off
the bat,” he said. “This guy is going
out there, and he’s putting his ass
on the line for someone he doesn’t
even know. He’s going out there
and he’s doing what he believes is
right ... for someone that he might
have never met. I’ve always thought
that that’s just awesome.”
The “set a goal, then reach it” men
tality is what kept Ruddell interested in
the Army throughout his childhood,
he said. His desire to be a soldier was
cemented when he was a sophomore
in high school, in part because of his
involvement in athletics.
“I’m not projecting this on anybody
else, but personally I felt like, ‘If I’m an
athlete and I’m capable of serving ...
there’s no real good reason why I
shouldn’t,”’ he said.
Service is a common theme in
Ruddell’s career aspirations. He’s
also considered being a firefighter
or police officer.
“I actually enlisted, in high school,
in the reserves,” he said. “Then ROTC
grabbed me.”
The ROTC program gave Ruddell a
chance to attend college and leave as
an officer. He discharged from the re
serves and was contracted into ROTC.
“It’s a contract that says, ‘as long as
you’re in ROTC, you’re getting paid,”’
he said. “If you break that contract,
then they can take that money back
that they paid you.”
Ruddell said he gets a $400 per
month stipend, tuition assistance and
help with books and housing.
“But everybody I’ve talked to in
ROTC is not about the money. When
I came in, I had enough money to
take care of college; that wouldn’t
have been a problem, but I’d always
wanted to do it. The fact that
they’re paying me to go to school is
just a nice perk.”
There’s a progressively higher work
load for cadets as they go through the
four years of ROTC.
“MS one- and two-years basically
just have fun,” Ruddell said. He said
first and second year cadets learn and
train for their third year, but aren’t
worked too hard.
“The juniors need somebody to
command and practice their leader
ship skills on,” he said. “The ones and
twos serve that purpose.”
A cadet is evaluated during his or
her junior year, when the workload in
creases, Ruddell said.
Each year, several activities pull
ROTC students away from the daily
grind of school. One example is
Field Training Exercises, or FTX,
which cadets attend once each term
at a military training camp or wood
ed area somewhere in the North
west. FTXs include obstacle cours
es, target practice, war games and
battle drill practice.
Ruddell defined battle drills as ac
tions that occur without thinking.
For instance, “you hit a bunker and
you get fired on — it’s a battle drill
that’s designed to react to that situa
tion,” Ruddell said. “So, automatically
everybody knows, OK, alpha team is
going to be suppressing fire, bravo
team is going to flank around to the
left, and bravo team is going to clear
that bunker.”
For war games, cadets will battle in
a wooded setting using paintball guns
or a type of high-tech laser tag.
“You put it on your weapon and you
fire blanks, and you have sensors that
tell you whether or not you’ve been
hit,” Ruddell said of the laser tag.
One of the most important off-cam
pus activities that ROTC students par
ticipate in is the Leader Development
and Assessment Course, an advanced
leadership course that serves in part as
the ROTC version of the LSAT. A
cadet’s performance in the month-long
course, which takes place during the
summer between his or her junior and
senior year, is evaluated.
Activities at the LDAC include sit
uational training, patrolling, chemi
cal warfare, repelling, confidence
building and physical training.
Cadets are required to qualify in ac
tivities such as land navigation and
hand grenade assault.
Ruddell achieved the second highest
physical training score in the nation
and earned a distinction called “RE
CONDO” for his performance in the
other training events.
“It’s stressful,” he said. “Especially
to get RECONDO. Most people, they
miss one event.”
Ruddell has had several exclusive
opportunities over his collegiate
career. He was granted a slot to earn
ROTC, page 5
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May 23, 7pm
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Join national speaker Susan Cobb for this fun,
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For more info: Rachel Gitner, 510-9550
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