The Creighton ROTC cadets don’t have the summer off like most students. Their summers remained packed with numerous activities.
Cadet Katherine E. Joyce, an Arts & Sciences junior, attended a military to military mission in Lviv, Ukraine. During this mission, the Ukrainian cadets learned better English from the Americans. Their discussion varied from environmental protection to ceremony.
“These conversations did not always lead to agreements on issues, but they led to the ability to understand and evaluate the other position and realize a whole other world, a world I never knew even existed,” Joyce said.
The American cadets primarily learned about the role of women in the Ukrainian military, where they are not allowed to carry weapons, take part in separate physical exercises from male soldiers and live outside of the academy.
While there, Joyce and the other cadets were able to visit the capital of Ukraine, Kyiv, as well as the Carpathian Mountains.
Cadet Jack Fitzsimmons, a Business senior, attended the Leadership Development and Assessment Course (LDAC), also known as Warrior Forge 2013.
Fitzsimmons and all other third-year ROTC cadets from around the country made their way to Fort Lewis, Wash. for 29 days of training and assessing basic soldier skills. Throughout the course, the cadets accomplished tasks involving paperwork, physical training, first aid, tactics and more. While these skills are valuable to the cadets individually, their sum presents the most important aspect of LDAC.
“The main focus of this camp is to assess the cadets’ leadership skills,” Fitzsimmons stated.
The cadets were placed in randomized leadership positions.
“I became really close with my squad and platoon,” Fitzsimmons said. “You are with each other day in and day out and we really relied upon each other to get the job done.”
Fitzsimmons himself performed spectacularly at LDAC, graduating at the top of his regiment.
“I learned a lot while I was there, but the Creighton ROTC program prepared us extremely well,” Fitzsimmons said. “I got a
cool sword.”
Another Creighton student, Cadet Alicia Cook, an Arts & Sciences senior, also attended LDAC.
“I learned of different leadership styles and which I liked and did not like,” Cook said. “I was able to discover what was most effective for me personally and what I responded well to. Patience is probably one of the most significant qualities I walked away with from this experience.”
Cook, however, did not end her summer ROTC activities following LDAC, but participated in a program called Cadet Troop Leader Training (CTLT). This program afforded her the opportunity to shadow a platoon leader, 2nd Lt., for three to four weeks.
“ROTC land is a thousand times different from the real Army since here we are still students who live a pretty normal life,” Cook said. “Seeing what life is like for an officer helps take the romance out of our heads and also makes us feel a little more at ease for when we do graduate and commission.”
Cook was sent to Fort Hood, Texas to shadow a 2nd Lt. from the Transportation Corp.
“No, I did not enjoy myself all the time, but it allowed me to realize how much paperwork is involved with being an officer and gave me firsthand experience with how I will be expected to interact with the other soldiers who will be my subordinates,” Cook said. “I at least have an idea of what to expect when I go off to my first platoon to lead.”