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Northwest ROTC competes for Ranger Challenge Cup
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Under fair skies and balmy temperatures, Reserve Officer Training Corps cadets from the 13th Western Region of Cadet Command held their 21st regional Ranger Challenge competition at the Boise State University campus last weekend. Eighty one ROTC cadets from seven northwest colleges participated in the event, including Boise State University, Gonzaga University, Brigham Young University, Idaho State University, Montana State University, Montana University and the University of Alaska at Anchorage.
There were nine teams of cadets representing the seven participating schools, each team was composed of one female cadet and eight male cadets. The nine competing teams ran through seven competitions, including hand grenade assault, crossing a river utilizing a rope bridge, weapon disassembly and reassembly, a physical fitness competition, a written land navigational test, a field land navigation test and a 10 kilometer road march with full gear.
The full-day event started at 5:30 a.m. Saturday and finished at 8:30 a.m. Sunday with a closing ceremony and the awarding of a trophy, the Northwest Taskforce Ranger Challenge Cup, to Team Black from Gonzaga.
Lt. Colonel Phil Chambers, the commanding officer in charge of the weekend events said he appreciated the support
of BSU.
“It is going smoothly, they are showing great sportsmanship, we have a great crew, a lot of support from BSU and being able to hold this competition on campus is great. The BSU ROTC program is expanding and we are graduating 20 2nd lieutenant officers per year,” Chambers said.
Chambers also explained what it means to be an ROTC cadet.
“ROTC promotes the Army values of loyalty, duty, respect, selflessness, service, integrity and personal courage. ROTC graduates can serve in the Army or the National Guard,” Chambers said.
MS-4 Dairus Barnes, a team captain Ranger Challenge BSU student, described his participation in the ROTC program as a means to an end; he hopes to find a high school teaching position in history following his mandatory eight years of
military service.
“I love Boise, I would settle here, I want to be history teacher and a football/wrestling coach,” Barnes said. “As you progress through the program it adds Army flavor in basic leadership, after the first two years of the program you are obligated to perform military service upon graduation.”
Joe Mangano, a freshman in the BSU ROTC program claimed to be the youngest at 18. A psychology major, he is following in the footsteps of his parents and relatives who have served in every branch of the U.S. military since World War II.
“I hope for a commission as an infantry officer in the Army, I applied to West Point, was turned down so BSU was my best hope,” Mangano said.
For Major Fernando Castillo, an assistant professor of military science who commanded the Tactical Operations Center and oversaw the compilation of competition results, this will be his last week on campus. Castillo has recently been called to active duty in Iraq where he will be training Iraqi troops to “protect and sustain themselves.”
“I am nervous about going, but I am ready to do my job,” Castillo said.
CLAUDIO BEAGARIE
News Writer
