As the new school year gets underway, we wanted to highlight some of the great training and accomplishments of our Cadets from the summer. We had a total of 88 separate events with over 70% of our cadets participating in training all over the world. We strive to give our cadets the opportunity to not only excel, but also expand their knowledge outside of Iowa State in order to become globally aware professional leaders. This summer, 31 Cadets attended the Leader Development Assessment Course(LDAC) at Fort Knox with outstanding Results- 19 of 31, or 61% of our Cadets earned Excellence Ratings, the highest in the Brigade (42 schools in the Midwest). The Cadet Command average was 28% and our Brigade average was 29%. Our program more than doubled both of those. The Battalion as whole ranked highest in the Brigade with 10/31 or 32% Top 5 in the platoon and the program also had the highest Peer rankings in the Brigade (each cadet in the platoon of 40 ranks the top 10 and bottom 10 cadets), the average cadet gets a score of 100. Our average as a battalion was 109. Special Congratulations goes to Cadets Bryce Lund, Bin Nguyen, Ryan Brady, Koby Wortman, Megan Ripperger, and Kyle Simpson who were all #1 in their platoons (Along with being Top 5 in the Platoon and earning an Overall Excellence Rating). This is pretty remarkable that so many were #1 in the platoon. There are a total of 130 platoons throughout the summer with 275 schools sending Cadets to LDAC, the probability of earning #1 in the platoon is low…let alone 20% of our Cadets getting #1 in the platoon! Cadet Koby Wortman also earned the distinction of being #2 of over 500 in his Regiment! Congratulations! Cadets Trenton Speer-5th, Nicole Donato-5th, Lukas Thoren- 3rd, and Austin Dummer- 2nd … were all “Top 5” in their Platoons and also earned an Overall Excellence Rating The following Cadets earned an Overall Excellence Rating- Cadet Lucas Baker, Jesse Parker, Matthew Baldwin, Chelsea Nicoletto, Jason Sadowski, Matthew Hanson, Steven Blackford, Aaron Hett, and Michael Hoskins. Baker, Parker, Sadowski, and Hanson were 6th in their platoon with Blackford 7th, Hoskins 8th, and Hett 9th! 26 Cadets were selected for and participated in the Cultural Understanding and Language Proficiency Program (CULP), travelling all over the World. travelling to locations such as Croatia, Bulgaria, Moldova, Chile, Kosovo, Mongolia, Japan, Thailand, France, Germany, and Burkina Faso. This is an incredible opportunity for our cadets to fully immerse themselves in another culture and develop themselves as leaders. Cadets were selected based on academic performance and physical fitness. Cadets Ben Brixius, Shaylea Foster, Danni Hadaway, Pukar Pradhan, Austin Tisdell, and Michael Yashak had the opportunity to conduct a military to military mission in Bulgaria working alongside Bulgarian military officers, NCOs and Cadets. Both cadets Hadaway and Yashak were recognized by their Mission Commander as exemplary leaders, taking charge and assisting in developing the more junior Cadets. Cadet John Sheppard had the distinction of being our only Cadet participating in a humanitarian mission to Africa this summer, traveling to Burkina Faso while Cadet Bradley Jackson travelled to South America for his mission in Chile. Cadet Francis Kelly travelled to France to train with the French Military and Fletcher Hopkins trained in Germany. Cadets Harrison Dunn, Tan Thai, Tanner Hildebrand, Nick Smith, and Tony Stoll all participated in the mission to Croatia. During this mil to mil mission, they trained alongside Croatian Cadets at Croatian Cadet summer training camps for the Army, Air Force, and Navy (Combat Swimmer Course). Cadets Nicole Donato, Douglas VanCura, Matthew Hanson conducted their mil to mil mission in Kosovo. Kosovo is a partnered with Iowa in the State Partnership program. This was a great opportunity for our cadets to work with a foreign military they may actually work with again in the future. Cadet Jacob Bruce and Evan Ireland, conducted their mission in Moldova and Zachary Chicoine and Dakota Farrer executed their mission in Mongolia. Both were outstanding opportunities for these cadets to work outside their comfort zones and truly immerse in a foreign culture. Cadets Lindsey Hildebrand, Brady Hannula, and Evan Kraemer travelled to the Pacific, training in Japan and Thailand. 2 Cadets attended the Leaders Training Course (LTC), Cadet Alec Osner and Dan Saladin. 3 MS3s (Juniors)volunteered as LTC Cadet Leaders, Cadets Fredrick Thompson, Steven Blackford, and Matthew Baldwin served as trainers and squad leaders for Cadets going through LTC. 13 Cadets participated in Cadet Troop Leader Training with platoon leaders in active duty units in Alaska, Kansas, Oklahoma, North Carolina, and Korea. This is an opportunity to shadow a platoon leader, learn what a platoon leader does and work closely with active duty Soldiers. Deni Peters, Ryan Brady, and Jason Sadowski got to see what it was like to be a Platoon Leader in Alaska. Lucas Baker, Jesse Parker, and Trent Speer got to visit the DMZ in Korea. Tyriq Isles, Austin Dummer, and Aaron Hett had the opportunity to train at Fort Bliss, Texas, while Michael Hoskins was at Fort Riley Kansas. Koby Wortman and Corey Hannula travelled to Fort Bragg. Last but definitely not least…Kyle Simpson was honored with the opportunity to visit the Home of the Field Artillery…Fort Sill, Oklahoma! 4 Cadets selected for Schools; Airborne, Air Assault, WHINSEC, and Northern Warfare. Cadet Matthew Miller graduated 2nd in his class Cadet Ken Lawler attended the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation- WHINSEC; cultural experience with South American Cadets conducting ranges, training, and field tactics. Cadet Dakota Farrer jump out of airplanes and earned her Airborne Wings and Cadet Evan Ireland earned his Air Assault wings! Great group of schools for some outstanding Cadets. 2 Cadets Selected for Internships (forensics and medical), Cadet Bin Nguyen participated in the Forensics Internship Program in Key Largo Florida and Megan Ripperger participated in an AMEDD internship at Joint Base Lewis McCord. 7 Cadets participated in JROTC Junior Cadet Leadership Course (JCLC)-supporting our Junior ROTC partners at Camp Dodge. This is a completely voluntary event that supports JROTC and our Cadets leader development. Thank you to Cadets Joseph McNeil, Francis Kelly, Brad Schuler, Anna Smith, Shaylea Foster, Ben Rurup, and Fletcher Hopkins for participating. This event wouldn’t be possible without the support from Senior ROTC Cadets. The selection of so many of our Cadets for these extra training opportunities is a testament to the quality of students we have here in the Cyclone Battalion! We would like to thank all the Family and Friends of our Cadets for all the support they provide at home and while our Cadets are away. With your support, we will continue to develop the best leaders in the country. Last but not least, thanks to our outstanding Cadre (and their families) that strive to make our Cadets better leaders every day. MAJ Kevin White, CPT(P) Nate Groves, CPT Kendra Fewell, CPT Tom Gorman, SFC Ryan Dabel, Mr Joel Soenksen, SFC Allen Rieb, Rod Taylor, and the heart and soul of our program Mrs Jill Goodale and Mrs Kris Peterson. We would also like to welcome our new MS2 instructor, SFC Joey Bowman. (and we can’t wait for Aaron Rosheim to get back from Kuwait) Special Thanks to MSG Ben Pingel and his 3 years of dedication to our program-please wish him luck as he navigates the US Army Sergeant Major’s Academy. We cannot stress enough the impact he had on this program. His goal was 50% Es…We gave him 60%!!! We would like to welcome our New Senior Military Instructor MSG Chris Shaiko, coming to us from Afghanistan by way of Fort Bragg. We look forward to having him as an integral part of the team. And good luck to MAJ Andy Commins as he takes on his role as head coach of the Wentworth Military Academy Soccer Team. Good luck and as our MSIVs put it… “MS290 (Garrison Operations) sucked (it was hard)…but we wouldn’t have gotten an E without his class” We welcome our newest officer from the Iowa National Guard, MAJ Matt Guerttman, coming to us from the 1-194FA. To all our Cadets, thanks for all you do. Good luck this year and BE STRONG AND COURAGEOUS!
Posted on: Tue, 02 Sep 2014 20:48:37 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015