Plans of the Army ROTC program at Fresno City College and California State University, Fresno are derailed due to the government shutdown that took effect on Oct. 1 this year.
Last Saturday, the biannual field training exercise (FTX) was held at the CSUF campus instead of Camp San Luis Obispo, a military training facility in California.
The federal government-funded program stopped receiving funds and support provisions such as vehicle and ammunition.
“The government shutdown meant we couldn’t […] pay for supplies and transportation,” said Nathan Hoepner, assistant professor of military science at CSUF.
If the shutdown continues through Oct. 25, their following event on weapons qualification will be jeopardized.
In addition, contracted members are not given their stipend at this time. Depending on seniority, a stipend can be up to $450 per month. And scholarships cannot be finalized without commission of government funds, according to Hoepner.
To prevent cancellation of FTX, senior cadets planned and developed an obstacle course that would resonate field training at Camp San Luis Obispo on a more local, on-campus base.
With the help of campus police, CSUF school carts and space reservation including the agricultural department’s orchard fields, the ROTC conducted their own exercise on school grounds.
Hoepner said, “Same training, different facilities.”
Training underscored target objectives: skill confidence, team cohesion and esprit de corps- otherwise known as confidence in profession.
There were seven hours of nonstop mental and physical challenges beginning at 7 a.m. when cadets were assigned to arrive uniformed with their rut sack in front of the North Gym at CSUF.
With 21 senior cadets managing the event, the remaining 56 cadets were evenly divided into four patrols that would go through seven rigorous stations with distinct operation goals.
In one operation, called “Minefield/Downed Pilot,” cadets first had to walk through a ground course blindfolded guided by verbal instructions. Then they had to approach, assess, evacuate a wounded pilot and finally set up a transmission point at a different location.
The patrols concluded their training with physical fitness drills such as push-ups, sit-ups, pull-ups, grenade toss and a mile run at the track and field of CSFU.
Among these 77 cadets are 12 FCC students, some of whom commute between the two campuses.
Christopher Wichman, a full-time FCC student pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in Criminology, was one of the cadets in the first patrol to finish the entire course.
Although it’s his first semester in the ROTC program, he has excelled to a 2nd year cadet in terms of his performance. Wichman said, “I have no idea what they had set up for us in [Camp] San Luis [Obispo] but this is outstanding.”
The ROTC exemplified teamwork with the mentality of no-man-left-behind. From organizing rut sacks to strategizing lineup for the mile run, each patrol was mindful of finishing every station as a group so that every individual contributed to completion and success.
FTX is also a tool for retention and an in-depth program involvement. It would’ve been detrimental to new and continuing cadets had it been cancelled.
Senior cadet Steve Liu said, “If we were to drop the entire training exercise altogether, the first new cadets would miss out on so much that they wouldn’t have the same experience as I did my freshman year.”
