Saint Anselm ROTC cadets participated in a Winter Field Training Exercise with the rest of the “Wildcat” Battalion at the end of January.  Cadets from several colleges in New Hampshire gathered at the National Guard facility in Strafford to be trained and evaluated on important skills for their military careers.

“We conducted training in an active blizzard on Saturday, which was interesting,” recalled Cameron Barbone, an ROTC cadet and Saint Anselm junior criminal justice major from Windham, NH.

ROTC is the Army’s Reserve Officer Training Corps, which allows college students to train for a career in the Army, the Army Reserve, or the Army National Guard after they graduate.  

Saint Anselm senior criminal justice and Spanish double major, Zachary Roughan of Sturbridge, MA, who is also the Charlie Company executive officer says the weather was a challenge for a lot of the cadets.

“A lot of people were definitely figuring out whether this was something they wanted to do,” Roughan said.  “I like this phrase: ‘everyone wants to be in the army until it’s time to do army things.’ Everyone wants to wear a uniform.  Everyone wants to be a soldier.  Everyone wants to serve their country until it’s not comfortable or ideal weather or whatever challenge you’re doing.  Everyone wants to do it until those things come up.  I find that very funny.”

Most of the training involved infantry skills such as conducting attacks, raids, ambushes, and reconnaissance.  Some cadets would be outside in the cold, while others were inside planning.

“Basically, you learn all of the infantry tactics when you are in ROTC to best prepare you for whatever job you end up getting,” Roughan said.  “I’m commissioning as an infantry officer so that’s like right up my alley.  I love that stuff.  I can’t get enough of it.”

This training is particularly important for cadets in their junior year, as they are preparing for their Advanced Camp training this summer in Kentucky.

“It was for all of the juniors; we were getting them prepared because they have one more field training exercise before they go to Fort Knox this summer to train,” Roughan said.

“Advanced Camp is the cumulative event for all ROTC students,” Barbone explained.  “It takes place in the summer between a cadet’s junior and senior years.  Cadets get evaluated on their leadership, which determines their future in the United States Army and is a mandatory training event in order to commission.

Another Saint Anselm junior cadet, Katherine Macaluso, a psychology major from Malverne, NY thought training in the intense storm was challenging, but a good experience.

“When being out in the woods all day through a blizzard, many cadets were stuck laying or assaulting through the snow for almost up to an hour,” Macaluso said.  “It takes a certain mindset to stay focused and turned on for training.  I think overall, cadets pushed through the challenges and learned a lot throughout the weekend to get optimal training.”

Macaluso also appreciated working with the other cadets in her grade.

“It was our first time all together and training, so it was interesting to see how everyone would get along,” Macaluso said.

Getting to know other people with a shared interest in a military career is something many cadets value.  Saint Anselm’s ROTC is part of the Wildcat Battalion, which is based out of UNH, and specifically the Charlie Company, which also includes cadets from SNHU, Franklin-Pierce, Plymouth State, and Colby-Sawyer.

“My favorite part about ROTC is meeting new people, challenging myself physically and mentally and seeing my progress and development over the course of four years,” Saint Anselm senior and Wildcat Battalion Public Affairs Officer from Marshfield, MA Caitlin Morgan said.

The severe weather changed plans quite a bit.  The training was supposed to take place at Fort Devens in Massachusetts, with some cadets riding a helicopter from Strafford to Devens and being driven back shortly after landing.  Roughan, who was supposed to drive to Devens, heard about the situation from a phone call.

“What ended up happening was that due to weather, because obviously there was a blizzard there and all across New England, Fort Devens closed,” Roughan said.  “So, after we had landed the birds there, we found out we were tasked with bringing everyone back to New Hampshire and continuing the training at another national guard facility.  We had to make a decision on that within minutes.  There’s a lot of logistics that goes into that. There’s a lot of planning, and then there’s transportation.  [It’s] not ideal.”

Students who wish to learn more about ROTC are invited to check out their Instagram page, or join cadets for their regular physical training Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings.

“People are more than welcome to come check those [training sessions] out, spend some time with us, spend some time talking with the guys and girls,” Roughan said.  “We do trainings on Fridays, which people are welcome to come take a look at and meet our cadre.”