The Revere Recorder “ROTC – the best leader and management development program in the world”! Volume XI, Issue 1 Reporting for America’s Oldest ROTC Unit Fall 2009/Winter 2010 Fall FTX Cadet Kali Frampton, Wellesley 2013 CDT Higgins bravely scales down the rappel tower at the Fall FTX Examining outspread maps on the floor of the barracks at Fort Devens, groups of MS I and II cadets collaborated in search of locations of given grid coordinates. The Paul Revere Battalion’s Fall FTX had thus officially begun. Map reading was the first of several team-building activities during the weekend of November 20 - 22. As the MS I’s and II’s were refining their map reading skills that Friday evening, the cadet leadership met up to go over last-minute details. Cadet Moyer, battalion commander for the fall semester, had three specific goals he focused on seeing through during the FTX: ensuring excellence in training, inspiring high motivation, and fostering mentorship throughout the Chain of Command. He said, “One of our priorities for this fall’s FTX was building esprit de corps.” One of the ways Paul Revere leadership went about building battalion cohesion was by creating mixed groups of Boston and North Shore cadets for the Field Leadership Reaction Course (FLRC). The rising sun brought with it a soft gold and pink display as the bus and vans rolled away toward the site of the FLRC on Saturday morning. MS III’s took the lead in devising initial strategies for maneuvers to overcome obstacles in the various lanes of the course. Moreover, they encouraged cooperation and coordination in the execution of those strategies under strict time constraints. That afternoon and night during land navigation training, MS III’s switched gears and worked independently to find several locations in the forest given a map, a protractor, and a compass, while MS II’s led groups of MS I’s in the pursuit of that same goal. An MS IV cadet was assigned to each group of MS I’s and II’s to offer guidance when needed, which was one of the ways mentorship manifested during the weekend. On the bus ride back to the barracks late that evening, cadets spoke excitedly of their journeys through the woods despite their fatigue. Even those who walked to the bus sloshing around in their boots after an unanticipated detour through marshes were quick to laugh at their mishaps, affirming the value of the experience and lessons learned. Cadet McGuiness, an MS II, identified land navigation as her favorite FTX activity. She stated, “I enjoy land navigation because you have to be thinking and gauging your movements constantly.”
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The Revere Recorder - stuff.mit.edu Recorder - Fall...The team celebrates their 3rd place finish in the APFT Competition The second event was the Medical event where the squad was
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The Revere Recorder “ROTC – the best leader and management development program in the world”!
Volume XI, Issue 1 Reporting for America’s Oldest ROTC Unit Fall 2009/Winter 2010
Fall FTX
Cadet Kali Frampton, Wellesley 2013
CDT Higgins bravely scales down the rappel tower at the Fall FTX
Examining outspread maps on the
floor of the barracks at Fort Devens, groups
of MS I and II cadets collaborated in search
of locations of given grid coordinates. The
Paul Revere Battalion’s Fall FTX had thus
officially begun.
Map reading was the first of several
team-building activities during the weekend
of November 20 - 22. As the MS I’s and II’s
were refining their map reading skills that
Friday evening, the cadet leadership met up
to go over last-minute details.
Cadet Moyer, battalion commander
for the fall semester, had three specific goals
he focused on seeing through during the
FTX: ensuring excellence in training,
inspiring high motivation, and fostering
mentorship throughout the Chain of
Command. He said, “One of our priorities
for this fall’s FTX was building esprit de
corps.” One of the ways Paul Revere
leadership went about building battalion
cohesion was by creating mixed groups of
Boston and North Shore cadets for the Field
Leadership Reaction Course (FLRC).
The rising sun brought with it a soft
gold and pink display as the bus and vans
rolled away toward the site of the FLRC on
Saturday morning. MS III’s took the lead in
devising initial strategies for maneuvers to
overcome obstacles in the various lanes of
the course. Moreover, they encouraged
cooperation and coordination in the
execution of those strategies under strict
time constraints.
That afternoon and night during land
navigation training, MS III’s switched gears
and worked independently to find several
locations in the forest given a map, a
protractor, and a compass, while MS II’s led
groups of MS I’s in the pursuit of that same
goal. An MS IV cadet was assigned to each
group of MS I’s and II’s to offer guidance
when needed, which was one of the ways
mentorship manifested during the weekend.
On the bus ride back to the barracks
late that evening, cadets spoke excitedly of
their journeys through the woods despite
their fatigue. Even those who walked to the
bus sloshing around in their boots after an
unanticipated detour through marshes were
quick to laugh at their mishaps, affirming
the value of the experience and lessons
learned.
Cadet McGuiness, an MS II,
identified land navigation as her favorite
FTX activity. She stated, “I enjoy land
navigation because you have to be thinking
and gauging your movements constantly.”
On Sunday, rappelling off of 30- and
90-foot towers was the next test for cadets.
Lieutenant Colonel Hall said the cadre
“wanted to challenge everyone to overcome
fears and show them that they can trust their
equipment and training.” In assessing the
outcome of the FTX, Hall stated, “I believe
that the FTX achieved the objectives we had
set forth.”
Cadet Takaki, platoon sergeant for
2nd
platoon, felt similarly. In particular, he
welcomed the complement his FLRC team
received regarding the effectiveness of their
communication with one another. He
commented that this was “really great to
hear, especially considering the team
comprised of cadets from several different
schools with very different backgrounds.”
This year’s fall FTX gave the Paul
Revere Battalion the opportunity to come
together as a team, and bridge the North
Shore-Boston-area-school divide. Cadet
Moyer expressed his pride in the battalion
for the progress it has made. The Change of
Command Ceremony on Sunday afternoon,
just prior to departure back to MIT, was the
most memorable event for Cadet Moyer.
During the ceremony, Cadet Guerra
assumed the role of battalion commander for
the upcoming spring semester. Moyer
reflected, “It was an honor to pass on the
responsibility.”
Ranger Challenge
Cadet Janice O’Brien, MIT 2012
The 2009 Ranger Challenge Competition
was an excellent training exercise, and great
fun for all involved. The 10 person squad
was led by fearless squad leader Cadet Lew
from MIT. Cadets McKee and Doroski acted
as Alpha and Bravo team leaders,
respectively. Cadets Guerra, Prado, Mangan,
Schoenen, East, Milley, and O'Brien filled
out the rest of the squad. Together they
competed against other schools from all over
the Northeast.
The first event, the APFT, was held
in the dark and rainy morning, but the
conditions didn't affect the warriors' spirits.
Pushups, sit-ups, and the two mile run were
executed in the PT top and ACU bottoms
with sneakers. This uniform motivated our
warriors almost as much as they motivated
each other. In the end, that motivation paid
off with Paul Revere placing 3rd
out of 22
teams in the APFT.
The team celebrates their 3rd place finish in the APFT Competition
The second event was the Medical
event where the squad was briefed an
OPORD and proceeded along a route where
they encountered a simulated IED and sniper
fire. The squad reacted immediately and
secured the site, then evaluated their two
casualties. The squad then moved to a
landing zone and secured it so that the
casualties could be evacuated by helicopter.
The quick pace of this lane started the
adrenaline flow that would continue the rest
of the day.
The one-rope bridge was a difficult
event, but one that helped our squad to learn
the meaning of teamwork. The mission was
to cross a ravine with a single rope. The
squad first had to tie their own swiss seats
out of individual ropes, then the first
member ran the long rope to the other side
of the ravine and secured the end to a tree
trunk. The rest of the team tightened the
rope until it was crossable and hooked their
swiss seats to the line. One at a time,
members traversed the bridge by pulling
themselves along the rope. The last member
untied the rope from the tree and ran across
the ravine as quickly as possible to finish
under time.
CDT East pulls himself across the one rope bridge with ease
The hand grenade assault course
challenged our warriors to move in buddy
teams and properly execute a grenade throw
through a door, through a window, into a
mortar pit while under barbed wire, and into
a bunker. They had to do all this while being
shot at (with paintballs) by a sniper. The
buddy teams utilized individual movement
techniques. The rifleman would provide
covering fire for the grenadier as he sprinted
between cover. If the sniper shot a squad
member, points would be deducted. For each
grenade successfully thrown into the
obstacle, points were awarded.
Weapons proficiency tested our
warriors' knowledge of the M16A2 rifle.
Our warriors lined up on the starting line,
raced to the tables with the rifles, and began
the test. They cleared the rifle, disassembled
it, reassembled it, and performed a functions
check all for time. The key was to not rush,
for every mistake added two minutes onto
your total time. Our squad performed very
well, following the adage that “slow is
smooth and smooth is fast.”
Land Navigation animated our
warriors. The squad was given points that
they had to locate in an hour. The further
points were worth more, but closer points
were a safer bet. Not all points could be
found within the hour, so the true challenge
was to strategize the best route to take. Our
warriors ran through the woods locating
several points successfully.
The Leaders Reaction Course may
be familiar to the cadets of the Paul Revere
Battalion from the recent fall Field Training
Exercise. Our squad was faced with the
problem of a bridge that had been washed
away in the middle. Using four wooden
boards (all that are too short to fully extend
the length of the divide) our squad had to
cross the bridge and carry supplies (a rope
and a barrel) over as well.
CDT Guerra disassembles/assembles an M16 in record time
The final lane our squad had to
conquer was the Intel event. The challenge
was to observe without detection an enemy
camp and send a SALUTE report via radio
to higher to inform them of the enemy's
actions (SALUTE stands for: Size, Activity,
Location, Uniform/Unit, Time, Equipment).
Our squad moved to a location where they
set up an objective rally point and sent out
two buddy teams to observe the enemy
camp. Our squad mastered the event,
missing only one point.
Our warriors returned to the barracks
and rested themselves for the night, mentally
preparing themselves for the final test, the
ruck march. Each squad member had to
carry a 35 lb ruck, which was weighed
before and after the ruck march was
completed. Our squad powered through the
march and jogged it in the last hundred
meters.
CDT O’Brien leads the squad to the finish line for the ruck march
Please note that we are now sending the Paul Revere Recorder via e-mail. If you’d like to receive a printed copy of future issues, please contact Lisa Morin at 617-253-4471 or [email protected]. Thanks for your help in saving our trees and postage costs!