Cadet Command Messages – EWU Army ROTC

How to Apply for A 2020 Army ROTC National Scholarship

10/02/202407/03/2019 by jstafford3

The 2020 Army Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) National Scholarship season has begun. Army ROTC National Scholarships are for qualified high school seniors planning to attend a four-year university and are interested in training to become a future officer in the U.S. Army. If you have already graduated high school please contact the Eastern Washington University (EWU) ROTC office because we have other scholarship options available.

EWU ROTC Cadets from the class of 2019 commission as officers into the U.S. Army.

ROTC National Scholarship Requirements

Be a U.S. citizen
Be between the ages of 17 and 26
Have a high school GPA of at least 2.50
Have a high school diploma or equivalent
Score a minimum of 1000 on the SAT (math/verbal) or 19 on the ACT (excluding the required writing test scores)
Meet physical standards
Agree to accept a commission and serve in the Army on Active Duty or in a Reserve Component (Army Reserve or Army National Guard)

If you meet the basic requirements, below are the instructions on how to apply for a ROTC National Scholarship. You can get about 75% of the application completed in under an hour.

ROTC National Scholarship Process:

Step #1: You need to complete an on-line application that you can access through this link. Applicants must initiate the on-line application by 4 February 2020. Remember your login and password for your cadet portal. Your login is the email you use to establish your account.

Click here to download step-by-step instructions of how to create an ROTC application.

Step #2: Submit high school transcripts (at least through junior year) and SAT or ACT scores. You can upload PDFs through your account in the Cadet portal.

Step #3: Take the ROTC Basic Fitness Test. A coach or PE teacher can administer this for you.

Click Here to download the Fitness Card.

Step #4: Conduct an interview at one of the university ROTC programs (ideally where your first choice of college is). We can do this any time here at Eastern after you start the on-line application. We are more than willing to conduct a Skype interview if you live several hours away. Please reach us through our Contact page or call 509-359-6110 to setup an interview.

ROTC National Scholarship Timeline

The Army understands high school students could still be in the process of taking SATs and ACTs during their senior year. Because of this the Army has three different boards that meet throughout the year to select ROTC scholarship winners. Below is the board timeline.

1st Board

(Note: The first board dates were moved up to December, they were originally in October)

02 December 2019: All four steps listed above must be completed on the GoArmy site before this date to be considered by the first board. The application will not be considered if any of the steps are not completed. A benefit of completing the ROTC packet in time for the first board is that even if your packet is not selected it will be looked at again by the second and third boards thus increasing your chances of receiving a scholarship.

09 December 2019: This is the date that the first board convenes and reviews every packet that was submitted by the 02 December 2019 deadline.

2nd Board

28 December 2019: All four steps listed above must be completed on the GoArmy site before this date to be considered by the second board. The application will not be considered if any of the steps are not completed. A benefit of completing the ROTC packet in time for the second board is that even if your packet is not selected it will be looked at again by the third board thus increasing your chances of receiving a scholarship.

13-17 January 2020: This is the date that the second board convenes and reviews every packet that was submitted by the 06 January 2019 deadline.

4 February 2020: This is the deadline to initiate new 2019-2020 ROTC scholarship applications. If an application is not initiated by1159pm EST it will not be considered by the final board. Those who already have an application open can continue to modify it passed this deadline.

4 March 2020: This is the deadline to complete all edits to your online ROTC scholarship application. All edits must be complete by1159pm EST. After this date you will only be able to upload supporting documentation.

3rd Board

09 March 2020: All four steps listed above must be completed on the GoArmy site before this date to be considered by the third board. The application will not be considered if any of the steps are not completed.

23-27 March 2020: Board convenes and runs until every packet that was board ready by the start of the board, has been reviewed.

Please view the below video for more information about submitting an ROTC scholarship application.

ROTC Scholarship Selection

Selection for ROTC scholarships are highly competitive and at EWU ROTC we recommend getting your application complete and seen in time for the second board. The majority of scholarships are issued from the second and third boards and getting the application complete by the second board will increase your chances of receiving a scholarship. Decisions on the scholarships awarded are usually released two to four weeks after each board. Periodically check the Selection Status tab on your GoArmy application to see if you were selected.

Someone receiving a scholarship

2019 ROTC National Scholarship recipient to Eastern Washington University received scholarship benefits worth $77,000.

If you were not selected after the third board do not give up hope of receiving a scholarship. There is a secondary process for applicants to earn a scholarship. Any ROTC program can make an alternate offer to applicants that were not offered a national award. We get most of our new, incoming freshman on scholarships using this alternate process. Applying for the national scholarship is simply the first step. It is very simple and easy for us to make an alternate offer, but you first have to put together the ROTC application.

Please contact the EWU ROTC office for any additional details about how the scholarship selection process works.

Follow EWU ROTC

Keep up-to-date on all the latest news and notes from the EWU ROTC program and Cadet Command in general by subscribing to our website using the sign up widget in the right sidebar. You can also follow EWU ROTC at the below social media channels:

Remember if you have any questions about the ROTC National Scholarship process, please leave a comment, contact our office, or reach out to us through our social media sites. We are here to help and want you to be as successful as possible to receive an Army ROTC scholarship.

Go ROTC! Go Fighting Eags!

EWU ROTC “Fighting Eagles” Battalion Commissions 12 Second Lieutenants Into the U.S. Army

09/30/202406/14/2019 by jstafford3

On June 14, 2019 the Eastern Washington University (EWU) Army Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) “Fighting Eagles” battalion conducted its annual commissioning ceremony. The ceremony was held in the historic Showalter Hall auditorium on the beautiful EWU campus.

EWU Army ROTC Class of 2019

The ceremony to commission the 12 Cadets as Second Lieutenants (2LT) was fitting held on the 244th anniversary of the founding of the U.S. Army. This was the 64th straight year that Eastern has produced officers for the U.S. Army. The EWU ROTC program was established in 1952 and the first commissioning class was in 1955. A special guest today was Mr. Dick Edwards who was member of that first EWU ROTC Class of 1955. It was an honor to have him on hand to see the Class of 2019 commission. It was also an honor to have retired Brigadier General Neal Sealock as our guest speaker. BG Sealock is a 1974 graduate from the EWU Army ROTC program and is currently serving as the Civilian Aide to the Secretary of the Army for the Eastern Washington region.

Retired Brigadier General Neal Sealock was the guest speaker for the 2019 commissioning ceremony.

EWU ROTC also thanks retired Lieutenant Colonel Dave Millet from the EWU Veterans Resource Center for presenting the veterans coins and honor cords to the commissionees today. We also thank retired Lieutenant Colonel Jerry Mellick from the EWU ROTC class of 1967 for representing the program’s alumni and presenting Eagle4Life pins to each of the new lieutenants.

Jerry Mellick (left) and Dave Millet (right) present coins, pins, and honor cords to the commissionees.

During the ceremony each commissionee had an officer they chose come up and administer the Army Oath of Office to them to officially commission them as a 2LT into the U.S. Army.

The Army Oath of Office

I (state your name), have been appointed an officer in the Army of the United States in the grade of Second Lieutenant do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office upon which I am about to enter. So help me God.

EWU ROTC Professor of Military Science, LTC Jonathan Stafford commissions John Howard, Jordan Johnson, and Tyler Roylance as Second Lieutenants into the U.S. Army.

Retired Major Robert Riedel, EWU ROTC Recruiting and Operations Officer gives the Officer Oath of Office to Haley Bent.

Captain Nicholas Carbaugh, the Assistant PMS for the Fighting Eagles battalion gives the Officer Oath of Office to Tyler Bergman, Scott Hinshaw, Kyle Isaacson, Bryce Stanton, and Kyle Stanton.

First Lieutenant Violet Falealili gives the Officer Oath of Office to Candace Madriaga.

2LT Rebecca Trout gives the Officer Oath of Office to Hayley Primm.

Retired LTC Therese Lally gives the Officer Oath of Office to her son 2LT Ryan Smith.

Following the Officer Oath of Office family members then came up and put on the Second Lieutenant shoulder board rank on to the new officers. After the pinning of the new rank each newly minted officer received their first salute from the enlisted person of their choice. Part of the tradition of the first salute is that the enlisted servicemember receives a silver dollar from the officer.

The parents for 2LT Tyler Roylance pin on his new rank.

Sergeant First Class David Ratliff, the EWU ROTC Senior Military Science Instructor gives the first salute to 2LT Haley Bent.

The path to this day was not an easy one for the Class of 2019. All these Cadets conducted up to 4 years of military training in the ROTC program, had to meet rigorous academic requirements, build strong physical fitness, pass the 37-day long ROTC Advanced Camp at Ft. Knox, Kentucky, among of host of other challenging requirements before they could commission as a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Army. The Class of 2019 though did not just pass requirements, they excelled. For example, at ROTC Advanced Camp, which is the premier training event for Cadet Command, 63% of the commissionees scored either an “Outstanding” or “Excellent” rating which are the two highest scores at Advanced Camp. This was higher than the Cadet Command average of 48%.

2LT Kyle Isaacson has his rank pinned on by his parents.

This group further exceeded Cadet Command branching averages. Branching is a highly competitive process since these are the career positions that Cadets across the country compete against each other for. The Cadet Command average for receiving a first branch choice was 60%, the average for the EWU ROTC class of 2019 was 83%.

Master Chief James Peterson renders the first salute to 2LT Bryce Stanton.

Cadets from this group were also very active on campus executing cannon crew duties during the home football games, participating in volunteer activities such as our annual blood drive, assisting with color guard, and being part of the Ranger Challenge team. Four of the commissionees, Scott Hinshaw, John Howard, Bryce Stanton and Kyle Stanton also helped lead our Ranger Challenge team to place first in four of 11 of the events at this past years Ranger Challenge competition.

2LT Scott Hinshaw is congratulated by his parents.

2LT Tyler Bergman has his rank pinned on by his parents.

There was also a lot of individual excellence. 2LT Bryce Stanton was also selected earlier this year as one of the Cadets to represent our ROTC brigade at the George C. Marshall Leadership Seminar at the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. Hayley Bent was then selected as one of the top 100 ROTC Cadets from across the nation to attend the Mission Command Conference at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. Further excellence was shown by Kyle Stanton receiving an Army Achievement Medal for the top ruck march time at the U.S. Army Air Assault school last summer.

2LT Kyle Stanton has his rank pinned on by his parents.

It is no surprise that these three Second Lieutenants, Haley Bent, Bryce Stanton, and Kyle Stanton were also recognized as Distinguished Military Graduates. Only 20% of Cadets across the country receive such an honor and three of them came from the EWU ROTC Class of 2019.

The Class of 2019 are clearly an outstanding group of commissionees that have continued the long tradition of excellent officers coming from the EWU Army ROTC program. Congratulations to the Army’s newest Second Lieutenants.

Go ROTC! Go Fighting Eags!

EWU Army ROTC Class of 2019

2LT Haley Bent / Major: Business / Branch: Military Intelligence / Distinguished Military Graduate

2LT Tyler Bergman / Major: Criminal Justice / Branch: Ordnance

2LT Scott Hinshaw / Major: Political Science / Branch: Infantry

2LT John Howard / Major: International Affairs / Branch: Transportation Corps

2LT Kyle Isaacson / Major: History / Branch: Field Artillery

2LT Jordan Johnson / Major: Biology / Branch: Adjutant General Corps

2LT Candace Madriaga / Major: Nursing / Branch: Army Nurse Corps

2LT Hayley Primm / Major: Nursing / Branch: Army Nurse Corps

2LT Tyler Roylance / Major: Psychology / Branch: Transportation Corps

2LT Ryan Smith / Major: Political Science / Branch: Quartermaster Corps

2LT Bryce Stanton / Major: Political Science / Branch: Infantry / Distinguished Military Graduate

2LT Kyle Stanton / Major: Political Science / Branch: Infantry / Distinguished Military Graduate

Commanding General of US Army Cadet Command Announces Strategy to Grow the Officer Corps

10/11/202410/31/2018 by jstafford3

The US Army Cadet Command (USACC) Commanding General, Major General John Evans recently published his strategy to ensure that the US Army’s ROTC programs are commissioning enough officers to meet demand:

Major General John Evans

The Army may have missed its recruiting goal this year, but the head of Army Cadet Command said he remains confident in officer accession.

Maj. Gen. John Evans, who is also the commanding general of Fort Knox, Ky., said there have been challenges – such as low nationwide unemployment, which means increased competition for top talent – but the officer corps is strong. By 2020, leaders hope to have 6,000 new second lieutenants filtering into positions.

“While there’s always a concern about growing the officer corps and whether you can get the right number of qualified candidates, I feel very comfortable right now that we are on the glide path to making our mission in the out years,” he said.

Here are four ways Evans is working to grow the officer corps. [Military Officer Association of America]

MG Evans strategy has four points:

Reaching the 2020 Goal
Building Up JROTC Groups
Reaching Out to Students Who Miss the Cut for West Point
Calling on Retired Officers

You can read the details for each point at the link.

US Army Cadet Command Recognizes 98 Years Since Women’s Suffrage

10/11/202408/23/2018 by jstafford3

Below is a message from the Commanding General of US Army Cadet Command, Major General John R. Evans in recognition of the upcoming anniversary of an important US milestone, the 19th Admendment that allowed women the right to vote:

On August 26, 1920, the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was certified by the Secretary of State, granting women the right to vote. This historic piece of legislation was made possible due, in large part, to the service of women in every …major war since World War I. Each year since 1971, our Nation celebrates Women’s Equality Day to commemorate this turning point for gender equality in America.

Since our country’s founding, there have been examples of women faithfully serving in the military in both unofficial and official roles. During the Revolutionary, Civil and Mexican Wars, a small number of women were involved in combat, but most had to disguise themselves as men and enlist under aliases. Margaret Corbin stood at a cannon beside her husband, handling ammunition during the Revolutionary War; and Anita Newcomb McGee trained volunteer nurses to serve after the outbreak of the Spanish-American War in 1898. They are just two of the thousands of women who sought opportunity to serve alongside their male counterparts, without regard to their gender.

In more recent years, the fight for gender equality has led to significant changes for women serving in the military. The early 1990s saw the lifting of the ban on women flying in combat and serving on combat ships, and a Defense Department policy change opened all military occupations and positions to women in January 2016. As the weapons and methods of warfare change, Army leaders have begun to realize that, on the battlefield, gender matters much less than an individual’s capabilities and demonstrated competence.

I am proud to serve in an Army where anyone who can meet operationally relevant standards has the opportunity to serve in any position – regardless of gender. I encourage you to attend this year’s observance to honor all women, in and out of uniform, and to recognize their continuing efforts toward full equality. When we share the load equally, we are stronger …and together we are Army Strong!