Recently one of our outstanding nursing Cadets, Kylie Crooks was awarded the Major General Barbara R. Holcomb Army Nurse Cadet Excellence Award as the top nursing Cadet in the 8th ROTC Brigade. Eastern’s very own, Inside EWU did a great profile piece on Cadet Crooks and the award. Definitely worth reading the whole profile piece at this link and once again great job by Cadet Crooks for being selected for this prestigious award.
Is Army Nursing for You?
Any EWU student who wants to be a healthcare professional and has an interest in serving their country should consider Army nursing. If you are not sure if the Army is for you, ROTC is the one way to explore military service with no obligation to join. Our nursing Cadets complete their first two to three years of Nursing and ROTC pre-requisites on Eastern’s Cheney campus. The nursing Cadets then complete their final two years at the Washington State University (WSU) College of Nursing in downtown Spokane. The WSU College of Nursing reserves seats in each class for ROTC Nurses that achieve their admissions standards. To qualify for one of the reserved nursing seats you must make the decision to contract into ROTC by then.
EWU Army ROTC currently has the largest Cadet nursing program in Washington State and the Inland Northwest. We have a proven track record of our nursing Cadets receiving scholarships and going on to become healthcare professionals in service to our nation. You can learn more about our nursing program at this link and feel free to contact us at this link with any questions.
With the continuation of the Washington State stay-at-home order, ROTC activities for the “Fighting Eagles” Cadets at Eastern Washington University have continue to be conducted over virtual platforms. Our physical training (PT) activities are conducted over the Zoom app. Responsibility for conducting PT shifted this week to our second year (MS-II) Cadets conducting the conditioning drills with third year (MS-III) Cadets providing oversight.
EWU Army ROTC Cadets, Olivia Roble (left) and Adam Burnside (right) lead physical training conditioning drills over the Zoom app.
After the conclusion of the Zoom portion of PT the Cadets have been continuing to track their mileage on Strava. A unit competition on Strava has been initiated between each class the and the Cadre to determine who can log the most mileage this quarter. Here are the current standings:
MS-I Class: 198.6 miles
MS-II Class: 577.44
MS-III Class: 936.5
MS-IV Class: 821.6
Cadre: 629.2
Military Science Classes
The weekly Military Science curriculum is all being held online as well. The classes are taught over Zoom with presentation slides, assignments, and quizzes presented over the university’s Canvas software. Online training may not be as effective as in person classes, but our Military Science instructors have put in maximum effort to make the online classes as organized and effective as possible at training our Cadets.
MS-IV Cadet, Andreas Brazier gives a brief about improvements to Infantry weapon systems inside the Brigade Combat Team over the Zoom app.
Leadership Labs
This week’s virtual Leadership Lab continued to be conducted over the Fortnite software. The platoons each executed specific tactical training in customized virtual worlds created by the EWU ROTC Cadre. 1st Platoon was assessed on Movement to Contact and Attack battle drills, 2nd Platoon was assessed on Ambush and Defense battle drills, and 3rd Platoon was assessed on Recon and Raid battle drills. Despite using gaming software, the Cadets have maintained professionalism throughout the labs as they train on using the tactical skills they learned earlier in the year on this virtual platform. The Cadets have been responding favorably to this innovative approach to training which is allowing them to conduct hands on practice of their tactical skills without relying on Powerpoint presentations that make up the vast majority of online training.
Despite the limitations caused by the current pandemic, EWU Army ROTC leadership is committed to providing the highest quality training possible to prepare our Cadets to become future Army leaders. If you want to explore a Military Science course, it is still possible to sign up for ROTC this Spring Quarter. If you are interested in joining us in one of our virtual classes, physical training workouts, or Leadership Labs please contact us using this link or email us at rotc@ewu.edu to learn more.
This Throwback Thursday photo is from 2008 and shows the EWU Army ROTC Cannon Crew at Roos Field during a home football game. The then Professor of Military Science, Lieutenant Colonel Dave Millet is pictured at the center of the photo. He is still a part of the EWU community serving as the Director of the university’s Veterans Resource Center.
Here is an old picture that was labeled simply 1995. It appears to be a commissioning ceremony for three Cadets being held in our current ROTC classroom at Cadet Hall. Does any alumni recognize any of the three individuals in this photograph from 25 years ago?
The Eastern Washington University (EWU) Army Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) program is pleased to announce that Kylie Crooks has been awarded the Major General (MG) Barbara R. Holcomb Nurse Cadet Excellence Award. The award recognizes the top nursing Cadet in the 8th ROTC Brigade that covers the 30 different ROTC programs across the west coast of the United States to include major universities such as USC, UCLA, Oregon, Washington, Washington St. etc. MG Barbara Holcomb is a 1987 graduate from the Seattle University’s ROTC program and the former Chief of the Army Nurse Corps. She retired from active duty last year and established this award to recognize nursing excellence in the brigade.
EWU Army ROTC Cadet, Kylie Crooks.
Cadet Crooks is studying nursing and is on pace to graduate with honors. She has also demonstrated a high level of physical fitness by scoring above 90 points on each event of the Army Physical Fitness Test. She has further demonstrated her fitness by receiving a Gold German Armed Forces Proficiency Badge (GAFPB) during testing held by German Army officials at EWU. She was also selected for a Randy Van Turner ROTC Scholarship that is currently paying her full tuition. Kylie last summer completed ROTC Advanced Camp at Ft. Knox, Kentucky where she received the highest rating of “Outstanding”. Besides being a Cadet, Kylie also serves as a watercraft engineer in the U.S. Army Reserve’s 467th Transportation Company.
After graduating from EWU and the Washington State University College of Nursing in December 2020, Kylie will commission as an officer into the U.S. Army Nurse Corps. She will then attend basic officer training and be assigned to an Army hospital where she hopes to specialize in being an Intensive Care Unit (ICU) nurse. She also has a long term goal of pursing a Doctorate Nurse Practitioner in the future. EWU Army ROTC wishes Cadet Crooks all the best in her future endeavors and congratulate her for receiving this prestigious award.
Cadet Crooks after completing a 12-mile ruck march.
Is Army Nursing for You?
Any EWU student who wants to be a healthcare professional and has an interest in serving their country should consider Army nursing. If you are not sure if the Army is for you, ROTC is the one way to explore military service with no obligation to join. Our nursing Cadets complete their first two to three years of Nursing and ROTC pre-requisites on Eastern’s Cheney campus. The nursing Cadets then complete their final two years at the Washington State University (WSU) College of Nursing in downtown Spokane. The WSU College of Nursing reserves seats in each class for ROTC Nurses that achieve their admissions standards. To qualify for one of the reserved nursing seats you must make the decision to contract into ROTC by then.
EWU Army ROTC currently has the largest Cadet nursing program in Washington State and the Inland Northwest. We have a proven track record of our nursing Cadets receiving scholarships and going on to become healthcare professionals in service to our nation. You can learn more about our nursing program at this link and feel free to contact us at this link with any questions.
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused much change in the lives of people around the country to include here at Eastern Washington University (EWU). In response to the pandemic all classes for Spring Quarter have been moved online to include the entire Military Science curriculum. One of the biggest characteristics of being an Army officer is to be adaptable to changing conditions and the “Fighting Eagles” Cadets of the EWU Army ROTC program are learning that first hand right now.
Cadet Christian Goldbach logs into the Fortnite software to prepare for his weekly Leadership Lab. As an evaluator Cadet Goldbach has his Ranger Handbook and other documents ready to train assess Cadets during the lab.
Physical Training
This first major adaption has been with the unit’s physical training program (PT). The ROTC program’s mandatory PT sessions are held on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday mornings. To keep a sense of normalcy, the ROTC Cadre has kept the PT schedule the same during the pandemic, however the Cadets meet up in a virtual Zoom classroom each morning.
Cadet Beier briefs the morning PT session over Zoom.
Two Cadets are assigned to lead each PT session for the other Cadets to follow along with over their smartphones. After the completion of the warmup exercises they then brief the workout plan for each Cadet to complete that day that is also posted on social media:
https://www.instagram.com/p/B-wxiUMBbhT/
After the completion of the workout the Cadets then log the workout on to the Strava app. Strava gives the program the ability to track the total distances and times of the exercises for each Cadet.
Strava App
Leadership Labs
Another challenge the program faced was being able to conduct Leadership Labs in a way that would still give Cadets the ability to practice platoon level tactics and leadership. During Spring Break the EWU Army ROTC Cadre experimented with a number of first person gaming platforms to determine one that would best virtually replicate a Leadership Lab. It was decided that the Fortnite software was the best one to handle the large number of Cadets and give the Cadre the flexibility to build virtual worlds to replicate the terrain the Cadets train in during standard Leadership Labs.
In the first two weeks, Fighting Eagles Cadets have familiarized themselves with the program and conducted a Platoon Formations and Order Of Movement (FOOM) training, practiced actions when crossing a Linear Danger Areas (LDA), and Actions on Contact (AoC).
Signs in the game direct Cadets to start point of their next training lane just like in real life.Cadets assault through an objective.
The Cadets are divided up into three different platoons and enter their assigned virtual world accompanied by a cadre member and a MS-IV Cadet evaluator to guide and assess them. Inside the virtual world the Cadets are evaluated on how they perform their movements and tactics as if they were in the real world. During the lab the Cadets communicate with each other through the Discord app. This allows Cadets in leadership positions to perform their Troop Leading Procedures (TLP’s) and give out orders during the platoon training lanes.
The current pandemic has created a challenging training environment, but part of leadership is overcoming adversity. Former General of the Army, George C. Marshall understood this very well:
The lack of equipment, the lack of food, the lack of this or that are only excuses; the real leader displays his quality in his triumphs over adversity, however great it may be.” – General of the Army George C Marshall, and former Secretary of State & Secretary of Defense
Despite the limitations caused by the current pandemic, EWU Army ROTC leadership is committed to providing the highest quality training possible to prepare our Cadets to become future Army leaders. If you want to explore a Military Science course, it is still possible to sign up for ROTC this Spring Quarter. If you are interested in joining us in one of our virtual classes, physical training workouts, or Leadership Labs please contact us using this link or email us at rotc@ewu.edu to learn more.
