Clemson ROTC Cadets Hone Leadership Skills at FTX

By Sgt. Ken Scar

108th Training Command (IET) Public Affairs

CLEMSON, S.C. — A company of future Army officers from Clemson University spent a long day navigating the tall trees and prickly underbrush of the school’s 17,500acre lakeside forest for their annual field training exercise March 7.

The exercise, Tiger Torch 2015, tested freshman and sophomore Reserve Officer Training Corps cadets’ abilities to develop problem-solving and communication skills through a series of challenges, known as field leadership reaction courses, that would not look out of place on any number of reality TV shows.

Army Maj. Phillip Andrews, an Active Guard Reserve officer and Clemson’s assistant professor of military science, explained the purpose of the exercise.

“This is a capstone event for them when they’re learning squad tactical exercises,” he said. “On campus we teach them tactics in three parts: individual movement techniques, or how to move in a squad, and then we’ll have them receive an operation order and go through the planning process. For the third lab they actually step off their line of departure to execute their plan. When they come out here they’ll have to move around and conduct an operation as a squad, from the time of receiving an order to meeting the enemy at an objective, using the skills they’ve learned in the classroom.”

In the first event, junior cadets were separated from their peers alongside an upperclassman, dressed as a high value target. The other cadets, composing the “assault” team, had to plan an attack using maps provided. The assault team had 25 minutes to eliminate the “target” and five “bodyguards” with paintball guns. Cadets were evaluated on movement techniques and tactical procedures.

“They’re doing pretty well,” said Andrews. “I saw a lot of paintballs hitting people in the head and other parts of the body.”

In the second event, key leader engagement operations, cadets were given 20 minutes to gain intelligence on enemy forces and their movement in the area from other students posing as “villagers” in a makeshift village. The goal was to gain intelligence without provoking the villagers and causing a dangerous encounter.

The cadets playing the villagers, seniors Austin Mcilwain, Peter Garcia and Connor Gross, did not make it easy for the underclassmen. Gross, dressed in a wig and beard and wearing a black robe, would command the squad leaders

Clemson University Reserve Officer Training Corps cadets attempt to get themselves and all their gear over an obstacle without touching the ground and using only two logs, March 7, 2015. The event was part of a field training exercise conducted by the Clemson ROTC in which junior cadets were tested on several team-building and leadership challenges. Photo by Sgt. Ken Scar, 108th Training Command (IET), Public Affairs

Clemson University Reserve Officer Training Corps senior cadet Sarah Fedyschyan, who is from Charlotte, N.C., evaluates a squad of junior cadets during a team-building event she was teaching at a field training exercise in the Clemson Forest March 7, 2015. Upon graduating and being commissioned, Fedyschyan will be stationed at Fort Jackson, where she will join an Army Reserve military intelligence unit. Clemson University Reserve Officer Training Corps cadets try to keep one of their squad members from touching the ground during a team building exercise, March 7, 2015. To pass the squad had to move all of their equipment and themselves over the wood obstacle without touching the ground using only two log poles. The event was part of a field training exercise conducted by the Clemson ROTC in which junior cadets were tested on several team-building and leadership challenges. Photo by Sgt. Ken Scar, 108th Training Command (IET), Public Affairs

attention by demanding food and supplies or making accusations while his two compatriots would rifle through the Soldiers’ bags, reach for their weapons, or produce weapons of their own.

The last challenge was crossing a simulated electric fence. Groups of cadets were broken into squads, and received a short briefing on the parameters, equipment and essential. Then, using only two 10-foot logs, each squad had to formulate a plan to bring all personnel and equipment over the obstacle without touching the ground.

Senior cadet Sarah Fedyschyn, a philosophy major from Charlotte,

North Carolina, who will be joining an Army Reserve military intelligence unit at Fort Jackson upon graduation and commissioning, commented that this particular station was proving to be quite a challenge for her squad as she watched them try again and again to complete the task without one of the cadets or pieces of equipment touching the leafy ground.

“So far we have a zero success rate,” she laughed. “I’m a teacher and evaluator so I go with this squad from point to point. Until now it was going well.”

Her squad finally completed the task successfully with less than a minute of time left.

Andrews noted that putting together an FTX without the amenities found on a military base is a unique challenge for Clemson ROTC staff members.

“Army bases have permanent facilities for these exercises, but we have to utilize what we have and get creative,” he said.

Fedyschyn said the extra effort pays off for the cadets.

“I think we have a much better ROTC program than a lot of schools in our area,” she said. “It’s a great training program. I feel very well prepared.”

Two Clemson University Reserve Officer Training Corps cadets conduct tactical maneuvers against an opposing squad using paint ball guns, March 7, 2015. The event was part of a field training exercise conducted by the Clemson ROTC in which junior cadets were tested on several team-building and leadership challenges. Photo by Sgt. Ken Scar, 108th Training Command (IET), Public Affairs

Clemson University Reserve Officer Training Corps cadet Brian Cruciger (sitting), a junior from Greenville studying political science, meets with a “villager” played by Connor Gross (in costume), a senior from Marietta, Ga. studying sociology, during a mock key leader engagement event, March 8, 2015. The ROTC was conducting a field training exercise during which they were tested on several team-building and leadership challenges. Photo by Sgt. Ken Scar, 108th Training Command (IET), Public Affairs