SROTC Battalion Fights to Share Reserve Opportunities

Capt. Christian Venhuizen, Public Affairs Officer, 104th Training Division (Leader Training)

JOINT BASE LEWISMCCHORD, Wash. – Months before Senior ROTC cadets hit the ground for Cadet Summer Training, Lt. Col. Jason Ritter had already begun an effort to better integrate recruiting opportunities for the Army Reserve into the time his team has with the students.

The commander of 4th Battalion, 414th Regiment (SROTC), knows that it could be a tough sell for an Army component in need of young officers to grow into leaders.

“It is not necessarily written hard and fast into the Cadet Command curriculum,” Ritter said. “We have some self interest and some interests with the total Army to figure out how to integrate ourselves as Reservists and to push that Reserve agenda. The nice thing is that it does actually dovetail with Cadet Command.”

Assistant professors of military science, like Maj. Brant Crandall, know the challenge. They talk through their experiences with each other during conference calls, and in-person during their administratively-focused annual training.

A special forces officer, Brant came into the battalion looking at continuing his career and sharing what the Army gave him. “I think one of the things I really appreciated, I had a lot of mentors who set me up for success that these are the things you’re going to focus on in the Army. It starts with getting to know them,” he said.

Like his battalion commander, Brant said his time to talk to cadets about their future has limitations. He is actively mentoring three cadets, all with different career goals, both military and civilian.

“We know for a fact that a lot of that happens informally,” said Ritter. “What I’m most interested in, and I’ve had this conversation, is codifying that, making it more formal, working with Cadet Command to actually ensure that we have opportunities with the (Military Science 1 cadets), with those young cadets to say, ‘Hey, there is this other thing called the Army Reserve.”

For Ritter, the problem lies in how to make those moments quantifiable.

“What’s it look like, what’s it mean to me, how’s it benefiting me.

Army Capt. Dexter Wise, of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, assigned to the 4th Battalion, 414th Regiment, 1st Brigade, 104th Training Division (Leader Training) participates in a town hall discussion during the battalion’s annual training at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, April 26, 2022. (U.S. Army photo by Capt. Christian Venhuzien) Army Maj. Jennifer Nixon, of Puyallup, Washington, assigned to the 4th Battalion, 414th Regiment, 1st Brigade, 104th Training Division (Leader Training) participates in a town hall discussion with Brig. Gen. Rodney Fischer, the division commander, during the battalion’s annual training at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, April 26, 2022. (U.S. Army photo by Capt. Christian Venhuzien) Army Maj. Kathleen Rojewski, of Colorado Springs, Colorado, assigned to the 4th Battalion, 414th Regiment, 1st Brigade, 104th Training Division (Leader Training) participates in a town hall discussion during the battalion’s annual training at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, April 26, 2022. (U.S. Army photo by Capt. Christian Venhuzien)

So I think trying to actually define it a little better and then measure it right, because you can’t really tell if you’re successful unless you can measure it,” said the battalion commander. “So that’s something we struggle with, how do you measure it? That’s my kind of goal.”

Brant’s initial approach to mentorship and career development boils down to simple questions. “What are you interested in? Why did you get in and why do you continue to serve? With cadets that gets a little easier because those two two questions are pretty close to each other at this point in their careers,” he said.

Then you add in how careers change. Ritter left active duty just nine months before this annual training event with the 4-414. “Me personally, I’ve started to recruit and position the Reserve a lot differently than how I conceptualized it before, like ‘hey it’s like a side weekend job that you do and it’s only if you have a lot of flexibility in your job,’” he said.

Brant works with cadets at Southern Methodist University and the University of Texas at Dallas, both in Dallas.

“Some of these adjunct faculty with the unit are so well integrated into those universities that they are the primary instructors for the MS1s. They’re the primary planners for field training exercises. They are running the PT [physical training] program,” said Ritter. “The Cadet Command’s mission to commission cadets is really going well and the fact that we are so well integrated into it, is what I’m getting at with the positivity.”

Ritter’s elevator pitch to those considering an Army Reserve position as an APMS, “My sales pitch is this is the best unit in the Army Reserve. I could argue that point pretty well. You have a ton of freedom to maneuver; you’re allowed to execute with minimal guidance. For a lot of us, working with cadets is like drinking from the fountain of youth. It reminds a lot of us that that’s the way I was. I wasn’t jaded by the Army yet. I haven’t been beaten into submission by Power Points. I was eager to learn.”

The 4-414th is based at Joint Base Lewis McChord and falls under the 104th Training Division’s 1st Brigade.