Commanding Officer’s Call Vandal and Coug Alumni, What a year this has been! I hope this Mainstay finds you in good spirits and good health. As my tour on the Palouse comes to an end, I want to thank my staff and the battalion for the amazing work they have done over the past three years, and flexibility they displayed, especially during the past four months. This year started a little earlier for many members of the staff with New Student Indoctrination. This new program is a three -week military indoctrination program for incoming NROTC students from across the country hosted at Recruit Training Command, Great Lakes. The staff and I lead the second indoctrination cycle providing training for 480 incoming freshmen. Between the two cycles more than 900 incoming NROTC Midshipmen received training in fire fighting, line handling, swim survival skills, small arms fire and basic watchstanding. Many of our own seniors participated as Midshipman Instructors gaining a valuable leadership training opportunity. This year, the two universities started on different weeks leaving us little time to introduce new battalion members in NROTC Midshipmen life. That didn’t stop the freshmen from excelling. In November, we celebrated the Navy and Marine Corps’ birthdays in the Senior Ballroom of the CUB. CMDMC Dunlap, then Command Master Chief for NROTC, spoke to us about servant leadership. Prior to final exams, we held our third annual holiday party at the Latah County Fair Grounds to reduce stress before finals and celebrate our successes before the holidays. Spring semester brought a mild winter and Seniors eager to commission. We scheduled Senior Mess Night before Spring Break to make April easier to manage. The timing seemed prescient given the sequence of events that began in early March. Cancellation followed cancellation: North West Navy, Commencement, Spring Awards Dinner, in-person Commissioning ceremony and most of Summer Training. Little did we know that as we departed for Spring Break, that would be the last time we would have in person contact with most of the Battalion. Even with the transition to distance and on-line learning, we made the best use of the available options. We held the Spring Awards and Commissioning ceremonies virtually. With the unique situation, both universities allowed us to change the Commissioning ceremony into an actual Graduation and Commissioning ceremony where the respective Presidents and Provosts conferred baccalaureate degrees prior to the oath of office. Our first (and hopefully last) virtual commissioning honored the new Naval officers for their hard work and success staying true to Naval traditions. Our students absolutely demonstrated the adaptability and resilience they will need at Naval Officers upon commissioning. A few notes: Awards: Our students earned more than $9,000 in awards this year. A Notable awardee includes MIDN 1/C Sean Conner for earning the CNO Distinguished Midshipman Award. Well done! My relief, CAPT Price Lockard, is a 1996 University of Idaho graduate coming back after finishing his Commodore tour in Bahrain. Please welcome him back as warmly as you have welcomed me into the Vandal and Coug NROTC family. 75th Anniversary: Our fingers are crossed for the 75th, but we do not know what the football season will look like at this time. We will be putting out more information as the athletic schedule and attendance requirements take shape. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the Unit! -CAPT Shaun C. McAndrew, Commanding Officer
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