The pressure is on

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Welcome back, Pointers!

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Myself and three other cadets on the field at the Green Bay Packers vs. Oakland Raiders game in 2014!

As I’m sure most of you know, your junior year of college is usually your most difficult year in college; you’re just finishing up all of your general education classes and starting to get into the nitty-gritty classes that actually apply to your major(s).

The same idea applies to ROTC. Your freshman and sophomore year is where you learn all of the basics of what the military has to offer, customs and courtesies, and these first two years are your chances to get a basic understanding of how the program works. When your junior year, also known as your MSIII year, comes along it’s time to get down to business (que Mulan music). This is the year that everything you learned your first two years in the program comes into play; your junior year is when you apply everything you’ve been observing, talking about and learning your freshman and sophomore years.

The summer going into your senior year cadets go to CLC (Cadet Leadership Course) where we are evaluated on our leadership skills. This month-long course is created to test our physical and mental strength, we are put in different leadership positions where our leadership skills are tested as we are put in various situations we could be faced with in a real-world Army environment. Based on how well we lead our peers in different situations, we are ranked against all the other cadets in the nation. It’s important that we properly prepare and focus during the first three years of ROTC in order to be successful during CLC. Our future Army careers depend on how well we do at CLC.

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A HMMWV (High-Mobility Multi-Wheeled Vehicle) basking in the rays of the sunrise.

Along with being ranked at CLC, we are evaluated and tested throughout the entire school year. Our academics, physical fitness and leadership skills are all taken into consideration when deciding whether we get placed into active duty, the Army Reserves or the Army National Guard. This year we had five cadets receive a slot in active duty (a pretty impressive accomplishment considering the Army is currently going through a downsizing process) and one cadet rank in the top 10% of all cadets in the nation. UW-Stevens Point ROTC prepares cadets to be the best they can be. The program develops future leaders of the United States Army and based on recent statistics, we’re doing a pretty good job.

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The cadets who participated in Ranger Challenge finishing the 12K ruck march as a team!

Every Monday, Wednesday and Thursday ROTC conducts Physical Readiness Training (PRT) where we work out to prepare for CLC. MSIIIs are assigned to lead a PRT session. This past week I was in charge of one of the sessions. There are many different commands and proper steps to successfully conducting a PRT session. Every session has the Primary Instructor (PI) and the Alternate Instructor (AI) where the PI is evaluated by a senior, also known as an MSIV. PRT is one of the many ways that Cadets are evaluated to better our leadership skills for CLC.

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Myself, the other juniors in ROTC, and our instructor at last year’s commissioning ceremony.

Although there is a lot of pressure on the MSIIIs, there is also an overwhelming amount of support. Other cadets in my class, underclassmen and the MSIVs are all there to offer as much help as possible. I like to think of the cadets in ROTC as one big family. They are my support system, my therapists, my academic adviser, and most importantly, they are my brothers and sisters.

Until next time! Pointers Lead the Way!
Cadet Rilee Newell

Rilee Newell is a cadet in the UW-Stevens Point ROTC program. She is majoring in sociology with an emphasis in deviance and social control with minors in military science and peace studies.