By Luke Lattanzi | Staff Writer
Members of the U.S. Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) can be seen weekly on campus in uniform, doing drills or simply going to class. While their uniforms may make them stick out among their non-military counterparts, few stop to consider their distinct roles as college students who are also military officers in training.
The average week of an ROTC cadet can vary depending on classification. For freshmen and sophomores, an average week consists of three professional military training (PMT) events. Cadets wake up as early as 5 a.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays for morning workouts, which run from 6 to 7 a.m.
On Wednesdays, cadets are required to wear their uniforms all day and participate in leadership laboratories from 4 to 6 p.m. Leadership laboratories train cadets to become better leaders in the military with the use of drills and leadership scenarios, teaching them how to react when confronted with certain situations.
“We do a lot of GLPs [group leadership projects], which are little leadership scenarios and projects and evaluation scenarios that we set up to test people and get them thinking: How are you going to react as a leader in this situation? What would you do? What are the correct steps to do? How would you be supposed to take care of something?” Sugar Land senior Chloe Choudhury, a third-year ROTC cadet, said. “And so that’s a really cool little segment of our week where we basically focus on preparing to become officers in the Air Force specifically.”
Choudhury said for upperclassmen, the ROTC curriculum changes, with most juniors and seniors having classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays in addition to Wednesday’s leadership lab. At this point, the classes become more geared toward applying what cadets learned in their first two years to real-world scenarios, learning from past situations the Air Force has had to deal with and understanding how to react should they happen again.
Cadets also have to work to balance their ROTC obligations with more conventional college responsibilities. Cibolo sophomore Gracie Brown, who is currently in the process of completing her field training preparation — some of the most intense training cadets see in all four years of college — said having a good routine is key to success.
“You just build a routine,” Brown said. “My ROTC day is Wednesday, so I try and make that my lightest day because two hours of [leadership laboratory] can be really exhausting, especially when it ends at 6 p.m. And then for me, I feel like my day’s over at that point, so I try not to make my schedule too heavy on that day just so I can relax and prepare for those two hours.”
ROTC also allows cadets to serve in various leadership roles. This semester, Choudhury is serving as director of operations for her detachment, being responsible for the planning and execution of all ROTC events, from leadership laboratories to PMTs. She said serving in the role has helped her become more confident in taking the front seat and making executive decisions — a key skill for military officers.
“I think it’s definitely developed me [to be] able to get out of my shell and get more out there within the detachment,” Choudhury said. “And just start making executive decisions, taking control, being like, ‘Hey, this is what we’re going to do. We’re doing it at this time.’ So it’s nice to be [in a] leadership role, because I feel like it’s given me the opportunity to actually manage a team very similar to what I would be doing in the Air Force.”
Choudhury, in addition to balancing her ROTC leadership responsibilities with college life, is also the lead singer of SUNNN, a local band run by Baylor students. In addition to the challenge of being director of operations, Choudhury has had to face uncertainty with her band, with old members parting ways and new ones joining. She said her situation has effectively flip-flopped: from being inexperienced in ROTC as a college freshman but being an experienced musician in SUNNN to now having to navigate uncharted waters with her band while becoming far more experienced in ROTC.
“Now I’m starting over with SUNNN, so now I’m getting my footing [again], and I’m learning how to adjust and adapt and change,” Choudhury said. “Whereas now, I’m [in the Professional Officer Course] in the ROTC, so it’s really beautiful — the duality, how life changes — because now I’m certain about my role. I know what to do. They’ve taught me well, but this is a new venture for me.”
Brown has also had the opportunity to be placed in different leadership positions during her time in the ROTC so far. During the first week of the semester, for instance, she was placed in the position of flight commander, which pushed her out of her comfort zone.
“Each week is an incredible learning opportunity,” Brown said. “Even if you’re not the one in that position, you’re taking what [someone else is] being told and taking it and applying it to either the position you’re currently in or the position that you’ll be in next week or whenever you’re in that position.”
San Antonio senior Carson Duncan is serving as cadet wing commander this semester — the highest-ranking cadet in Baylor’s Air Force ROTC detachment. Currently on track to graduate and commission in May, Duncan said getting to this point was a matter of sticking with the process, discipline and hard work. Specifically for him, it was all geared toward becoming a pilot in the Air Force, and he is set to begin his training as a remotely piloted aircraft, or drone pilot, after graduation.
“It’s a lot of hard work,” Duncan said. “There [were] a lot of late nights, a lot of times where I wanted to go do something or want to have more fun, but then realizing I couldn’t because I need to get this done. So it did take a lot of sacrifice, but it was worth it.”
