Wednesday, July 2, 1986
Campus/Area
University Daily Kansan
9
Camp prepares Army cadets
By Dana Spoor Staff writer
Climbing a 90-foot tower to climb down a cable at 40 mph or repelling off a simulated helicopter drop may be sufficient. KU students it is part of their job.
Those 30 students traveled to Fort Riley last month to begin an intensive six-week training program with the Army ROTC.
"It is for cadets who are in the senior ROTC program." Lt. Tom Cummings, assistant enrollment officer, said last week. "They are there to teach them leadership skills, leadership potential and to get certification-level Army training."
Brig. Gen. Myrna Williamson, camp commander, met the students and gave a camp peal talk.
"Spirit; keeping that alive puts us together." Williamson said. "Soul is what is deep within you when all else fails."
The third component is ethics, and Williamson said that this was what cadets must keep in mind at all times.
The camp, Camp Warrior, is one of three in the United States. It hosts students attending universities in Missouri, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Illinois, Kentucky and Kansas.
After meeting Williams, the cadets were shown their new home. Cots, cots and more cots inside a two-story building is where they sleep all but about eight nights during their stay.
Every morning before the sun comes up, Richard Hayes, Wilmette, III., senior, and his platoon begin their training.
One of the first things they learned was how to handle a situation in which they were faced with tear gas. "We had a gas mask, but you can
still feel it start to irritate your skin," Hayes said.
Each cadet had to take off the gas mask and state his or her name, social security number, class and major before he or she could leave. Hayes said that most students were not required to go their social security numbers.
"I proves that they can do things that they are really scared to do," Frank Laster, professor of military history at the University of if these cadets have the right stuff."
The "right stuff" is what determines where they will go upon completion of the course and commission into the Army.
Before lunch, Hayes and his platoon were taught how to repel off a 30-foot wall, a 50-foot wall and a simulated helicopter drop from a platform 50 feet high. The helicopter drop is not mandatory, but commanders and platoon leaders try to get everyone to complete it.
"It is very safe," Laster said. "If you can use the technique, you can make it.
"It is a lot of fun," Hayes said. "Once you are off of it, it is pretty relaxing."
"If he doesn't do this, it doesn't mean he fails, but this has a lot of bearing on evaluations."
The next step was lunch.
Food is certainly not the talk of the town at Camp Warrior. Williams said. The cadets have prepared their meals for a rainy day and they are not coping back to the base.
After a hot day in the sun, climbing down walls and eating boxed food, Hayes and his platoon went to water training.
At the top of a 90-foot tower is a bar with a bang to on. Cades grab the bar and slide down. At the bottom of what they call "theslide
for life" is a lake they hit at approximately 40 miles per hour.
These events represent only a small portion of the course. Cadets are given up to six days off during training, but Cummings said that he only had 20-20 hour periods off while he was at camp last year.
As the sun begins to set, many cadets have not stopped to eat dinner. Hayes and his men were allowed to go back to the base to change clothes, but they went right back on the next morning after a short sleep.
Sleep is something the cadets lack. The camp is oriented toward stress, which is one thing camp officials take advantage of.
"We count on the lack of sleep and traditional Kansas weather to help us out a little bit." Lester said.
Stress is used to help evaluate the cadets, and evaluation is what counts after commissioning, he said. For the 30 KU students it could mean spending more time on the streets they have never heard of or roaming the streets of their dream site.
The cadets are commissioned after graduation from their university. The program is for students in the summer between their junior and senior years. However, every year cadets who have graduated attend and will be commissioned at Camp Warrior at the end of camp.
This happens when a cadet does not complete the program the summer before. For example, one student was sent home this year because he was bitten by a snake. Williamson was sent back next year to try to complete the course.
The KU students will return to school this fall and complete the requirements for their degrees. They completed commissioned after graduation in May.
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