Six cadets from the Cal Poly Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) program participated in Advanced Camp over the summer where they placed highest in the nation.
Spanning across 36 days in Fort Knox, Kentucky, Advanced Camp brings together 5,000 cadets from across the country to evaluate them across different military skills, including fitness, land navigation, first aid, leadership, marksmanship and confidence course, according to Lieutenant Colonel Mark Swiney, head of the military sciences department.
The six cadets, who are members of the Fighting Mustang Battalion, had the highest average composite score in the camp.
“Last year, we had a lot of fantastic cadets, so they all really earned that,” political science senior Zachary Cook said. “And, I am not talking about myself. A lot of our other cadets were top of the class for sure, amazing cadets, so they really helped us bring that home. We really tried really hard and it would show when we would go do our exercises with other schools. It was obvious how much effort we were putting into our program.”
Swiney is immensely proud and humbled to have the cadets place highest in the nation.
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“To have our Mustang Battalion outperform not just our regional peers but cadet battalions across the entire country is a tremendous affirmation of the hard work, discipline, and commitment of both our cadets and our cadre,” Swiney said in an email to Mustang News.
Individually, Cook, Isabel Hermann, Andrew Koenig, and Avery White received the Distinguished Military Graduate recognition, according to the Cal Poly press release. This recognition honors those who demonstrate leadership, academics and fitness, Swiney said.
“To have two-thirds of our commissioning class achieve [Distinguished Military Graduate] status speaks volumes about the quality of those individuals, the University, and the environment we cultivate,” Swiney wrote.
Isabel Hermann, cadet executive officer and journalism senior, loved Advanced Camp because it gave her the opportunity to use the skills she learned at Cal Poly and be evaluated on them and perform to the highest standard.
“I’m really proud of us,” Hermann said. “I just feel really happy that we have such a strong program and now other people get to see the strengths come out because of our performance.”
The cadets got to work with people of all ages, from college students to people who have already served and coming back to become officers, Hermann said
Advanced Camp is mandatory for students before they contract and commission, according to Swiney. Once contracted, cadets sign on to the responsibilities of the ROTC program and to commission means to become a Second Lieutenant in the U.S Army as soon as the student graduates.
There are about 55 cadets in Cal Poly ROTC right now, according to Swiney.
Andrew Koenig, history senior and member of the Fighting Mustang Battalion, said it is a good feeling to receive this recognition but he has not fully conceptualized what it means to be a Distinguished Military Graduate.
“It feels like a reflection of the hard work that I’ve given, and it is gratifying to know that the hard work I put in and the time that I spent caring about something so much is recognized and has given back to me,” Koenig said.
Construction management senior Gigi Travagline was awarded the Top Female Army Fitness award from her performance in the Army Fitness Test, in which she scored 496 points out of 500. She deadlifted 210 pounds, did a pushup test, had a 3 minutes, 40 seconds plank, ran two miles and did a sprint-drag-carry.
“I was a little surprised. I was like ‘Oh I didn’t know I was going to get this,’” Travagline said. “I was ecstatic.”
In reflecting on his time in camp, Koenig shared advice based on experiences from working with his platoon.
“Quitting is never acceptable, and there will always be a tomorrow if you push and you keep on fighting for that tomorrow,” Koenig said.
