9 December 2003

Longwood ROTC program ranked 28th in nation

Longwood sophomore Matt Bono does a rope-climbing exercise in the Field Leadership Reaction Course at Fort Pickett in October, which seeks to develop leadership skills.

The Army ROTC program with which Longwood is affiliated is ranked 28th in the nation out of 271 such programs.

Longwood's program is a partnership program with the University of Richmond. Army ROTC programs are ranked annually based primarily on the cadets' performance at the National Advanced Leadership Camp, which they attend the summer after their junior year at Fort Lewis, near Tacoma, Washington. The categories in which they're graded are physical fitness, land navigation, basic rifle marksmanship and leadership. Last year the program ranked 49th nationally.

"Our cadets are outstanding," said Master Sergeant Jim Carver, assistant professor of military science at Longwood. "Sure, we recruit hard and work hard, but I get to select from students who are already great students. They're mature and have self-discipline: they're good students, athletes and leaders, which is what we're looking for. Plus, I get great support from the administration, so it's easy for me here. The ROTC program is synonymous with the Longwood Citizen Leader program."

All ROTC cadets must complete the National Advanced Leadership Camp before receiving a commission. This past summer five Longwood cadets - Gregory Andrews, Melody Faulkenberry, Leanne Fowlkes, Carey Grubbs and Joe Masserini - attended the five-week Camp.

The rankings of Army ROTC programs also consider whether they are meeting their goals for commissioning lieutenants. The UR-Longwood program seeks to commission 15 lieutenants a year, and Longwood's goal is five lieutenants. Last year the program commissioned 22 new officers, of whom six were from Longwood.

Some 25 to 30 students are in Longwood's ROTC program. All ROTC cadets who successfully complete the program are commissioned a second lieutenant upon graduating and are assigned to either active duty or the National Guard/Reserves.

"All of this year's senior cadets are going active duty after graduating," Master Sergeant Carver said. "They are assigned to a branch - there are 17 or 18 branches - based on merit and performance. This year four out of the five senior cadets got their first choice of branch, and last year it was five out of six."

Longwood has had an ROTC program since 1977-78. One of the program's graduates, Richard "Jay" Poole, a 1982 graduate, was promoted recently to full colonel. Colonel Poole, a logistician, will begin a two-year tour of duty next June 18 at Camp Casey in South Korea, near the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), the narrow strip of land that separates North Korea from South Korea. He will command a brigade, the Division Supply Command, or DISCOM, in the 2nd Infantry Division. He is currently stationed at the Pentagon where he is the chief of supply policy for the Army. In January he is scheduled to go to Kuwait, Iraq and Afghanistan for a month.

At Longwood he was the cadet commander, president of his fraternity and hall council, and played on the baseball team. Longwood baseball coach Buddy Bolding and his wife Andrea attended his promotion ceremony Dec. 4 at the Pentagon. Poole's wife, the former Melanie Lowery, is a 1981 Longwood graduate.

Another of the program's graduates is Lieutenant Colonel Troy Littles ('84), who was the Convocation speaker in September. Littles, an expert in the field of weapons of mass destruction and a Desert Storm veteran, is currently the Command Force Protection Officer, NATO Headquarters, United Kingdom.

Master Sergeant Carver came to Longwood in the fall of 2001. A member of Special Forces and a Desert Storm veteran, he has been in the Army for 19 years, 13 of them at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, and led two training missions to Guinea in west Africa. He is pursuing a master's in education at Longwood and plans to be an elementary teacher after retiring from the Army.

Army ROTC, which bills itself as "the best leadership course in America," produces 75 percent of all Army officers. Since its founding in 1916, it has produced more than 500,000 lieutenants, including Secretary of State Colin Powell, Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton and actor James Earl Jones. The program stresses leadership development, military skills and adventure training.