News

Donation Drive for Fort Hood Families

The Veterans Resource Center, Collegiate Veterans Association and the Bearkat Battalion are requesting donations for the families of soldiers who were injured at Ft. Hood. The donations can be monetary or comfort items for families who are staying at the hospitals with their loved ones.

Collection Sights

Veterans Resource Center Estill Building Rm 104

Phone: (936)294-1046

reg_kbh@shsu.edu

L.S.C. Mall: Wednesday and Thursday, November 18 & 19, 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Phone: (910) 546-2030

WRD002@shsu.edu

Comfort items suggestions: snacks, juice boxes, sodas, bottled water, magazines, books for adults as well as children, crossword puzzles, lotions, lip balm, small packets of tissue, stationery and postage stamps, etc.

Monetary items might be rolls of quarters for the vending machines, gift cards for eating establishments and just cash in general to help defray the costs of staying in hotels and parking fees.

Family Readiness Group Meeting

The ROTC department will hold a Family Readiness Group meeting on Thursday, November 19th at 5:30 pm. The meeting will be held on the third floor of Academic Building 3 in the Etheredge Conference Room (Rm 321). This will be for any ROTC member's spouse, family members, significant others and other loved ones.

HEARTS Museum

The HEARTS (Helping Every American Remember Through Servicing) Veterans Museum here in Huntsville continues to expand and participate in events to help those in the military. By sending care packages to troops overseas, and hosting other events for those in uniform, the organization has aided service men and women for many years and hopes to continue that tradition into the future. To learn more about the HEARTS Museum, click here.

2009 Ranger Challenge Competition

SHSU Army ROTC Ranger Challenge team places 1st at Ranger Challenge Competition

From 23-25 October 2009, the SHSU Army ROTC Co-ed Ranger Challenge team participated in the Annual Ranger Challenge competition at Camp Bullis in San Antonio, Texas. There were 19 teams in 3 categories (Male, Co-ed and Female) representing 7 schools from across Texas. These schools make up groups 4 and 6 of the Apache Brigade of Cadet Command. SHSU competed with the best Cadets of Army ROTC programs from the University of Texas at Austin, Prairie View A&M, The University of Houston, Stephen F. Austin State University, Tarleton State University and Texas Christian University. The Ranger Challenge competition consists of 8 events: The Army Physical Fitness Test (2 minutes of push-ups, 2 minutes of sit-ups and a two mile run), a written examination that covered the tactical aspects of patrolling, a 10K ruck march, M-16 event (disassembly, assembly and functions check), hand grenade assault course, first aid obstacle course and day and night land navigation. Making up the SHSU Co-ed team were Cadets: Janie Salazar, Austin Harms, Joan Kim, Christina Escobedo, Michael Feagan, Robert Stoermer, Jared Gantt and team captain Wayne Salazar. The SHSU team took 1st place in the 10K ruck march, the first aid obstacle course, the M-16 event, and the Army Physical Fitness Test (APFT). SHSU’s APFT average was higher than all other teams in attendance in all categories with a score of 323. Cadet Jared Gantt had the highest score overall with a 363, easily reaching the extended scale. SHSU won the Co-ed category by the largest margin in recent history, beating the 2nd place team by a staggering 15 points. The team has trained since 17 August for the competition, conducting Physical Training at 5:45am every weekday morning and afternoon training each day for an additional 3 hours. This SHSU team has shown a tremendous amount of dedication and motivation throughout the competition season, bringing honor and recognition to the SHSU Army ROTC program.

ROTC Game Day

The SHSU Bearkat Battalion has a proud tradition of supporting the campus with unwavering spirit. This spirit was abundantly evident during Saturday's game against St Joseph’s where despite the inclement weather, the program hosted its first ROTC day. In addition to the usual tailgating activities, there was a MEDCAS truck on site to allow all those in attendance a chance to tour the vehicle and get a first hand look at some of the amazing new medical capabilities being utilized by the Army today. For those members of the student body feeling a bit more adventurous, the program also set up a three sided rock climbing wall which offered everyone a chance to test their mettle. During half time, the battalion took the field to welcome its newest members with the completion of their contracting ceremonies, and after the game the Cadets joined the rest of the Bearkat faithful in singing the Alma Mater.

The First Training Exercise

The Sam Houston State University Army ROTC conducted a field training exercise September 25-27, where they participated in many activities preparing them for the Leader Development and Assessment Course (LDAC) in Fort Lewis, Washington. LDAC is the U.S. Army Cadet Command's capstone training and assessment exercise, which is required for junior Cadets who hope to commission as 2nd Lieutenants upon graduation.

Advance Course Cadets were first to arrive at the Bearkat Battalion training area, Gibb’s Ranch, to complete the Day and Night Land Navigation Course. These Cadets were given a map, compass, protractor, and eight-digit grid coordinates and had to use their map-reading skills and terrain association to find at least five of eight points.

Saturday, Basic Course Cadets arrived at Gibbs Ranch to complete the Day Land Navigation Course and were given classes in field craft and basic survival skills. They also participated in the Field Leadership Reaction Course where each Cadet was evaluated as a squad leader and negotiated an obstacle with limited time and supplies, while the Advance Course Cadets were assessed in Situational Training Exercises (STX), which evaluated each Cadet as a squad leader in a tactical environment.

Sunday, the Basic Course Cadets played paintball and the Advance Course Cadets were assessed in their first Patrolling exercise where two squads worked together as a patrol to complete a mission. During the exercise, senior Cadets simulated the enemy forces that the juniors will encounter during their deployment to “Palomas” in Fort Lewis this summer. “Palomas” is the country Cadet Command created as a story line for all the exercises performed at LDAC. The Palomans in this exercise lent a helping hand to the patrol by providing outer security to them as they assaulted a house taken over by CVG (Caquetan Volunteer Guard) forces. The exercise proved to be a helpful preview of what the junior Cadets should expect during their training this summer.

A New Tradition Begins With Operation Eglsaer

Cadet Battalion Commander Rogers presents Dr. Eglsaer with the T-wall award at Operation Eglsaer.

Do you know someone from the Sam Houston faculty who is a strong supporter of ROTC? If so, they could have an operation named in their honor. This year a new tradition has been started, with specific faculty members being chosen by the Cadets to have one of the years operations named after them. These faculty members have helped Cadets through difficult times. It is because of this support that they are nominated to have one of this year’s operations named after them. This year’s first operation was code-named Operation Eglsaer after Dr. Richard Eglsaer, the Associate Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs. Operation Eglsaer was this year’s Open House where each Cadet was introduced to the different groups in ROTC, like Cannon Crew, Color Guard, Ranger Company, etc, throughout the operation at AB3. Midway through the operation the Cadet Battalion Commander, Gerald Rogers, presented Dr. Eglsaer with a miniature T-wall award. The T-wall is a concrete barrier used in base construction in Iraq and Afghanistan for protection of the troops and are placed around base buildings. These barriers stand 12 feet tall and look like an upside down “T”. This presentation marks the start of a new tradition with the Bearkat Battalion ROTC.

Off With a Bang

The first football game started off with a bang for ROTC. The Cannon Crew was busy with the four touchdowns and kickoffs of the Sam Houston Bearkat football team. This was not the only tradition in full effect at the game. With each score, the Cadets would move to the area behind the end zone and get down to push out one push-up for each point scored by the football team. However, the one push-up was for the entire score so by the end of the game the Cadets had done a grand total of 70 push-ups. All of these push-ups were led by the Cadet Battalion Commander Gerald Rogers.

Current Events

The following schedule marks key events for Cadets during the Fall 2009 semester.

NOVEMBER

21st Saturday@SAM

Many Cadets will volunteer to support SHSU’s visitation day for prospective students. For more information on Saturday@SAM, please click here.

25-27th Thanksgiving Holiday for students

DECEMBER

2nd Fall Awards Ceremony

This award ceremony is typically an internal event for Cadets, but if you would like more information just give us a call.

9th Guest Speaker - Nate Self

The junior and senior Cadets are currently reading the book “Two Wars” by Nate Self as part of their curriculum and will have a chance to meet the author in person. At this time, the event is only open to Cadets but we invite you to learn more about his combat experience on Robert’s Ridge in Afghanistan and overcoming PTSD here.

18th Commissioning Ceremony (2pm at AB4 in the Olson Auditorium)

18-19th Commencement Ceremonies

Many Cadets volunteer to serve as ushers at the commencement ceremonies.

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