UNM's Air Force ROTC unit holds training at Kirtland

  • Published
  • By Ryan Stark
  • Nucleus writer
KIRTLAND AIR FORCE BASE, N.M. --  An outdoor leadership laboratory put University of New Mexico's Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps members to the test on March 4 at the college's Johnson Field.

Cadet Col. David Buehler, cadet commander for UNM Air Force ROTC Detachment 510, is very familiar with what the cadets feel during the activity. He said the leadership laboratory tests cadets' leadership abilities and physical fortitude. It even has an affectionate nickname.

"This is what we like to call 'the motivation station,'" he said.

Physical fitness and leadership training are two of the highlights of the ROTC program at UNM. The detachment's operations officer, active-duty Air Force Capt. Samantha Bolin, said college students come to the program with a strong desire to serve their country and to explore career options.

"A lot of people want to be pilots," she said.

But numerous other fields of work in the Air Force come into focus as the cadets progress, she said.

There are around 1,100 colleges and universities with an Air Force ROTC detachment. These programs are the largest source of commissioned officers for the service, ahead of the Air Force Academy and Officer Training School. New Mexico State University also has an Air Force ROTC detachment.

The UNM detachment -- nicknamed "the Warhawks" -- started in 1949, two years after the Air Force's inception. More than 1,000 cadets from UNM have gone on from the program to be commissioned as second lieutenants, and 10 went on to become generals.

Students in the program must maintain at least a 2.5 grade-point average.

Cadets are enrolled in aeronautical courses and progressively take on more Air Force-related knowledge and abilities. They also participate in physical training twice a week and leadership laboratories such as the one on March 4.

Competition for scholarships for the program is fierce, Bolin said.

The program has 64 cadets, 10 of whom are on track to be commissioned in May at a ceremony at the New Mexico Air National Guard headquarters at Kirtland.

In addition to UNM students, Bolin said the detachment works with students from Central New Mexico Community College and the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology in Socorro, N.M.

The Air Force ROTC program gives prospective recruits a taste of life in the service.

"This is the only program where you can 'try on' in the Air Force," Bolin said. "Unless you are under contract to enlist, you can come here and decide if serving in the Air Force is for you."

That is a decision most cadets make when they attend the Air Force ROTC's grueling, 21-day summer field training event at Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala.

There, cadets do field-training work every day from 4 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Buehler, who has attended the training twice, said the experience is designed to be physically trying and stressful. It tests cadets' ability to manage themselves and lead others under pressure, he said.

Although it is difficult, Buehler said the ROTC experience has been well worth it.

"I feel that I've really learned what kind of leader I am," Buehler said. "This program really shows you how to do it."

UNM freshman and ROTC Cadet 4th Class Kristen Sondgevoth of Anthony, N.M., said support of other cadets is inspiring.

"The program is awesome, but, at first, it's a little scary when you're brand spanking new to it," she said. "They toss you in the water to see if you can swim, but you also have a whole family of people there to help you if you can't."

For more about UNM's Air Force ROTC detachment, go to unm.edu/~rotcweb.