Eastern ROTC particpates in leadership exercise

The four squadrons comprised of Eastern Washington University ROTC cadets arrived at the mock village. Some cadets secured the perimeter while others engaged the village's elder to gather information and gave food to the villagers.

Then gunfire from the South Atropia People's Army - also known as SAPA - rained down on the village. Cadets, along with the village's police force, engaged SAPA. Both sides used real weapons but blank ammunition.

This was one of two scenarios in the ROTC program's leadership development exercise, May 13-14 at Riverside State Park.

The ROTC participates in a different leadership exercise each quarter. For this exercise, cadets were put in scenarios where they would travel to a foreign village, interact with locals, learn the culture, assess the situations and respond to attacks from SAPA.

Fourth-year cadet Amber Kennedy said the purpose of the lab is to help third-year students, who were squad leaders for this exercise, prepare for the 28-day cadet leadership course they'll take in the summer.

"Last summer the cadet leadership course started emphasizing scenarios where cadets would communicate and work with other nations," Kennedy said. "We thought this would be the best way to help prepare the third-year students."

Kennedy said she and the other fourth-year cadets were responsible for planning the exercise, which included setting up the mock village, as well as playing the roles of villagers and the enemy forces.

"We want to make them adapt to different scenarios and test their leadership abilities," fourth-year cadet Evan Earnest said in reference to his role as a SAPA soldier. "We want to keep it interesting for them."

Instructors are also at the exercise, evaluating the cadets' performance and giving suggestions to the squad leaders.

On the first night of the exercise, squads set up a base with first- and second-year cadets securing the perimeter and squad leaders getting their plans and maps for the mission.

Cadet Candace Madriaga was one of the squad leaders who dispersed the mission information to her unit, who she also had to keep track of during the night.

"It's kind of like being a mother of 10," Madriaga said.

The next morning, following a practice patrol and a mission briefing, cadets patrolled through the terrain on their way to the village, using the trees to conceal themselves and occasionally stopping to survey an area for any threats from SAPA forces. They came across what instructors called a "pipeline," which was a clear terrain between two hills.

The cadets marched alongside the villages' police force - portrayed by members from Eastern's Air Soft Club.

Ben Dysart, one of the Air Soft Club members, said the club had participated in mock skirmishes before, but nothing like the ROTC exercise.

"The live gunfire and more people was something we were unfamiliar with but it was fun," Dysart said. "We may do it again, or at least I would."

Kennedy said ROTC has participated with other university organizations in the past, such as the Spanish Club, who acted as native speakers for a host nation for a previous exercise.

During the live gunfire, cadets engaged the enemy and brought wounded villagers to safety.

For the second scenario, the squadrons approached the village to learn the enemy forces already came through and were moving to the east, near the pipeline.

When the squadrons approached the pipeline they made contact with enemy forces.

During combat, two civilian women walked past the cadets. What the cadets did not know was one of the women was a suicide bomber, who set off their explosions and killed Madrigia and members of her squad.

Madriaga said the suicide bomber was a "surprise" and she did not expect to be "killed during the exercise."

"But it was a good learning experience," Madriaga said. "Being put in this type of situation will will help me refine my leadership skills in order to get ready for when I take the CLC (cadet leadership course) next summer."

Al Stover can be reached at [email protected].