In Associate Professor Jing Zhou’s lab, chemistry graduate student Erik Peterson works with an X-ray photoemission spectroscopy (XPS) machine, the type of imagining equipment that will one day be housed in the new CASI center.
To say the University of Wyoming has a rich history of military training for students would be a vast understatement. Military training at UW began way back in 1891—just one year after Wyoming became a state. When the Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) was created in 1916, UW immediately applied for a unit and became one of the first seven institutions nationwide to host an ROTC unit.
Today, UW is home to two ROTC programs—the Army Cowboy Battalion and the Air Force Detachment 940. Both units help students pay for school and provide leadership training to create the citizens and military leaders of tomorrow.
“The fact UW has one of the oldest ROTC programs in the Unites States commands respect, and I think it shows in the way the cadre run the program,” says Cowboy Battalion cadet and Wyoming Army National Guard member Greyson Buckingham of Kelly, Wyo., who is pursuing his law degree and MBA in a joint degree program. “I know I’m getting the necessary training I need to be an effective officer one day.”
Small but mighty describes UW’s Cowboy Battalion. “For a small school, UW out-produces many of the medium and large programs in regard to quantity and quality of commissioned officers,” says Lt. Col. Mitch Day, UW Army ROTC department chair and professor of military science.
“We have doubled the size of the program over the last few years and, each year, we have been in the top percentages in Army Cadet Command in several areas of measured excellence.”
The Cowboy Battalion received the 2013–14 Cochise Award for the Best Small Unit in the 5th Brigade, which consists of 36 host schools and more than 20 smaller or satellite schools. The battalion was selected for the honor based, in part, on the quantity and quality of commissioned officers the program produces. In 2015, the program commissioned 23 second lieutenants—a number that is 153 percent above mission requirements.
In 2015, five of the battalion’s seniors were also awarded the Distinguished Military Graduate Award, given to cadets who ranked in the top 20 percent of about 6,000 Army ROTC cadets nationwide. One of those honorees is Cadet Battalion Commander Jade Schmitt, a criminal justice senior from Green River, Wyo., who will go into active duty in the U.S. Army upon graduation.
“Five of us received this award—that is an incredible accomplishment for our program, university and state,” Schmitt says. “Our small but very strong program is highly competitive and one of the best in the nation. I believe that comes from most of the cadets holding onto the Wyoming spirit, camaraderie and having a cadre willing to put in the extra hours. I am proud to be where I am doing what I do best—serving this great country.”
Cadets come from a variety of majors, but half the current 140 cadets are from the STEM fields of science, technology, engineering and math. Graduates go on to serve in the Army and the Wyoming Army National Guard. In fact, the Cowboy Battalion provides the majority of Wyoming Army National Guard officers.
“One of the reasons that we’re one of the best programs in the nation is because we remain small by design to ensure we have a high cadre-to-student ratio,” Day says. “The reason we want our numbers lower is that our students get more leadership rotations than a larger program, so they get more feedback, more practice, and by the time they leave, they have more, if not twice as much, leadership experience as a larger program.”
Students receive classroom instruction, physical training, field trainings and leadership courses. They are also eligible for living stipends and scholarships.
With the ROTC, Schmitt already has traveled to Fort Benning, Ga.; Fort Knox, Ky.; and Senegal, Africa; and she hopes to be stationed overseas during her career. But wherever the Army takes her, she will one day return to Wyoming: “Wyoming is my home. I bleed the Wyoming colors. Every time I have left for a month or more for training, I always remind myself how lucky I am to be raised in the state.”
After living in Washington, D.C., during his undergraduate and master’s program, Buckingham wanted to return to Wyoming for good. “Having the National Guard option was extremely appealing, because I want to have a private career while serving my country,” he says. “I’m doing an MBA in energy management, and in law school I’m focusing my classes on natural resource law. I definitely want to work in the energy sector.
“I enjoy the solitude, the nature and the small-town conviviality that Wyoming offers,” he says. Day says this is typical of graduates: “The majority of folks that go on to do great things remember their roots. They come back, and they re-invest in the program and the state.”
Distinguished graduates include Pete Schoomaker, who served as the 35th chief of staff for the U.S. Army, and Les Brownlee, who served as undersecretary of the Army and acting secretary of the Army.
UW’s Air Force Detachment 940 prides itself on lower cadet-to-cadre ratios than larger programs. The program currently has 34 cadets.
“Here, you have a smaller ROTC family, which translates into a lot more interaction with staff,” says Capt. John McKee, UW Air Force ROTC recruiting flight commander.
“UW being the only four-year institution in the state is an excellent match for those interested in joining the Air Force and commissioning as an officer and getting their college degree at the same time,” he says.
Cadets are eligible for scholarships and also receive a stipend after contracting. In addition, cadets from both ROTC programs can receive credits from UW toward on-campus housing and food expenses.
As sophomores, Air Force cadets head to Montgomery, Ala., for a summer field training course.
“As juniors and seniors, they are really leading the program, and we as faculty evaluate them and provide constant feedback on what we’re seeing,” says Lt. Col. Tay Johannes, UW Air Force ROTC department head. “The juniors and seniors run the lab. They have a mission and certain objectives. It’s a very comprehensive program between academics and leadership lab—all designed to prepare them—because as soon as they graduate from here, they’re commissioned, and people are looking to them to make decisions.”
“It’s been an incredibly rewarding experience,” says Belen Quillen, a senior German major from Powell, Wyo. “If you’re looking for a program that will help you grow as a person and a leader, this is a great place to do it. I gained confidence in myself in this program, and I will carry that forever. That’s not something you learn through a textbook or from lecture. In ROTC, you learn important lessons that you can carry on with in life.”
Fellow ROTC cadet Gabriella Vann, who was a military child herself and graduated high school in Cheyenne, agrees. “This program has helped me to gain leadership skills as well as learning what it means to be a part of something bigger than myself. This has by far been the best part of my college career.
“This program has given me a future to look forward to,” she says. “Today the workforce can be hard to enter into, and this program has given me the security of having a job after college.”
In addition to serving in the U.S. Air Force, many of the program’s graduates are commissioned into the Wyoming Air National Guard. Both Vann and Quillen could see themselves returning to Wyoming in the future.
“Many will decide to settle back in Wyoming,” McKee says of the program’s graduates. “You’re bringing in that international experience and different perspectives from around the country. I think the ROTC program facilitates this because we’re developing these officers here, and many of them will come back and influence the state.”
ROTC members from both programs, as well as other enrolled students, serve the community as part of the Posse Club. Posse Club volunteers join the Albany County Sheriff’s Office on search and rescue missions and aid in disaster relief situations.
“Members get training in search and rescue, navigation, first aid and employing different techniques, all of which help cadets and students gain competence and confidence,” says Lt. Col. Mitch Day, UW Army ROTC department chair and professor of military science. “Our Posse Club is 40–50 members strong, and the majority are ROTC cadets—both Army and Air Force. It has been involved with and credited with saving numerous lives when they’re called out.”
University of Wyoming Army and Air Force ROTC cadets are in high demand to present the colors at sporting events and community events.
“Here at UW, we have the opportunity to do color guard at the games,” says Capt. John McKee, UW Air Force ROTC recruiting flight commander. “A lot of students take great pride in that.”
The programs also are asked to present the colors at community events in Laramie and beyond.
