Cadet Covid - lizzybphotography928

Cadet Covid

In the Fall of 2020, the Syracuse Army ROTC Program underwent large changes in response to the global pandemic and its safety protocols. It was a combination of student and professor leadership as well as total program cooperation that allowed the semester to function as normally as possible.This project takes an in depth look at how leadership and camaraderie prevailed in a time of distance, stress, frustration and exhaustion.

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Cadet Covid - The ROTC program conducts their first APFT or Army Physical Fitness Test to qualify cadets for...

Cadet Covid - Cadet Holt walks through a Land Navigation exercise that all juniors are expected to pass. Land...

Cadet Covid - Cadet Showers is the Company Sergeant Major of the battalion and she is giving the safety brief...

Cadet Covid - Cadets head into the woods behind the SkyTop parking lot to participate in a practical exercise....

Cadet Covid - Syracuse ROTC conducts the fall Army Physical Fitness Test while practicing proper social...

Cadet Covid - Cadets participate in a walkthrough of a Movement to Contact drill before they go through the...

Cadet Covid - Cadets participate in morning Physical Training or PT that runs from 6:30am to 7:30am. The cadets...

Cadet Covid - On November 6th, the Army ROTC program was visited by a local medical evacuation National Guard...

Cadet Covid - ROTC seniors prepare to teach the juniors about Movement to Contact and Battle Drill 1A which is...

Cadet Covid - During the lab portion of their military science class, cadets of all grades head up to SkyTop in...

Cadet Covid - Every tuesday, all ROTC cadets are now tested for COVID at 6:15 in the morning before their...

Cadet Covid - The juniors in the ROTC program spend most of the year learning how to be leaders. They are put...

Cadet Covid - The Syracuse ROTC program went on an FTX or Field Training Exercise for three days over the...

Cadet Covid - An appointed squad leader in the practical exercise of the Movement to Contact drill informs a...

Cadet Covid - While cadets are participating in rigorous training during the academic year and at FTXs, they...

Cadet Covid - Working with the COVID-19 guidelines has been a difficult battle for a program like ROTC whose...

Cadet Covid - Cadets are permited to pull down their mask when exercising only when they are farther than six...

Cadet Covid - Cadets take notes during a practical exercise at Skytop on Friday. In addition to a three hour...

Cadet Covid - CDT Barton and CDT Gordon are not only very good friends but also roommates. Spending eight hours...

The Syracuse ROTC, or Reserve Officer Training Corps, program trains out on the Quad while maintaining social distancing.

The ROTC program conducts their first APFT or Army Physical Fitness Test to qualify cadets for scholarships. Cadets will take two tests per semester, one that is a diagnostic or practice test and one that is a record test with a score that will go towards their grade. The layering of this photo makes people appear closer to eachother than they actually are.

Cadet Holt walks through a Land Navigation exercise that all juniors are expected to pass. Land navigation consists of using a map, compass, and other skills to create a navigation path to different points. To pass, juniors must find three out of five points.

Cadet Showers is the Company Sergeant Major of the battalion and she is giving the safety brief at the battalion lab on friday afternoon. All cadets take a military science course that is coupled with a lab on friday afternoons. Safety briefs are giving every friday after lab and address everything from underage drinking, safe driving, saying no to drugs and the standard cadets need to uphold at all times. These briefs now include COVID information as well and an emphasis on social distancing and mask wearing.

Cadets head into the woods behind the SkyTop parking lot to participate in a practical exercise. The weapons picture in these photos are fake and non-functional. They are used soley for educational purposes.

Syracuse ROTC conducts the fall Army Physical Fitness Test while practicing proper social distancing guidelines including running while wearing a mask.

Cadets participate in a walkthrough of a Movement to Contact drill before they go through the actual practical exercise. There is typically a time alotted before the practical exercise to do a quick rundown of all of the actions that need to be taken in the drill. For the practical exercise the cadets will head into the woods at SkyTop to make the practical exercise occur in a more realistic environment. They are used soley for educational purposes.

Cadets participate in morning Physical Training or PT that runs from 6:30am to 7:30am. The cadets would typically participate in PT as a battalion consisting of the entire 140 people in the organizations or at least in their platoons which consist of 40-50 people. Because of the pandemic the cadets participate in PT in squad sized groups of 8-12 in order to comply with university regulations.

Syracuse ROTC conducts the fall Army Physical Fitness Test while practicing proper social distancing guidelines including running while wearing a mask.

ROTC seniors prepare to teach the juniors about Movement to Contact and Battle Drill 1A which is also known as the attack drill. The juniors are separated from both the freshman and sophomores because they are practicing more advanced tactical drills and they are also beginning preparation for the time they will spend at Fort Knox, Kentucky for Advanced Camp. This camp is a requirement to become a Second Lieutenant after graduation. They are used soley for educational purposes.

During the lab portion of their military science class, cadets of all grades head up to SkyTop in order to conduct rehersals or drills of battle plans. Unlike other activities on campus, lab occurs in rain or shine as cadets need to prepare for any kind of weather.

Every tuesday, all ROTC cadets are now tested for COVID at 6:15 in the morning before their physical training.

The juniors in the ROTC program spend most of the year learning how to be leaders. They are put in leadership positions for the first time and are in charge of managing younger cadets. With COVID-19, these cadets have not only needed to learn how to be good leaders but also how to be adaptable ones with the many changes to procedure being thrown at them daily.

The Syracuse ROTC program went on an FTX or Field Training Exercise for three days over the weekend. Juniors in the program attend the shooting range as part of the FTX because they will need to be proficient with the weapon in order to get a good score at Advanced Camp durin gthe summer of their junior year.

Every tuesday, all ROTC cadets are now tested for COVID at 6:15 in the morning before their physical training.

An appointed squad leader in the practical exercise of the Movement to Contact drill informs a member of his squad of the logisitcs of the mission ahead. The junior class are the main players in what is called cadet leadership. They act as the squad leaders, platoon leaders and other higher leadership positions in the battalion. With the pandemic, the juniors have been key operators in dealing with changes to the organization while also maintaining a good realtionship with the younger cadets.

While cadets are participating in rigorous training during the academic year and at FTXs, they are still college students. CDT Poe brought strawberries to the range with her which is not a typical sight you would see with active officers but cadets walk that line of being in the military and being in the civilian world.

Working with the COVID-19 guidelines has been a difficult battle for a program like ROTC whose whole premise is built on community, collaberation and comradery. Essentially every aspect of the program needs to be altered to fit guidelines and it can be exhausting to try and figure out solutions.

Cadets are permited to pull down their mask when exercising only when they are farther than six feet away from any other person to be able to take a deep breath.

Every tuesday, all ROTC cadets are now tested for COVID at 6:15 in the morning before their physical training.

Cadets take notes during a practical exercise at Skytop on Friday. In addition to a three hour class in the morning on Friday in the classroom, cadets also attend a lab on Friday afternoons with the whole program.

The Syracuse ROTC program went on an FTX or Field Training Exercise for three days over the weekend. Any FTX can be very physically and mentally demanding, with decreased sleep, stressful environments, and ezposure to the elements. Peer bonding becomes extremely important as ROTC cadets will tell you that they wouldn't be able to "embrace the suck" with out the friends they've made in the program.

While cadets are participating in rigorous training during the academic year and at FTXs, they are still college students. CDT Troelstra tucks brightly colored pencils into her pen pouch, not something you would typically see outside of "cadet land."

On November 6th, the Army ROTC program was visited by a local medical evacuation National Guard Unit. The members of the unit volunteered to teach cadets medical and evacuation protocol for the afternoon. They also did a live demonstration of a medical evacuation, allowing two students to go up into the helicopter as it flew aroudn the Syracuse campus.

Syracuse ROTC conducts the fall Army Physical Fitness Test while practicing proper social distancing guidelines including running while wearing a mask.

CDT Barton and CDT Gordon are not only very good friends but also roommates. Spending eight hours at the range took a toll on them and the rest of their class. Moments of downtime are few and far between but are much appreciated by the cadets who need a break from the mental and physical challenges brought on by training.

The Syracuse ROTC program went on an FTX or Field Training Exercise for three days over the weekend. FTXs are extremely stressful, especially for juniors as they hold leadership roles, run battle drills, and prepare for the upcoming summer where they will attend Advanced Camp. The camp in the summer will consist of multiple FTXs over a 42 day period.

The Syracuse ROTC program went on an FTX or Field Training Exercise for three days over the weekend. One of the lessons reviewed at an FTX is a drill called EPW or enemy prisoner of war. THe drill consists of how to clear an enemy of weapons and search them for intel.

The Syracuse ROTC program went on an FTX or Field Training Exercise for three days over the weekend. During an FTX there are rehersals of different battle drills, an aspect of which is maintaining security around the perimeter of the training area for the purpose of being prepared for an imaginary enemy.

Elizabeth Billman Visual Storyteller

lizzybphotography928

Elizabeth Billman
Visual Storyteller