Fake Gun, Real Weight - and Real Hike

Brad Norton, Kearney Hub

Members of the University of Nebraska at Kearney Army ROTC make their once-a-semester six-mile road march earlier this week from the Great Platte River Road Archway to campus. The cadets were carrying rucksacks that weigh about 30 pounds and M-16 dummy "rubber duckies" that weigh about 10 pounds.

Color Guard

The University of Nebraska-Lincoln Army ROTC Color Guard posts the United States and Nebraska flags at numerous events around the city and, in the process, has some great experiences. During the Texas Tech football game the color guard talked with and had their picture taken with Larry the Cable Guy. The Color Guard has the opportunity to stand on the field during the 1st quarter of home football games experiencing the action and excitement up close.

The activities in which the UNL Army ROTC Color Guard participates provide a way for the Big Red Battalion to pay their respects to those who have gone before them and served our country. Recent and upcoming color guard events include…

November 7- Nebraska vs Oklahoma Football Game.

This game is the Joint Service color guard where all of the branches were represented with a color guard in honor of Veterans Day.

November 11-Veteran’s day service at Lutheran Church at 1000

November 13th-Nebraska vs Texas A&M volleyball game at 1900

November 21st- Nebraska vs Kansas St. football game

Ranger Challenge

On October 23, twenty-seven cadets from the Big Red Battalion left Lincoln to compete in the 2009 Third Brigade, Task Force Dodge/Task Force Ripley Ranger Challenge at Camp Dodge, Iowa. Alternately referred to as the “varsity sport of Army ROTC” and “Sixteen Hours of Pain,” the Ranger Challenge team competition pitted cadets on eighteen teams from thirteen schools across Nebraska, Iowa, Missouri, and Kansas against each other in eight physically and mentally demanding events on October 24.

The Big Red Battalion sent two teams of nine cadets each from A Company at UNL and one team of nine cadets from B Company at UNK. These teams trained together on their respective campuses from August until the very day before the competition. The day began at 0500 and consisted of the following events: Army Physical Fitness Test, orienteering, Field Leader’s Reaction Course, basic rifle marksmanship, M16A2 rifle assembly and disassembly, one-rope bridge, hand grenade assault course, and a 10 kilometer (6.2 mile) rucksack march.

UNL Team 1, comprised of Cadets Bobby Brown, Nate Carda, Aamee Johnson, Heath Kennedy, Brandon Meyer, Ben Paige, Tony Presnell, Austin Ritzman, and Doug Rohde, placed eighth overall out of eighteen teams. UNL Team Two, comprised of Cadets Tommy Blanton, Nathan Derenge, Nate Dibbern, Ryan Gallagher, Matt Kisker, Michelle Lindgren, Dan Rosenau, Patrick Seeling, and Christopher Walters placed seventeenth overall. The UNK team of Cadets Zachary Cottle, Jed Dush, Vance Jones, Travis Kirchner, John Lindblad, Brody Mayberry, Wesley Negley, Micah Schroeder, and Chelsea Steinhauser finished eleventh overall.

All three teams did an excellent job representing the Big Red Battalion throughout the grueling and fiercely competitive Ranger Challenge.