UW’s Air Force ROTC Detachment 940 was chosen to receive a regional honor for best small detachment based on production, education, recruiting and retention, university and public relations and cadet activities according to a UW press release.
UW’s detachment won out against 33 other Air Force ROTC programs in the Northwestern region of the United States, which is a great accomplishment in the eyes of the program’s leaders.
Over the past year, the program has grown from 18 cadets to around 60, nearly tripling in size. Captain George Noah attributes this growth to the emphasis on cadet leadership and development of academic and training in physical fitness.
“We’ve traditionally been a small detachment,” said Noah. “Usually it’s 50 cadets or less and we’d like to be within the 60 to 70 range.”
The program is currently looking at an increase of at least 20 more cadets as incoming freshmen arrive for the fall. Air Force ROTC’s numbers have not risen for nearly 15 years, but this growth merely attests to the fact that changes are happening for the betterment of the detachment.
“We’re trying to get ourselves more in line with how the Air Force Academy teaches and trains their cadets,” Captain Jefferson Thorpe said. “That was a big push that our commander, Lieutenant Colonel Shearer, pushed for.”
UW’s detachment has not implemented many of the training procedures used at the Air Force Academy, but that has changed with the arrival of Shearer to the program. There is now a standardization of recruits and trainees across the board being introduced to the program, which helped Detachment 940 receive the regional honor.
“It’s really a team award,” said Noah. “We’re trying to streamline our program a little bit more to line up with what the cadets will need to know for active duty [and] trying to make it a little more modern. The commander’s really working on the curriculum, to update that.”
The implementation of electronic resources and virtual simulations has allowed cadets to have a greater appreciation of what their duties will include in the military.
Faculty development is another piece of the growing AFROTC program on campus. With better instructors, the program is able to produce better cadets fit for service.
“Most of the instructors and professors here have at least some type of training,” Noah said. “We really just show up, come here from whatever career field we came from. This is a special assignment for us and really without any instructing experience at all. I think we’re one of the few detachments where the instructors are getting training on how to instruct.”
Receiving the Best Small Detachment Award has come from the improvement of areas such as this aspect of instruction, which has come to benefit the cadets recruited into the program as well as the leaders.
“Recruiting, faculty development and then obviously curriculum changes that have been made … Those are probably the three biggest things that led to the award,” Thorpe said.
Not only does UW’s detachment of Air Force ROTC offer strong teachers and teaching tools, but it also offers the cadets a full college experience as they prepare for military service.
“I love being part of AFROTC and it has made my college experience very enjoyable despite the extra work,” mechanical engineering major Michael McLean said. “The real benefits are not tangible. You’re surrounded by people willing to give their lives for someone else and have your back no matter how hard it gets. That’s what helps me get through the tough times.”
In an encapsulating experience, Detachment 940 has much to offer the students seeking the best training available in Wyoming through improved technology, scholarship and involved leadership.
