Photo By Sgt. Samantha Stoffregen | Several lieutenants with 1st Squadron, 32nd Cavalry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team,...... read more read more
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FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. -Five lieutenants with 1st Squadron, 32nd Cavalry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), traveled to the University of Tennessee in Knoxville Nov. 2 to speak with cadets in the university’s Army Reserve Officers’ Training Corps.
“It was a chance for our cadets to gain insight from recently commissioned lieutenants to help them as they prepare for their own commissioning and to give the lieutenants a chance to give back and help develop future officers so that way they aren’t stumbling over some of the same mistakes the commissioned lieutenants made,” said Maj. Jared Crain, a professor of military science at the University of Tennessee Army ROTC program.
The “Bandits” officers spoke to three classes, with students in the freshmen, junior and senior years, about what their branch did within the Army and some of the challenges they faced leading up to and following their commission.
“What I loved most was a lot of the things the lieutenants brought up was very similar to what I and my cadre discussed with the cadets,” Crain said.
“When they hear it from multiple people, a lot of the time, it sinks in better. It keeps the cadets from thinking that my cadre and I are just crazy old coots that don’t know really know what’s going on.”
The idea began when Lt. Col. Nathan Springer, commander of 1st Squadron, 32nd Cavalry Regiment, and Crain were field grade officers together in Hawaii, discussing ways to help support the overall readiness of their organizations. Once Springer came into command at Fort Campbell, Crain said they talked about trying to find ways where both could mutually benefit each other through opportunities conducted at the university and training events the Bandits squadron would conduct at Fort Campbell.
“It’s a great chance for my cadets to gain insight from lieutenants across the branches to educate themselves on the specifics of each branch, and hopefully it gets Lt. Col. Springer and his organization a chance to tie back in and connect with the community outside of Fort Campbell,” Crain said.
The ROTC program and the Tennessee National Guard have a really good relationship, but Crain wants to get his cadets exposed to similar organizations on the active duty side because about 80 percent of the cadets end up commissioning into active duty, he said.
“The more educated and informed the cadets are, the better officers and leaders they will be,” Crain said. “I tell the cadets I want them to make informed decisions. One of the best ways I can do this is to expose them to that knowledge base where they can ask those questions, gain that insight and get additional mentorship outside of just our cadre.”
Even though there is a very small age difference between the cadets and the lieutenants who came in, there is a world of difference in maturity levels, Crain said.
“I think having the cadets see the maturity and professionalism of the officers that came from 1-32nd Cav. Regt., is the biggest take-away for them,” Crain said. “It’s a huge amount of responsibility those officers have taken on at such a young age. For a lot of our cadets, I think that it was a wake-up call. For those that are graduating in May, they have a lot of growing up to do in a very short amount of time. There’s a lot expected of lieutenants and the cadets got to see an example of that.”
Crain added the lieutenants’ mentorship is a great experience of what it means to step into the profession of arms and serve as an officer.
The lieutenants spoke to the cadets on critical thinking, being adaptable, prioritizing, taking responsibility, and on ways they led and connected with their platoons.
One of the things Crain said he loves about this job, and the Army, is that everyone is dedicated to the organization as a whole. When any officer has the opportunity to give back and mentor the leaders following in their footsteps, they do it, he said.
“It helps us as an Army to focus on improving,” Crain said. “Events like this also help educate lieutenants on the units that are out there. A lot of my cadets are from Tennessee and see Fort Campbell as one of their first choices when they look at branching. If they get a chance to see and get exposed to a high standard organization like 1-32nd Cav. Regt., or 1st Brigade, it gives them an opportunity to see what standards they need to hold themselves to in the Army to be a part of that organization.”
| Date Taken: | 11.02.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 12.02.2015 14:00 |
| Story ID: | 183287 |
| Location: | FORT CAMPBELL, KY, US |
| Hometown: | KNOXVILLE, TN, US |
| Web Views: | 113 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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