October 22, 2009

METROPOLITANTHE

Vol. 32, Issue 14 Serving Auraria for 30 years

STUDENT AND SOLDIER

‘Runners spike RegisVolleyball tied for third in division after four straight wins •A9

Army Reserve Officer Training Corps cadets Michael Burnet, front, and Sean Bottlemy, low-crawl under barbed-wire with the rest of their six-man team during a competition Oct. 10 at the Army ROTC Ranger Challenge held at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs. Both cadets are members of the Auraria Campus team and competed against 26 other ROTC teams from Colorado, Utah and Wyoming. Photo by Jeremy Papasso • jpapasso@mscd.edu

Auraria ROTC cadets learn more than military tactics

By Julie Vitkovskayauvitkovs@mscd.edu

Early in the morning

The weather is bone-chilling cold, Speer Boulevard begins to fill with traffic and with the exception of scattered light poles and neon

signs, the Auraria campus is pitch black. An abrupt break in the quiet quickly disturbs the early morning.

“We’re just going to go do sprints together if I see you slacking!” shouts out Cadet Cmdr. Dan Lynch.

It’s about 6:30 a.m. on a Friday and Lynch isn’t too happy — Charlie Company is lagging behind.

“Don’t worry,” says Metro sophomore Sean Bottlemy as he passes by, running. “He usually isn’t like this all the time.”

In addition to sit-ups, push-ups and crunches beforehand, the members of Auraria ROTC are jogging around the campus track. The strongest runners fall in step to a quick sprint, while the rest pace themselves into a jog.

“If I catch the last person — we’re doing another lap,” shouts Lynch, again. When the company finishes

their quick morning run, Lynch grins a satisfied smile. “Y’all are lucky.”

Breathing hard, the company starts to line up. When at ease, their hands coupled in a crisscrossed position behind their backs, their life stories begin to appear. Some have wedding bands, some do not. Some twist and wring their fingers, some keep themselves still. Some hands are cracked with the signs of wear and tear, others have already began to see future’s wrinkled folds.

Continued on B4

Quasi-legal ‘medicine’ makes headway in California, Colorado •B2

SGA exploring new options for political advocacy •A3

In a shellThree times a week, starting at 6 a.m., students from Metro State

College of Denver, Community College of Denver, University of Colo-rado at Denver, Johnson and Wales University, Regis University and University of Denver all come together into one satellite program.

Two years after breaking away from CU Boulder’s Alpha Com-pany —one of the largest companies in the state — Auraria ROTC has started standing in its own boots. For the first time, the newly-founded company participated in a Ranger Challenge in the fall with two other companies. They came in second — behind CU’s Alpha Company, but in front of Bravo Company, the ROTC at the Colorado School of Mines.

Lt. Col. John R. Toth said the company has a lot of pride in what they do and are excited to prove themselves.

“They want to have their own identity,” Toth said. “They want to be known as Charlie Company.”

Twenty years ago, Toth was also part of the ROTC at Univer-sity of Pennsylvania. He initially joined for the physical education requirement, but after jumping out of an airplane going 150 miles

an hour in his sophomore year, that all changed. Toth believes the ROTC builds leaders and fosters a natural environment for compe-tition – whether that may be in between cadets in a company and between the units themselves.

The Buffalo Battalion, the three combined companies in Colo-rado, are physically ranked 8th in the nation, according to a test conducted in the summer in Fort Lewis, Wash.

Still, UCD sophomore and Cadet Cpl. Garrett Hothan thinks the group will be a lot stronger next year when the bulk of the incom-ing freshmen will mature in the program. Hothan enlisted in high school as a private in the Army to become a medic.

He wanted to see if a career in medicine would be a good fit. Hothan was deployed to Iraq for 15 months. During that time, he helped to administer aid to 20 to 30 platoon members and keep watch on their medical complications. Afterward, Hothan joined to ROTC in hopes of becoming an officer. School remains his biggest priority — he plans to graduate from Metro with a business degree.

“Education is something they can never take away from you,” Hothan said.

Breaking Stereotypes, finding a wayAs with most members of the ROTC, Hothan is contracted.

A basic contract from the ROTC involves a four year active duty and four to six years in reserve — but that doesn’t necessarily mean each soldier will engage in enemy contact.

“[The] Army needs to get paid,” said Phillip Garrison, an ROTC member and a private first class who specializes in finance, which is a division of the Army that does not see combat. Garrison won’t be taking the typical early-morning car ride to campus for long — he is to leave in March for basic training, which would eventually lead him to Iraq as a finance specialist, according to Capt. Byron Elliott.

There are 16 main branches and five specialized branches that students may enter into after completing the ROTC. The main branches may include aviation, military intelligence or infantry, while the specialized branches can be the Dental, Veterinary or Medical Corps.

“The hardest thing we do as a program is [break] stereotypes,” Capt. Elliott said.

Not all cadets in the Auraria ROTC are contracted either. The first two years of the program are just basic courses — students

learn about the history, procedures, ethics and land navigation. Af-ter those two years, cadets can choose to stay and pursue the pro-gram. If they stay, they must fulfill their contracts as officers.

In addition to classroom time, it’s mandatory for contracted ca-dets to attend physical training, more commonly known as PT, three times a week. That’s the back-and-forth sprints, the burning lunges and the strenuous sit-ups.

Mel Romero has Type 1 diabetes and will never be able to finish the program, yet he continues to participate in all of the exercises.

All of the males in his family have been in contact regiments, but because of Romero’s condition, the military will not accept him for any position.

Romero went as far as writing to a congressman asking for help, but he never got a response back.

“It’s embarrassing for me to have to fall out,” Romero said. “Why should I be treated differently because I’m sick?”

Regardless, the company cadets view Romero as part of their own and don’t interfere with his physical training.

“They won’t treat me any differently unless I ask,” Romero said. “I like to be pushed, I like to be motivated.”

Even after all of this, every Friday involves a lab – one with the cadets participating in practical hands-on instruction. In an hour and a half, the students dress in full uniform, grab an imitation M16 and practice various scenarios in Ninth Street Park. It might be a strange juxtaposition — but their instructional space is limited.

Capt. Byron Elliott and Master Sgt. Bobby Bostick both said one of the issues facing the program is space.

The program has two offices located in South Classroom 213, and one of them acts as part-time closet, just storing the cadet’s packs. Elliott said he would like to see a cadet lounge, allowing more face-time for students. Most of the funding the ROTC receives comes from the Department of Defense and the budget for administrative costs comes from Metro State and UCD.

But the group of students has come up with more creative ways to drum up donations for the program. For Veterans Day Parade Nov. 7, the company is planning to run a 5K at Auraria to raise more money. The Mile High ROTC Running Club, a nonprofit program led by cadet Sean Bottlemy, will circle the campus twice.

A means to an end

Richard Hancock, a freshman at DU, stands next to two other ca-dets side-by-side in the early morning, their right hands raised, repeat-ing an oath to be sworn into the ROTC. Starting that day, Hancock signs his contract. But the paperwork wasn’t anything to worry about — standing in front of his fellow cadets was more nerve-racking.

“I definitely look up to a lot of cadets and hopefully have cadets look up to me.”

Hancock is 18-years-old and is majoring in international studies and Arabic. He hopes to become a foreign area officer at the state level. The hardest part is PT, said Hancock, but it’s nothing new to him. He’s been involved in a previous ROTC program in a junior military school he attended in New York.

“I like structured environments,” Hancock said. “When I’m given the opportunity to relax, I’ll kind of fade off.”

He felt a little nervous giving his oath, but after the flag behind him was folded and the members of the company dispersed into their daily schedules, Hancock took a chance to reflect.

“Something inside of me lit up — this is what I want to do,” Han-cock said.

Photography and concept by Jeremy Pappaso • jpappaso@mscd.edu

OctOber 22, 2009 • MetrOSPectIVe • b5tHe MetrOPOlItanb4 • MetrOSPectIVe • OctOber 22, 2009

UCD sophomore Garrett Hothan, left, and Metro junior Moses Hopkins climb over a log wall during a hand grenade assault course Oct. 10 at the ROTC Ranger Challenge in Colorado Springs. The Auraria Campus team placed 11th in the event. Photos by Jeremy Papasso • jpapasso@mscd.edu

Metro sophomore and ROTC cadet Erik Nau listens carefully to 1st Lieutenant James Lehner Oct. 19 during his Methods of Leadership and Management class in Central Classroom.

DU sophomore Danny Herrera, right, gasps for air while training for the upcoming Veterans Day 5K run in front of the Tivoli during the Auraria Campus ROTC physical training Monday, Oct. 19.

TOP LEFT: ROTC cadet Richard Hancock, right, is sworn in to the Auraria ROTC program after finishing physical exercise training.TOP CENTER: DU senior Ryan McCann, left, squeezes out some sit-ups while Metro junior Sarah Whitenight holds his feet down Oct. 19 at the Auraria Event Center. Cadets start their days with physical training at 6 a.m. Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.TOP RIGHT: Cadet Moses Hopkins, left, works his way across a one-rope-bridge with the help of teammate and fellow cadet Daniel Templeton at the ROTC Ranger Challenge in Colorado Springs. As part of the six-person Auraria Campus team, the pair competed against 26 other ROTC programs throughout Colorado, Utah and Wyoming at the event.Army Captain Ian Berg, left, counts the push-ups completed by DU

sophomore Daniel Templeton during the ROTC Ranger Challenge on Saturday, Oct. 10, at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs. The two day event started on Saturday with a push-up and sit-up competition at 6 a.m.

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“I definitely look up to a lot of cadets and hopefully have cadets look up to me.”- Cadet Richard Hancock