THE EAGLE MONTHLY

“I regret that I have

but one life to give

for my country.”

- Nathan Hale

In This Issue

Leadership Labs

Plane of the Month

CrossFit PT

Meet Major Duston

and more!

Detachment 475! Family, friends and cadets of Detachment 475, here’s a little

update and overview on what we have been doing this month!

Detachment 475 Newsletter October 2014

2

CrossFit Physical Training In Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, researchers are starting work on a study to discover whether

CrossFit or traditional military physical training is more effective. Everyone has his or her own

opinion, and many similar studies have been done in the past. This particular study is hoping

to find comprehensive evidence of one or the other. Twenty groups of soldiers (over 200 total

troops) will be tracked for a period of four years by the researchers of Kansas State Univer-

sity’s kinesiology lab. Ten of these groups will participate in a CrossFit training program, and

the other ten will do regular PT. The study will begin with many different fitness tests includ-

ing the standard Army PT test (push-ups, sit-ups, and a two-mile run), deadlifts, pull-ups, a

standing horizontal jump, and a 40-yard sprint. The soldiers will then train for six months, get

tested again, and again, over the next four years. In addition to testing fitness, the research-

ers will compare the soldiers’ flexibility, heart

rate, blood pressure, weight, and body fat per-

centage.

The standard PT groups will use a training plan

pulled right out of the Field Manual 7-22, Army

Physical Readiness Training, which includes

the most up-to-date regulations. In terms of the CrossFit workouts, the “military version” will

be very similar to what people have come to expect from the “WODs” (CrossFit’s acronym for

their daily workouts, “Workout of the Day”). The only main difference will be slight adjust-

ments for when soldiers do not have access to a gym (i.e. when they are in the field). All of

the armed services, especially the Army and the Marine Corps, have been making efforts to

improve their PT programs over the past couple years, and while each branch has slightly

different methods when it comes to PT, they all come together with similar tests of fitness.

This means that results from this test will likely be applicable to all of the branches, even

though they are pulling the PT workouts from the Army regulations.

Representatives from CrossFit are happy that the military is making an effort to find out the

true merit of the program from a military perspective. A former Navy SEAL, Joe Alexander,

who is now a high level CrossFit instructor, is head of the CrossFit side of this study. He

states, “The beauty of CrossFit, at least what attracted me to it, was the simplicity of the pro-

gram. With some humble equipment, you can do a lot. That’s valuable for the military.” Kan-

sas State kinesiology professor Katie Heinrich is leading the study. When interviewed,

Heinrich hypothesized that the CrossFit training will not only facilitate greater increases in fit-

ness, but also changes in body composition. She goes on to say, “we also expect, because

we’ve seen this in previous studies, that those who do the CrossFit training will spend less

time actually exercising.” see Page 5

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Plane of the Month This month marks the 70th anniversary of the Battle of Leyte Gulf, considered to be possibly the

largest naval engagement in history between the Imperial navy and the combined American and

Australian forces. In honor of this colossal engagement, I'd like to honor a plane that served faith-

fully over the Pacific theatre in WWII. The distinctively twin-boomed Lockheed P-38 Lightning was

introduced to the US Military in 1941. This was in response to the Army Air Corps demand for a

twin-engine interceptor capable of partaking in hostile engagements at high altitudes.

A feat of innovation, the Lightning featured turbo-charged Allison engines which enabled top

speeds of 414 mph at 25,000 feet with a service ceiling at 44,000 feet. With a range of 1,300

miles, the lightning saw service as a light bomber, escort fighter, ground attack fighter, and night-

time dogfighter. The power of the engines gave the P-38 the speed and altitude advantage. With

no propeller to obscure the pilots line of sight, the guns of the Lightning were mounted on the nose

without fear of reducing the rate of fire with an interrupter device. This meant that the lightning

gained the advantage of not needing a convergence point. Convergence point is a point in which

the guns’ line of fire converge, increasing the effective accuracy. The close proximity of the guns to

each other also concentrate the cone of fire to a small enough area that they can cause enough

damage to severe portions of machines from each other in a manner akin to a bullet-based buzz

saw. This suited the craft in strafing and air-to-air combat.

Unfortunately, the low control surface area to power ratio meant that the lightning was not ma-

neuverable, especially against the Japanese A6M "Zero" fighter. Adapting to their machines,

American pilots developed tactics that suited the P-38 better than the A6M. Using the lightning's

superior ceiling, pilots would take steep dives at high speeds and fire a single volley at a specific

target. The pilot would then use his relatively high kinetic energy and veer up and translate that

energy into lift. The pilot would then retreat to higher altitudes and repeat the process. This gives

the Japanese pilots minimal time to react and little opportunity to use their superior maneuverabil-

ity to their own advantage. A prime example of the creative minds of air-minded people, the P-38

shows how airmen took new tech, and then adapted themselves to it to overcome an otherwise

difficult challenge. With devastating firepower, and lightning-fast speed, the P-38 earns its name

and its place as plane of the month. - C/3C Hart

P-38 Lightning

4

Meet Major Duston! I hope this article is a chance for each of you to learn a little bit

about our detachment’s newly appointed Operations Flight

Commander/ Recruiting Flight Commander, Major Mathew Dus-

ton.

Beginning chronologically, Major Mathew Duston began perus-

ing his career in the Air Force as an AFROTC cadet at Cornell

University, where like many of us at UNH, got involved in ROTC

related organizations such as Arnold Air Society. After graduat-

ing with a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering, he

was commissioned into the United States Air Force as a Second

Lieutenant, Civil Engineer.

Major Duston has held many positions throughout his career,

such as Chief of Quality Assurance, Engineer Flight Com-

mander, and Air Infrastructure Staff Officer. His positions have

taken him all over the world including Ukraine, Africa, Japan,

Italy, Afghanistan, and Germany. Before coming here to UNH,

Major Duston had taken a nine year break from the service, at

which point he ran an engineering consulting business and

worked for the Army.

In June 2014, he came to UNH and joined our Detachment.

When asked if there was any advice that he could pass on to

the cadets, he said “realize that you will go into the Air Force

knowing nothing”. He means when you begin your career in the

Air Force, don’t think just because you are a second lieutenant

you know everything and don’t need help from others. There are

NCOs and other enlisted members that have years of experi-

ence and who’s help will be very beneficial.

Major Duston, Detachment 475 welcomes you to UNH, and

thanks you for all that you have done and continue to do.

- C/3C Durant

“It is the soldier, not the reporter, who has given us the freedom of the press.

It is the soldier, not the poet, who has given us the freedom of speech.

It is the soldier, not the campus organizer, who has given us the freedom to demonstrate.

It is the soldier who sa-lutes the flag, who serves beneath the flag, and whose coffin is draped by the flag, who allows the protestor to burn the flag.“

- Father Denise Edward O’Brien, Sergeant, USMC

Major Mathew Duston

5

CrossFit Physical Training Continued...

Here at Detachment 475, we are already moving towards the CrossFit side of workouts through

AFSOPT (Air Force Special Operations Physical Training). In this program, we use more functional

movements like tire flips, squats, and presses with logs in order to prepare for situations where

those sorts of maneuvers might be necessary. This is one of the main concepts that CrossFit was

founded upon. - C/4C Thomas

The POW/MIA Corner Their mission was codenamed “Wild Weasel.” The objective: Destroy Vietnamese

surface-to-air missile sites and other anti-aircraft-artillery installations. The job was

tasked to men like Major Leo Thorsness and other F-105 Thunderchief pilots and

weapons systems officers. The job was extremely hazardous, as Thorsness would

find out on 30 April 1967. While flying as element lead in a flight of 4, two commu-

nist Mig-21s ambushed them from the 6 o’clock position. Thoreness’ wingman

was felled by an Atoll heat seeking missile fired from one of the Migs. Major

Thorsness was hit quickly after. Losing all control of the aircraft, he and his back-

seater bailed out over hostile skies at 700 mph. What re-

sulted was six years of captivity in the infamous Hanoi Hil-

ton. Thorsness was tortured on many occasions not unlike

any other POW at the camp. He was forced into solitary

confinement for a year and developed serious back injuries

at the mercy of his captors. Finally, on 4 March 1973,

Thorsness was released and sent back to the states to re-

cover and receive the Medal of Honor from President Nixon.

It was seen fit to award Thorsness the medal for actions he

carried out 11 days before being shot down over North Viet-

nam. Leo Thorsness retired from the Air Force as a Lieuten-

ant Colonel on 25 October 1973 due to injuries incurred on

ejection and his captivity. –C/4C Hoffman

Major Thorsness

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Mark Your Calendars!

DATE ACTIVITY

09/02 Commander’s Call

09/09 GLP Lab

09/20 New Boston Navigation Lab

09/23 Drill and Ceremonies Lab

09/30 FTP Realization Night

10/07 Career Night

10/14 Transitory Challenge

10/25 Parents’ Weekend 11/01 Paintball Lab

11/07 Veterans Day Ceremony

11/11 Warrior Challenge /SERE

11/18 FTP Run Lead Lab

12/02 Buddy Care Challenge

12/06 Dining In

12/09 Commander’s Call

Le

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Career Night Every year, Detachment 475 hosts members of the military for our Career Night Leader-

ship Laboratory to speak with cadets about their different career options. This is always

an interesting lab because cadets have the opportunity to chat with and pick the brains of

these military officers and members. Though the lab’s purpose is for learning about differ-

ent careers, it seems as though cadets usually find

themselves enthralled in stories of past ROTC ex-

periences, deployments, assignments, advice on

the stresses of being in the service, and how to

make the best out of every situation they may end

up in.

Contact Us

If you are interested in

writing an article, sharing

pictures or having the next

issue of The Eagle Monthly

sent to family or friends,

please contact one of the

cadets listed below!

Cadet Adams

rar85@wildcats.unh.edu

or

Cadet Sou

bch37@wildcats.unh.edu

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www.facebook.com/

theeaglesnest475

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