The Revere Recorder “ROTC – the best leader and management development program in the world”!

Volume XI, Issue 1 Reporting for America’s Oldest ROTC Unit Fall 2009/Winter 2010

Fall FTX

Cadet Kali Frampton, Wellesley 2013

CDT Higgins bravely scales down the rappel tower at the Fall FTX

Examining outspread maps on the

floor of the barracks at Fort Devens, groups

of MS I and II cadets collaborated in search

of locations of given grid coordinates. The

Paul Revere Battalion’s Fall FTX had thus

officially begun.

Map reading was the first of several

team-building activities during the weekend

of November 20 - 22. As the MS I’s and II’s

were refining their map reading skills that

Friday evening, the cadet leadership met up

to go over last-minute details.

Cadet Moyer, battalion commander

for the fall semester, had three specific goals

he focused on seeing through during the

FTX: ensuring excellence in training,

inspiring high motivation, and fostering

mentorship throughout the Chain of

Command. He said, “One of our priorities

for this fall’s FTX was building esprit de

corps.” One of the ways Paul Revere

leadership went about building battalion

cohesion was by creating mixed groups of

Boston and North Shore cadets for the Field

Leadership Reaction Course (FLRC).

The rising sun brought with it a soft

gold and pink display as the bus and vans

rolled away toward the site of the FLRC on

Saturday morning. MS III’s took the lead in

devising initial strategies for maneuvers to

overcome obstacles in the various lanes of

the course. Moreover, they encouraged

cooperation and coordination in the

execution of those strategies under strict

time constraints.

That afternoon and night during land

navigation training, MS III’s switched gears

and worked independently to find several

locations in the forest given a map, a

protractor, and a compass, while MS II’s led

groups of MS I’s in the pursuit of that same

goal. An MS IV cadet was assigned to each

group of MS I’s and II’s to offer guidance

when needed, which was one of the ways

mentorship manifested during the weekend.

On the bus ride back to the barracks

late that evening, cadets spoke excitedly of

their journeys through the woods despite

their fatigue. Even those who walked to the

bus sloshing around in their boots after an

unanticipated detour through marshes were

quick to laugh at their mishaps, affirming

the value of the experience and lessons

learned.

Cadet McGuiness, an MS II,

identified land navigation as her favorite

FTX activity. She stated, “I enjoy land

navigation because you have to be thinking

and gauging your movements constantly.”

On Sunday, rappelling off of 30- and

90-foot towers was the next test for cadets.

Lieutenant Colonel Hall said the cadre

“wanted to challenge everyone to overcome

fears and show them that they can trust their

equipment and training.” In assessing the

outcome of the FTX, Hall stated, “I believe

that the FTX achieved the objectives we had

set forth.”

Cadet Takaki, platoon sergeant for

2nd

platoon, felt similarly. In particular, he

welcomed the complement his FLRC team

received regarding the effectiveness of their

communication with one another. He

commented that this was “really great to

hear, especially considering the team

comprised of cadets from several different

schools with very different backgrounds.”

This year’s fall FTX gave the Paul

Revere Battalion the opportunity to come

together as a team, and bridge the North

Shore-Boston-area-school divide. Cadet

Moyer expressed his pride in the battalion

for the progress it has made. The Change of

Command Ceremony on Sunday afternoon,

just prior to departure back to MIT, was the

most memorable event for Cadet Moyer.

During the ceremony, Cadet Guerra

assumed the role of battalion commander for

the upcoming spring semester. Moyer

reflected, “It was an honor to pass on the

responsibility.”

Ranger Challenge

Cadet Janice O’Brien, MIT 2012

The 2009 Ranger Challenge Competition

was an excellent training exercise, and great

fun for all involved. The 10 person squad

was led by fearless squad leader Cadet Lew

from MIT. Cadets McKee and Doroski acted

as Alpha and Bravo team leaders,

respectively. Cadets Guerra, Prado, Mangan,

Schoenen, East, Milley, and O'Brien filled

out the rest of the squad. Together they

competed against other schools from all over

the Northeast.

The first event, the APFT, was held

in the dark and rainy morning, but the

conditions didn't affect the warriors' spirits.

Pushups, sit-ups, and the two mile run were

executed in the PT top and ACU bottoms

with sneakers. This uniform motivated our

warriors almost as much as they motivated

each other. In the end, that motivation paid

off with Paul Revere placing 3rd

out of 22

teams in the APFT.

The team celebrates their 3rd place finish in the APFT Competition

The second event was the Medical

event where the squad was briefed an

OPORD and proceeded along a route where

they encountered a simulated IED and sniper

fire. The squad reacted immediately and

secured the site, then evaluated their two

casualties. The squad then moved to a

landing zone and secured it so that the

casualties could be evacuated by helicopter.

The quick pace of this lane started the

adrenaline flow that would continue the rest

of the day.

The one-rope bridge was a difficult

event, but one that helped our squad to learn

the meaning of teamwork. The mission was

to cross a ravine with a single rope. The

squad first had to tie their own swiss seats

out of individual ropes, then the first

member ran the long rope to the other side

of the ravine and secured the end to a tree

trunk. The rest of the team tightened the

rope until it was crossable and hooked their

swiss seats to the line. One at a time,

members traversed the bridge by pulling

themselves along the rope. The last member

untied the rope from the tree and ran across

the ravine as quickly as possible to finish

under time.

CDT East pulls himself across the one rope bridge with ease

The hand grenade assault course

challenged our warriors to move in buddy

teams and properly execute a grenade throw

through a door, through a window, into a

mortar pit while under barbed wire, and into

a bunker. They had to do all this while being

shot at (with paintballs) by a sniper. The

buddy teams utilized individual movement

techniques. The rifleman would provide

covering fire for the grenadier as he sprinted

between cover. If the sniper shot a squad

member, points would be deducted. For each

grenade successfully thrown into the

obstacle, points were awarded.

Weapons proficiency tested our

warriors' knowledge of the M16A2 rifle.

Our warriors lined up on the starting line,

raced to the tables with the rifles, and began

the test. They cleared the rifle, disassembled

it, reassembled it, and performed a functions

check all for time. The key was to not rush,

for every mistake added two minutes onto

your total time. Our squad performed very

well, following the adage that “slow is

smooth and smooth is fast.”

Land Navigation animated our

warriors. The squad was given points that

they had to locate in an hour. The further

points were worth more, but closer points

were a safer bet. Not all points could be

found within the hour, so the true challenge

was to strategize the best route to take. Our

warriors ran through the woods locating

several points successfully.

The Leaders Reaction Course may

be familiar to the cadets of the Paul Revere

Battalion from the recent fall Field Training

Exercise. Our squad was faced with the

problem of a bridge that had been washed

away in the middle. Using four wooden

boards (all that are too short to fully extend

the length of the divide) our squad had to

cross the bridge and carry supplies (a rope

and a barrel) over as well.

CDT Guerra disassembles/assembles an M16 in record time

The final lane our squad had to

conquer was the Intel event. The challenge

was to observe without detection an enemy

camp and send a SALUTE report via radio

to higher to inform them of the enemy's

actions (SALUTE stands for: Size, Activity,

Location, Uniform/Unit, Time, Equipment).

Our squad moved to a location where they

set up an objective rally point and sent out

two buddy teams to observe the enemy

camp. Our squad mastered the event,

missing only one point.

Our warriors returned to the barracks

and rested themselves for the night, mentally

preparing themselves for the final test, the

ruck march. Each squad member had to

carry a 35 lb ruck, which was weighed

before and after the ruck march was

completed. Our squad powered through the

march and jogged it in the last hundred

meters.

CDT O’Brien leads the squad to the finish line for the ruck march

Ranger Challenge 2009 is over for

this year, but that does not mean that you

can miss out on the fun of next year's

competition. If you are looking for an

opportunity to do more exciting training at a

high speed pace, join the team next year and

contribute your skills.

National Society of Pershing Rifles

C-12 (ABN) Cadet Michael Kane, Salem State 2012

Beginning in late September,

Pershing Rifles class 02-09 (PRC 02-09)

started the long journey toward becoming

active rifleman of Company C-12 (ABN) of

the National Society of Pershing Rifles.

PRC 02-09 began with 11 trainees. However

because of the amount of time needed to

commit to training and the high expectations

placed on trainees physically and mentally 6

chose to withdrawal before the start of Mid

Boards. From the 5 that entered Mid

Boards, two would be eliminated for failing

to meet the APFT standard required, a

minimum APFT score of 260. On

completion of Mid Boards the remaining 3

trainees became candidates. These 3

candidates are Cadet Alvarez (Army) from

Gordon, Cadet Pierson (Air Force) from

MIT, and Cadet Kane (Army) from Salem

State.

Throughout the training process

Pershing Riflemen cadre from C-12

introduced the fundamentals of squad level

tactics and different forms of military

procedures to be used during military

operations. During training, the candidates

of PRC 02-09 learned the importance of

many fundamental skills that would help

them become better leaders. The candidates

learned the importance of communication,

teamwork, how to work as a unit during

squad level tactics, land navigation, and

other mission essential tasks.

During the typical training sessions

candidates would start by organizing the

classroom and prepare for further

instructions via the cadre. The cadre would

then test the candidates on their knowledge

and conduct physical training. During this

period of time the candidates were tested on

military bearing, situational awareness,

memorization of the key knowledge

previously presented and the ability to recite

it while under constant pressures from the

cadre. Once the knowledge tasks and

physical training session was completed, the

candidates would then participate in an

instructional class provided by the cadre.

Outside the classroom candidates also

learned from hands-on experience during

tactical training environments. Some of the

tactical training that the candidates were

taught was how to apply and perform battle

drills 1-A to battle drill 5, how to enter and

clear rooms, and navigating hallways while

using air soft rifles. At the completion of

the instructional period the candidates would

be released from duty and told to perform

their 6’s (a set of six different exercises that

the candidates would choose prior to leaving

c-12) before heading home.

But beyond their normal training

sessions in the last few weeks training,

candidates were given 8 candidate tasks that

revolved around the history of Pershing

Rifles as well as standards of military

proficiency. Examples of the tasks the

candidates were asked to complete were a

ruck march, a military rifle drill routine, and

a field training exercise (FTX). During the

FTX each candidate would act as the squad

leader and give commands to his team

leaders to complete different objectives that

would be handed out as FRAGO’S. With

the completion of the candidate tasks in

sight and final boards approaching, each

candidate can feel a bit of accomplishment.

Not only did these cadets make it this far

throughout the vigorous training but they

were able to do all of these tasks while

taking on a full college course load as well

as an additional ROTC class. To all

Pershing Riflemen who have completed the

training and final boards, I applaud you for

your dedication and hard work.

If you are interested in becoming a

member of the Pershing Rifles C-12 (ABN),

the unit is located at MIT and accepts

everyone into the training program who is

willing and wants to become a Pershing

Rifleman.

Please contact Cadet Joshua Bailey

at joshua.bailey@gordon.edu for more

information.

Please note that we are now sending the Paul Revere Recorder via e-mail. If you’d like to receive a printed copy of future issues, please contact Lisa Morin at 617-253-4471 or ljmorin@mit.edu. Thanks for your help in saving our trees and postage costs!

Dining-In

Cadet Ryan Sutherland, Endicott 2013

As a freshman in ROTC, every time

the battalion comes together it is quite the

experience. From the highest rank to the last

Cadet I feel as though the Paul Revere

Battalion truly is one of a kind. I learned this

through my first hand experience at the

Dining-in. Not knowing exactly what I was

going to experience, I was quite nervous for

the Dining-in for it was the first time as a

cadet I had to wear my Class A uniform in

public, and especially in front of the cadre.

It was apparent through the ranks

that the Dining-in was a serious event that

truly showed the tradition and values of the

Army. When I arrived, it was nothing like I

had expected. Men and women in all kinds

of decorated uniforms were there, waiting to

talk to us, the cadets. Little did I know, they

turned out to be veterans, lieutenants,

captains and majors that were currently and

actively involved the military.

COL Donahoe delivers the keynote address

This is one of the aspects of the

Dining-in that I found to be the most

valuable and beneficial. Being able to

connect with people from all walks of life

definitely made me feel like I was part of

something that was much greater and

worthwhile. I felt as though the things I

learned from the men and women that night

were equally important as anything I had

learned in class because it was coming from

the people that have been through the

experiences I am currently going through.

One event of the Dining-in certainly

caught me off guard. This was the mixing of

the grog. This I feel brings strong

camaraderie to the battalion because it

provides humor for everyone. The grog is a

concoction of all different ingredients

including brown sugar, fruit punch,

O’Doul’s nonalcoholic beer, sour gummy

worms, red bull energy drinks, sunflower

seeds and bottles of Tabasco sauce. This was

one of the worst things I have ever had to

drink. I felt though that this was part of an

initiation that all members of the battalion

were expected to partake in.

Cadets demonstrated their acting skills during the class skits

At the end of the evening, all the

different MS classes came together to

perform skits that poked fun at all of the

different cadets and cadre. This was truly a

fun time, as it is likely the only chance we

would ever have to publicly do such a thing.

Overall I feel as though the Dining-

is a truly important event that I can’t wait to

experience again next year.

Leaders Training Course

Cadet Michael Schoenen, Harvard 2011

CDT Schoenen at LTC (Ft. Knox, KY)

Ft. Knox, Kentucky is a place I will

remember well. It was my first introduction

to the US Army, and a place I learned the

basics required of an officer and leader. The

cadets came from all corners, Hawaii,

California, Florida and Maine. And so

began my transformation from civilian to

Army Cadet.

I arrived at Ft. Knox on the 4th

of

July, and I was immediately assigned to 4th

Platoon, 5th

Squad of A Company 1-46

Infantry Regiment, a unit that had

distinguished itself in conflicts dating back

to WWI. The unit was activated and

deactivated over the years and today it

conducts ROTC’s Leaders Training Course

in support of Cadet Command. Day 0 was

by far the longest, after all the paperwork

and appropriate registration was conducted,

I found myself in a Platoon of 56 cadets.

From this point on it was a steady diet of

PT, D & C, and courses designed to

accelerate the process of building MS III

cadets. The next 30 days would develop our

proficiency in land navigation, squad tactics,

combat water survival training and basic

rifle marksmanship. Of all of the courses I

completed, the most challenging and

rewarding were the STX lanes. Our enemy

was made up of newly commissioned

Lieutenants, most of whom had been at Ft.

Knox all summer. We learned very quickly

that you had to complete your OPORD and

execute commands with precision, our

opposing forces made up of the newly

commissioned Lieutenants were very well

aware of the terrain and inexperience of our

squads. We took our share of losses, but

through those losses we adapted our

leadership and learned the value of

teamwork and violence of action.

My first experience as squad leader

is one that I’d like to forget, but I learned

some invaluable lessons from my mistakes.

It was our first movement to contact

mission, and after it was over, I would never

forget the value of having “eyes on the

objective” and the “three d’s” distance,

description and direction. After delivering

my orders, we moved out in the direction of

our objective. After maneuvering across

300 meters of terrain it happened-BOOM!

We walked right in to an ambush. My

support team immediately moved in to

position and began calling out the three d’s.

I immediately grabbed my assault force and

maneuvered them along the West side of the

objective and in to position for the assault. I

couldn’t see the objective and remembered

the approximate distance from my team

leader-12 o’clock, 50 meters, 2 enemy.

After maneuvering my assault team 50

meters ahead, I gave the order to assault.

On command, we immediately ran through a

wall of brush and branches in to the open

area of our objective. It was about that time

I realized that we were 50 meters too short

and standing right smack dab in the middle

of the enemy kill zone! We were all cut

down by paintball’s and the game was over.

My mistake was that I didn’t see the

objective with my own eyes and relied on

the assessment of my support team leader-

the first and last time I would make that

mistake. After the AAR, we regrouped and

headed off on the next mission.

Land navigation proved to be quite a

challenge, but the officers and NCO’s that

trained us were nothing short of exceptional.

I remember vividly Staff Sergeant Steve

Smith, “before heading off on a mission,

don’t think you’re right, know you’re right”.

This advice proved to be invaluable, as

many of the cadets that hurried through

plotting quickly discovered the error of their

haste and got lost in the woods-a comical

end to their labor of learning from the last

few days.

The last thing I remember and what

will stay with me the most are the friends I

made there. It was an experience unlike

anything I had ever had before, and from it I

began to understand why our Army is the

best in the world. It’s because our Army is

made up of people that find satisfaction

from standing shoulder to shoulder with men

and women who stand for something greater

than themselves. And it is this same culture

that has carried us through the darkest and

most challenging times in our nation’s

history. 4th

Platoon Mad Dogs-Hooah!

Our thoughts and prayers go out to alumni

and soldiers currently serving in our armed

forces around the world

ROTC Culture and Language Program

Cadet Tomoaki Takaki, Tufts 2011

CDT Takaki shows this horse who’s the boss

This summer I traveled to Meknes,

Morocco during the month of May as part of

a cultural immersion internship hosted by

United States Army Cadet Command under

the auspices of its Cultural and Language

Programs (CULP). The Army is increasing

its focus on these programs as a way to

increase the cultural awareness of its future

officers and leaders to help them become

better prepared to carry out their missions in

the broad variety of different countries and

operating environments we are faced with

today. This summer I was one of 234 cadets

who traveled to thirty different locations in

the world, from areas all over the globe in

Asia, South America, Eastern Europe, and

Africa. As an international relations major

and Arabic minor specializing in the study

of the Middle East and South Asia, I was

particularly interested in this program and in

the internships available in Arabic-speaking

countries.

After arriving in Morocco, we met

the Moroccan cadets whom would be our

hosts for the next month. The cultural

differences were evident right away. Each of

the American cadets bunked across from a

Moroccan cadet, who became our

counterparts. Although most of the cadets

studied English, there was still a very

tangible language barrier, which was part of

the experience of becoming friends with the

Moroccans. Despite the difficulty in

communication, the cadets themselves were

the epitomes of Arab hospitality, and as time

went on we only appreciated them more and

more for their generosity and welcoming

spirit.

Some of the most notable differences

were in the Moroccan Army SOPs. For

example, a typical morning workout

consisted of a long run, with the stretching

performed after exercising, not before. As

well, there were generally no strength

workouts, such as pushups or sit-ups, which

made sense in terms of their APFT, which

consisted of a long distance run, a short

distance dash, and an endurance obstacle

course. Another interesting military tradition

in the Moroccan Army is their custom of

training officers to ride horses in order to

increase their bravery and improve their

dexterity. This was the first time I rode a

horse and the experience was exhilarating.

Other first time experiences included

participating in a formal dress parade

celebrating the establishment of the

Moroccan armed forces. We also received a

number of briefings on the history of US

Moroccan relations. In addition to these

more formal events, we had military training

on the usage of mortars and AA/AT guns for

our upcoming tactical field exercise.

This exercise took place in the

mountains near the city we were based in

and lasted for little under a week. The

exercise was a much different experience

than the FTX’s we were used to. Rolling out

in open backed US made Vietnam-era

trucks, we arrived in the bivouac site with

tents already set up with cots and electric

lighting, with hot chow at a set dining area.

It was a little less tactical than our FTX’s as

the Moroccan cadets also lit campfires and

in the cases of some strummed guitars and

even surreptitiously brought alcohol and

hookahs for enjoyment.

One thing I did not expect about the

country was its fairly temperate climate – I

had assumed the country was mostly hot

desert, but the temperature was actually

fairly moderate. We did however spend a

few days in the desert during a later

exercise, after flying in a C-130, which was

also a first time experience for me. During

this iteration, we learned desert survival

techniques and went on an early 12 mile

march in the desert. Another aspect of the

cultural immersion was getting the

opportunity to visit various ancient cities

and experience the culture first hand. The

traditional Suqs, with the haggling, and

people on the street wearing the traditional

Jalaba, or robe, was a new experience for all

of us.

CDT Takaki & fellow cadets in their traditional Moroccan robes

All-in-all this was a positive

experience. I learned a lot about how to

work with foreign militaries, which will be

invaluable especially considering our current

challenges in Iraq and Afghanistan. Despite

getting a bit of a stomachache from time to

time I enjoyed my time in Morocco

immensely and I would highly recommend

applying for next year.

Nursing in ROTC

Cadet Meghan Davey, Salem State 2011

CDT Davey at LTC (Ft. Knox, KY)

As a sophomore in the Salem State

nursing program I decided to join the Army

ROTC program. I was not sure what to

expect but I knew that I wanted to be an

officer in the Army Nurse Corps. Not to

mention who can resist the idea of their

nursing fees and expenses being taken care

of and not having to pay out of pocket?

I was starting my first semester that

included clinical lab along with the nursing

class itself. At first it was a little difficult to

balance the scheduling, however the cadre

was very understanding and helped me out

when I had conflicts.

The first activity that I took part in

was a trip to Washington DC to explore the

Walter Reed Medical Facility. There were

students from many different school and we

were all able to mingle and talk about our

experiences in nursing and ROTC thus far.

It was a great experience that gave the

students in nursing or other medical fields

the chance to see how a military hospital

functioned. We got to tour the different

wards and we were able to talk to a variety

of the staff and get their input. They told us

about their experiences and about the

different opportunities that were available in

the medical corps.

Another taste of army medical life

came when I attended Leaders Training

Course this past summer. It is a training

program that was geared towards getting the

cadets either caught up to their peers, or give

students an idea of what being a cadet

means. The nursing cadets were not

forgotten and amongst the soldier training

we were able to visit Ireland hospital, which

is the hospital on base at Ft Knox. We got

to see their wards and we talked to the

nurses as well as a few of their doctors.

Afterwards we got a chance to talk to a

variety of nurses in various points in their

army careers. One was a brand new second

lieutenant who gave her input on being new

to the program, and participating in the LTC

program as a platoon nurse. Another was a

Captain who was a brigade nurse and had

given our company numerous briefings

about the safeties of wildlife and heat

casualties. It was great to sit and talk with

them because they were there to answer any

questions that we had that we may not have

had a chance to ask at the hospital. They

were also around daily at our training sites

and were more than happy to talk with us

then as well.

It has interesting to go through all

the ROTC training because it is not branch

specific and it is directed towards

developing the future leader of soldiers. I

have found myself thinking sometimes that

some of the training we are going through is

irrelevant and I will not use it in my day to

day tasks as a nurse. However, it is

beneficial to go through the training,

because it helps me get an idea of the

mentality that the soldiers I will be caring

for in the hospitals are going to have.

Freshman Reflection

Cadet Matthew Milley, Tufts 2012

CDT Milley in full battle-rattle at Ranger Challenge

A few weeks ago I was asked to

write a short article reflecting on my

experience as a college freshman and first

year as a cadet in the Paul Revere Battalion.

Easy, I thought. Then I learned I had to do it

in 700 words or less. For me, that made the

task much more difficult, as the amount I

changed and learned about myself during

my first year of college would probably be

more suited to being told in 70 pages rather

than 700 words. Nonetheless, I accepted the

challenge, and the following is my (rather

condensed) reflection on that year of

unprecedented change in my life.

I was accepted to Tufts University

and recruited to play hockey. I had spent the

last 18 years of my life honing my skills

with skates and sticks, and had even taken a

year off in between high school and college

to further sharpen my game before taking it

to the college level. When all that work

came together, however, I found that despite

accomplishing my goal of playing college

hockey, I was missing something important

in my life: everything I had done was for a

game, and did not help anyone other than

myself. I needed to do something that could

change the world.

For me, the answer was simple. I had

wanted to be a soldier my entire life, and

now I had a chance to actually do it. I joined

the Army ROTC program and immediately

felt that I had found a home. I loved the

sense of pride I got from putting on my

uniform. I loved the feeling of being around

a group of people that were so motivated to

help others that, despite being educated at

some of the premier colleges and

universities in the world and having no

shortage of options available to them,

dedicated themselves to the premise of

giving hope to the hopeless anywhere in the

world.

And then school actually began. As

you can probably tell, I took hockey and

ROTC very seriously, but conspicuously

absent from this article thus far has been any

mention of academics whatsoever. Well, to

be perfectly honest, that is kind of similar to

the first semester of my freshman year. I put

my all into hockey and ROTC, and then

whatever time I had left over was for school.

If anyone is reading this article before going

to college, let me lend this advice: that is not

the way to go about succeeding

academically.

While my academics didn’t start

strong, they got worse as hockey season

began. Not only did I have less time for my

studies, but I also began to not enjoy hockey

as I always had, which confused me

endlessly and caused many a sleepless night.

Eventually, I realized that I had to do

something, so I talked to my hockey coach

who let me take the rest of the season off to

get my academics together. The truth though

was that I had reached a point where I knew

I had to make a decision about what was

really important to me, and get myself back

on track.

While it was too late to salvage my

first semester, I made the decision to forego

hockey and concentrate on my academics.

For me, my position as a cadet in Army

ROTC, a future officer in the U.S. Army,

was more important than playing any game.

By the time my second semester rolled

around, I had a new outlook on everything. I

went to every class. I took good notes. I did

all my homework. At the end of the

semester, the results took care of

themselves. My GPA improved drastically,

but more importantly, I was proud of what I

had done, and proud of the reason I had

done it. No longer was I pursuing a game for

myself, I was pursuing a career and a life

that would help others around the world.

That made it all worthwhile.

Another blast from the past … recognize

anyone in this photo?

Words from our Commander LTC Timothy Hall

Friends of the Paul Revere Battalion,

we have just concluded the Fall 2009

semester. The battalion is in a good state

and remains strong. All in all it was a very

busy semester.

First, I would like to report on the

status of the battalion. The initiative we

instituted this semester to place our senior

cadets into officer positions and junior

cadets into NCO positions has been a

resounding success. The Battalion is better

and our Cadets are taking responsibilities

and developing in their respective roles.

They have a much deeper understanding of

the responsibilities of the officers and NCOs

and how to better run an Army unit.

Next, our battalion started the

semester with our highest enrollment in 20

years. After peaking in September at nearly

90 cadets, our enrollment dropped

precipitously to near 70 Cadets with our

losses largest among our sophomores by a

rate of about 2-to-1. There is no trend I can

point to except that it appears to the majority

of them, ROTC did not match their personal

goals after trying the program. These

numbers included both Cadets who were

members of the battalion for a year and also

new Cadets who were testing out the

program. Along with the changes in

numbers, we are also witnessing a

demographic shift in the battalion. Greater

than half of the battalion are students on the

North Shore (Gordon College, Gordon-

Conwell, Endicott College, and Salem State

College) not our traditional campuses (MIT,

Harvard, Tufts, Wellesley). This has caused

us some challenges, but overall, our

broadened demographics has made the

battalion better.

Third, in the future we will continue

to emphasize service and not scholarships

when looking for the right applicants. We

believe that for the foreseeable future, we

will only have a fraction of the scholarships

available that we have had in the past both

for 4-year high-school scholarships and

campus based scholarships. This reduction

in scholarship money available is reflective

of the overall economic situation in the

nation. I anticipate that as much as 40%-

50% of our battalion in the future may be

composed of students not on scholarship

compared to about 20% now. Although this

seems like “mission impossible” at our high-

cost institutions, we’ve seen success in the

past in finding the right person at all of our

affiliates and MIT.

Fourth, this semester we reorganized

some of our training. We reorganized our

training to have individual and team-

building training in the fall semester and

collective training in the spring semester.

For example we moved our combat water

survival test and our first aid training from

the spring to the fall. This enabled us

opportunities to expand our training on

small unit tactics in the spring and to have

better trained Cadets prepared to conduct the

collective training. This minor

reorganization of training is already paying

dividends with having a core of dedicated,

motivated cadets who are better trained as

individuals and prepared to take on more

complicated training.

Fifth, I would like to congratulate

our one officer who we commissioned on

November 27th

at the North Bridge in

Concord. Second Lieutenant Andrei

Doohovskoy commissioned as an Infantry

Officer. He will depart for his first

assignment to the frozen tundra of Alaska

after completion of his infantry training.

Later this year, we plan to commission one

Cadet from MIT, five Cadets from Harvard,

two Cadets from Endicott, two Cadets from

Gordon, and one Cadet from Wellesley.

Last, I would like to bid farewell to

our departing Cadre and welcome our

incoming Cadre. As of last report, we

anticipated losing a number of our Cadre,

but were able to keep a few of them. We

kept both Major Deidre Perrin and Captain

Nick Griffiths on board for another year.

We anticipate Deidre Perrin will be with the

Battalion until January 2011 and we know

that Nick Griffiths will depart in March

2010. CPT Nick Griffiths will PCS this

semester to a Transition Team out of Fort

Hood, TX. As the MS II instructor,

Executive Officer, and Pershing Rifles

Advisor, Nick was vital to the success of the

battalion over the last two years. By the next

report, we should have a replacement

named. We also lost our supply technician in

August to resignation and are waiting on a

hiring action for his replacement. We will

also lose CPT Mark Chaney for a period of

time. He will be mobilizing with his Army

National Guard battalion in March 2010. We

will begin working a replacement shortly.

Being three persons down in a Cadre of

eight is a significant challenge, but we will

work through it. On the positive side, since

the Spring 2009 Revere Recorder, we have

been blessed with two great additions to the

Battalion MSG Robert Hinkle, SMI, and

SFC Adam Cook. Both hit the ground

running and have made tremendous

improvements in the battalion in their short

time with the Paul Revere Battalion. These

two great NCOs are having a tremendous

positive impact on our Cadets.

No Fear! Paul Revere!

MSIII Summer Experience

Cadet David Boswell, Harvard 2010

CDT Boswell shows us just how “Hooah” he is

It is the end of August and much like

ants returning to work after a torrential

downpour, the college campuses once again

bustle with activity. At Harvard there are

four rules of move-in week. 1) The recycling

bins will always overflow with cardboard. 2)

The aisles of Target and Staples will be

emptier than a Baptist dance party. 3) New

sophomores will be immediately granted

that sixth sense of being able to feel which

students are freshman before they even

come around the corner. 4) All

conversations will be exactly the same and

follow this set format: "How was your

summer? -- That's great! -- Where was your

internship? -- Oh, cool!"

However, this year I was at last able

to break free of the spell and shock my peers

before they could finish that second

rehearsed question. "How was your

summer? -- That's great! -- Where was your

inter...wait did you just say you spent half of

your summer getting lost in the forests of

Washington state and the other half

throwing yourself out of perfectly good

airplanes over Georgia?!"

"Yup, Hooah!"

This past summer I completed the

Leadership Development and Assessment

Course (LDAC) along with follow-on

training at the U.S. Army Airborne school.

While I would describe neither experience

as fun, at least compared to past summers

bumming around in Texas or chilling on the

Mediterranean coast "studying abroad", in

retrospect they were perhaps some of the

most fulfilling and rewarding times of my

life.

On June 17, I shouldered my duffle

bag and made my way through the Seattle-

Tacoma airport. I followed the sea of shaved

heads and tucked in polo shirts into the large

airport foyer where a brusque Staff Sergeant

immediately designated an unfortunate cadet

wearing an Oklahoma University shirt to be

the first "Platoon Sergeant." Although the

position was completely unevaluated and

unofficial, everyone not chosen breathed

that sigh of relief and quickly began the

check-in process before being assigned

some other position.

"Last name?"

"Boswell" I answered, trying to

sound as if I willingly vacationed to

Washington state every summer.

"Take these tags, label your bags,

then go stand over there and wait. Next."

Little did I know that those words "stand

over there and wait" would become my

Siamese twin for the next month. Let the fun

begin.

While the first days of LDAC were

indeed gruelingly slow and uneventful,

waiting in Disney World length lines to in-

process and standing outside the medical

building for hours to receive one shot, the

training soon began to pick up and before I

knew it I was actually really enjoying my

experience. The camaraderie built within my

platoon and squad was incredible as we

griped about our push-ups not being counted

during the APFT, laughed at how funny

CDT Jones looked as he stumbled from the

CS gas tent with snot streaming from his

nostrils, discussed how day land navigation

was a lot easier than expected and night land

navigation much more difficult, groaned

together when the "mortars" hit our FOB

just as we were racking out for the night on

the fourth of July, or tried to trade MRE

entrees with one another so that we wouldn't

have to eat Cheese and Veggie Omelet for

the seventh day in a row. After only a few

weeks together I felt as if I had known the

cadets of 1st Platoon, Bravo Company my

entire life. While the evaluations were at

times frustrating, we were all in it together

and I realized that there was no need to

stress or worry about things that were out of

my control. I did my best and stayed focused

on the long term goal of gaining the skills

needed to help me become better prepared to

serve as a Second Lieutenant in the U.S.

Army and in doing so was able to make the

most of my month in Washington.

But the fun wasn't over yet. I flew

back to Cambridge for a few days, slept in a

real bed, ate real food, tried to wash the

smell of foot powder and 100% Deet out of

my ACUs and then boarded a plane bound

for Airborne school in humid Columbus,

GA. The environment at Airborne school

was much more relaxing than at LDAC and

I enjoyed having my nights and weekends

off. I'm positive I watched more movies at

the post theater during those three weeks

than my whole last year combined. The

training during the duty day mostly

consisted of tedious and repetitious learning

how to conduct a proper Parachute Landing

Fall, or in other words bruising your body to

the point where it'll be too numb to feel

anything come Jump Week. All the training

pays off however when you realize you're

about to hand your life over to gravity for

the next 1200 feet and you want to freak out

but your training doesn't let you. Like your

buddy in front of you, you stand up, hook up

and shuffle to the door. Airborne! All in all

it was an incredible experience and I was

honored to receive my wings and join the

prestigious fraternity of combat qualified

parachutists.

I'm convinced my army experience

last summer was more rewarding than any

internship I could have done and I'm grateful

to the Paul Revere Battalion for supporting

me and providing me with the chance to

grow tactically and become more prepared

to lead the world's finest fighting force. No

fear Paul Revere!

Calling all Alumni . . . do you have a story to

share? Contact Lisa Morin at ljmorin@mit.edu with your story and/or

pictures.

Comments from the Cadet

Battalion Commander Cadet Raphael Moyer, MIT 2010

CDT Moyer chats with CPT Chaney at the Fall CWST

The Paul Revere Battalion has had

another very successful semester. As you

can see in these pages, it has been packed

with training. Our primary focus this

semester was to build individual skills with

events like the Army Physical Fitness Test,

Drill and Ceremony training, Combat Water

Survival Test, Combat Lifesaver Training,

and the Fall Field Training Exercise. At the

Fall FTX, cadets learned land navigation

and rappelling, all while preparing our MS

III’s for the Leadership Development and

Assessment Course through the Field

Leader’s Reaction Course and leadership

positions over the weekend. I am proud to

say that Paul Revere cadets showed grit and

determination throughout the semester, from

their exemplary efforts at the CWST and

APFT to their night land navigation of the

Fort Devens wilds. Special notice goes to

our Ranger Challenge team, who went and

competed admirably against teams from

battalions across the region.

Another highly successful event this

semester was the battalion’s annual Dining

In. Held at the Coast Guard station, we

celebrated Army traditions and built esprit

de corps while inviting several

Distinguished Military Fellows from area

schools to join us. Their advice was

invaluable as they shared stories and

observations from their Army careers.

This semester has also seen some

significant changes to the battalion. One

primary area of focus was to build

camaraderie between our North Shore and

Boston school cadets. Platoon leaders each

led cadet platoons from non-area schools,

helping to unify the battalion, and cadets

were mixed into cross-school groups for

events like the FLRC, helping to build

friendships and bring the battalion together.

The cadet rank structure was also

better formalized this semester. All cadet

officers are now MS IV’s, holding staff and

Platoon Leader positions, while senior non-

commissioned officers are MS III’s, at

positions like Platoon Sergeant and staff

NCO, and all team leaders are MS II’s, with

anywhere from two to three cadets under

their command. This has helped to spread

leadership opportunities throughout the

battalion, and has also made the staff,

responsible for planning battalion events,

stronger.

Finally, several battalion cadets

completed training like Airborne School, Air

Assault School, and Cadet Troop Leadership

Training, learning skills that will help them

as they move forward in the ROTC program

and in their Army careers. Our MS IV class

also completed LDAC last summer, earning

very high marks that have made our

battalion one of the best nationwide.

The battalion has completed a huge

amount this semester, and I look forward to

the exciting opportunities that await us in

the Spring.

No Fear Paul Revere!

2009 Awards Ceremony & CWST

Cadets stand in formation, waiting to receive their awards

MSIV Cadets receive awards from CPT Chaney

CDT Takaki and CDT O’Loughlin inspect each cadet’s uniform

Cadets receive ribbons for their participation this summer in LTC

Cadets receive the tasks, conditions, and standards for CWST

Cadets in the water at CWST

CDT Prado prepares to plunge into the water with all his gear

SFC Cook instills bravery in cadets as they prepare to jump