2016 marks the 100th year that ROTC has been commissioning college graduates as officers in the U.S. Army. In recognition of this milestone, the Shippensburg University Army ROTC program will host Cadet for a Day on April 21. This event allows SU students and invited high school students from all across the state to get an inside look about what being an ROTC cadet in college is all about.
In honor of the 100th anniversary of Army ROTC, the SU’s ROTC program will be celebrating with a Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter and M1126 Stryker Combat vehicle demonstration at 2p.m. Other events include ROTC displays in the Ceddia Union Building (CUB), a rock-climbing wall in the CUB Amphitheater, and Army Equipment displays by the baseball field. There will also be a drawing for a gift valued at $250.
Junior Cadet Xiomara Espinosa attended Cadet for a Day when she was a senior in high school and still unsure of where she wanted to attend college.
“Going to Cadet for a Day is one of the reasons why I chose to go to Ship,” she said. “I got to sit in on a college class, eat with some of the cadets, and do an obstacle course in the afternoon. I knew then that ROTC was for me.”
Some of the benefits of ROTC include leadership training, physical fitness, new friends and some very cool adventure training. There are also opportunities for fully funded overseas summer tours, government internships, funded language studies, advanced tactical training and even the chance to earn a scholarship.
Following the demonstration at 2pm, ROTC cadets and instructors will be on hand to answer questions about ROTC. All are welcome to join the event at any point in the day as the SU community celebrates the 100th anniversary of Army ROTC.
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