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Cadet Training

In addition to the wide variety of skills taught in military science courses, we offer several additional training opportunities.

Each of the training opportunities will provide you with valuable, hands-on experience that can be included on resumés. Whether you’re learning how to dive, fire a cannon or survive in diverse terrains, the knowledge you obtain will be useful and valuable. See below for more information about our training opportunities.

Questions? Contact the Department of Military Science at rotc@ewu.edu or 509.359.2386.

helicopter lands near a group of ROTC cadets

Mandatory Cadet Training

Our program runs weekly leadership labs on Thursday afternoon. Once a term we conduct a 2-day field training exercise (FTX) in conjunction with a weekend. The FTX is a culmination of the entire term’s training, and each term the FTXs become more challenging and complex. All training is student-led and provides unique challenges, camaraderie, adventure, and a break from college life. In the fall, cadets learn the individual and team-level tasks to operate as a small unit. These tasks include first aid, marksmanship, communications, map reading, terrain analysis and land navigation. This training is mandatory for all contracted students and recommended for non-contracted Cadets.

Leadership Labs and FTXs (1) - ROTC

Physical Training

Our physical training program meets at least three times a week from 0610-0710 to conduct physical fitness. Fitness training is required for all contracted students, but we encourage non-contracted Cadets to attend as well.

Physical Fitness (1) - ROTC

Intramural Sports

ROTC Cadets also participate in many of the campus intramural sports programs.

Basic Camp

Basic Camp is a four-week leadership course located in Fort Knox, KY. Cadets are taught leadership, teamwork, and problem solving by being placed in rigorous and challenging exercises. Cadets also learn to rappel, fire an M-16, and perform several obstacle courses. Contracted Cadets can attend Basic Camp after their second year in the program. Enrolled students can also attend as a method to earn Basic Course credit.

Advanced Camp

Advanced Camp is a 37-day training event that incorporates a wide range of subjects designed to develop and assess leadership ability. The challenges are rigorous and demanding, both mentally and physically. Advanced Camp tests intelligence, common sense, ingenuity and stamina. These challenges provide a new perspective on problem-solving and making difficult decisions in demanding situations.

Advanced Camp places cadets in leadership positions, many of which simulate stressful combat situations. In each position, Cadets are evaluated by coaches, mentors and trainers (CMT) officers and noncommissioned officers. In addition to demonstrating their leadership ability, Cadets must meet standards in physical fitness, navigation, weapons training, and communication. Cadets must successfully complete Advanced Camp to be considered competitive for a commission as an Army officer. Over 5,000 Army ROTC cadets throughout the nation attend Advanced Camp. Cadets typically attend this course between their junior and senior year of college.

Basic Camp - Advanced Camp - ROTC

In addition to the ROTC class and lab series, contracted Cadets are required to complete the following events and training:

  • Field Training Exercises (FTXs), usually one each term
  • Unit physical fitness three times a week with a fitness test each term
  • Annual social function
  • Annual swim test and water survival (normally completed during fitness training or labs)

There are two summer leadership camps required, known as Basic Camp and Advance Camp. All other summer training is voluntary, and a Cadet must be selected for attendance.

Extracurricular Activities

The Ranger Challenge team is an extracurricular, close-knit group of individuals who compete annually in a multi-state competition. Cadets from 10 schools across the region compete for the annual title of Ranger Challenge Competition Winner and take home the trophy. Ranger Challenge focuses heavily on physical fitness, and practice a variety of military events including:

  • building a rope bridge
  • land navigation
  • ruck marching
  • a hand grenade assault course
  • weapons assembly/disassembly
  • individual movement techniques to prepare for the annual event

Participants must demonstrate technical and tactical proficiency in several events to include:

  • call for fire
  • evaluate a casualty
  • apply first aid
  • run five miles in under 40 minutes
  • pass a PT Test scoring 80 points in each event
  • successfully pass a land navigation course

Color Guard

Color Guard is another extracurricular organization that instills pride and discipline while presenting the National, State, Army and EWU Colors during events. The Color Guard participates in events such as football games, parades and holiday and graduation ceremonies. The Color Guard also presents the Colors at Spokane Shock and Chiefs games.

Learn more about the EWU ROTC Color Guard on the EWU ROTC website.

Cannon Crew

EWU ROTC provides support of home football games by firing our historical World War II-era M1A1 75mm howitzer after touchdowns. Any student is allowed to support the unit in this event.

Our Cadets participate in Reebok Spartan races throughout the region. These obstacle course races build tremendous esprit-de-corps while pushing Cadets beyond what they believe they can do. Our program also has a partnership program with EWU EPIC Adventures to attend white-water rafting trips, ice-climbing and skiing excursions throughout the year.

Additional Opportunities

Earn the wings of a U.S. Army Paratrooper at this three-week school located in beautiful Fort Benning, Georgia.  Airborne School is offered to qualified Cadets during the summer of their freshman, sophomore, and junior years. AIRBORNE!!!

Learn how to establish helicopter landing zones, prepare sling loads for Air Assault operations, and rappel from a helicopter. Qualified Cadets can attend this two-week course at one of the schools in locations such as:

  • Schofield Barracks, HI
  • Fort Drum, NY
  • Fort Polk, LA
  • Fort Campbell, KY

The four-week DCLT Program provides Cadets an opportunity to:

  • Apply leadership skills
  • Interact with highly skilled and experienced Noncommissioned Officers (NCOs) and drill sergeants
  • Improve common task skill proficiency in an Army training environment

Cadets serve in positions with the cadre of Initial Entry Training (IET) and One-Station Unit Training (OSUT) units—Basic Training.

Cadet Troop Leader Training is an internship in which 3rd-year Cadets go to units all over the world and learn the ropes of being a platoon leader. Cadets are assigned to every type of army unit and gain valuable knowledge and experience as a Second Lieutenant.

After completing this 14-day-long course, Cadets earn the title of Military Mountaineer. Training lasts 14 hours each day for the entire course. Along the way, Cadets learn how to effectively perform small unit tactics in mountainous terrain and are taught by some of the top mountaineers in the world.

 

 

Battle the cold and conquer mountains at the Northern Warfare Training Center, Fort Wainright, Alaska. Learn basic mountaineering in one of the most visually appealing places on earth.

Every year hundreds of ROTC Cadets travel the globe, spending up to three weeks immersed in foreign cultures. Cadets learn more about how other others around the world view the U.S. and, in the process, learn more about themselves.  The Army recognizes the need for young leaders to develop more cultural awareness and foreign language proficiency skills. Now more than ever, cultural awareness training is a vital component of the ROTC curriculum. Overseas immersions help educate future leaders in ways the classroom cannot.

Cadets receive the opportunity to compete for immersion in more than 30 countries. This opportunity exposes Cadets to everyday life in different cultures and intensifies language study. CULP helps produce commissioned officers with the right blend of language and cultural skills required to support 21st-century global operations.

Participants experience up to three different venues during immersion, including:

  • Humanitarian service
  • Host nation military-to-military contact
  • Education on the social, cultural and historical aspects of the country

The goal is for at least half of all cadets to complete a CULP immersion internship annually.

Goldbach at CULP
EWU ROTC Cadet Christian Goldbach (center) at dinner during his CULP assignment at Peru’s premier military academy, Escuela Militar de Chorrillos.

The majority of the following training opportunities listed here are for contracted Cadets only.

 

Army ROTC Internships

Cadets with an Academic Major of Nursing are the only cadets eligible to apply for this program. Cadets are assigned to Army Medical Facilities both in the continental United States (CONUS) and outside the continental United States (OCONUS) including Alaska, Hawaii, Europe and Asia. NSTP provides nursing cadets with opportunities to develop and practice leadership in a clinical environment. Cadets work side-by-side with an Army Nurse Corps Officer preceptor. To qualify, cadets must submit an application packet through their PMS and the Brigade Nurse counselor to the Cadet Command Chief Nurse. Cadets applying for this program must be certified in Basic Cardiac Life Support (BCLS). BCLS certification may not expire prior to the completion of NSTP training. The paid internship also fulfills the internship requirement credit at UT.

The Office of the Army Surgeon General sponsors the program. Cadets are assigned to Medical Department Activities (MEDDAC) and Medical Centers (MEDCEN). The purpose of the AMEDDIP is to offer a cadet insight into the Army Medical Facilities and exposure to leadership in the medical arena. Cadets are assigned to a preceptor and work under their direct supervision and direction of an AMEDD officer.

Cadets in the AMEDDIP may serve at locations within the continental United States (CONUS) or outside the continental United States (OCONUS). CONUS locations include, but are not limited to Ft. Benning, GA; Ft. Bliss, TX; Ft. Eustis, VA; Ft. Leavenworth; Ft. Lewis, WA; Ft. Sam Houston, TX; and Walter Reed Army Medical Center, MD. OCONUS locations include but are not limited to Tripler Army Medical Center and Wurzburg, Germany. Locations and positions available change annually.

Cadets pursuing academic majors in the following subjects may apply for this internship:

  • Audiology
  • Clinical Lab
  • Dietetics
  • Environmental Science
  • Laboratory, Nutrition Care
  • Occupational Therapy
  • Optometry, Pathology
  • Pharmacy
  • Physical Therapy
  • Pre-Dental
  • Pre-Optometry
  • Preventive Medicine
  • Psychology
  • Social Work
  • Toxicology
  • Veterinary Medicine

Other specialty areas may be available.

The Central Identification Laboratory Internship Program (CILIP) is hosted by the US Army Central Identification Laboratory (USACIL) located on Hickham Air Force Base, HI. The USACIL is a DOD agency responsible for conducting worldwide Prisoner of War (POW) and Missing In Action (MIA) search and recovery missions. Personnel assigned to this organization travel throughout the year to various countries (ranging from North Korea, Papua New Guinea, Kwajalein Atoll(Marshall Islands) and Vietnam). In these locations, CILIP search for fallen Americans resulting from conflicts overseas.

Cadets assigned to this internship work exclusively under the direct supervision of an active-duty officer, who is branched qualified in Quarter Master. Cadets travel with a specialized POW/MIA team to one of the following locations: Republic of Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, or Papua New Guinea. Here, cadets conduct a scientific excavation (Recovery) of selected sites believed to hold the remains of missing US personnel. Supervision during the internship may be a senior O-3 (USA, USN, USMC or USAF) and an anthropologist.

The Chaplainry Internship Program (CHIP) is for MS III’s interested in pursuing an academic delay to become an Army Chaplain.

Engineering Internships are hosted by the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and Directorates of Public Works at select Army installations. Cadets assigned to this internship will work exclusively in an engineering capacity under the direct supervision of an engineer. The majority of the engineering internships are not co-located on a military installation. Cadets must be enrolled in an Aerospace, Civil, Electrical, Environmental, Mechanical, or Structural Engineering degree. Cadets must have a desire to branch into the Engineers (EN) and pursue becoming a part of the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). Engineering internships are located across the U.S. and at overseas locations with the USACE.

Albuquerque, NM | Ayer, MA |  Dallas, TX | Honolulu, HI | Los Angeles, CA| New Orleans, LA | Panama City, FL | St Louis, MO | Tacoma, WA | Tampa, FL

The HFPAIP provides the cadet with experience in intensive project management. Cadets experience the medical/research aspects of various medical and research projects throughout the world. In this internship, cadets analyze health-care facility requirements in relation to the AMEDD Health Facility Life Cycle Management process. This analysis is used to determine the most economical facility solution. The cadet coordinates with Medical/Dental Treatment, Veterinary, or Research Facilities, US Army Corps of Engineers, Army Directorate of Public Works, Architect/Engineering Firms and other activities and contractors to ensure the facility will meet required standards and objectives.

Cadets work under the supervision and direction of the Chief, Project Integration Branch. Cadets selected for this internship must meet the general internship prerequisites and specific requirements for each internship position. Historically internships have been available at Ft. Wainwright, AK, Schofield Barracks, HI, Washington, DC, South Korea, and Falls Church, VA. Interested Cadets must:

  • Be enrolled in any of the engineering fields (mechanical engineering, civil engineering, electrical engineering, biomedical engineering, etc., or architecture)
  • Have an interest in any one of the following areas: health facilities planning, construction, design, planning and programming, or project integration
  • Have a desire to be commissioned to the AMEDD

The Judge Advocate General Internship Program (JAPIP) is for MSL IIIs interested in pursuing an academic delay to become an Army lawyer. Interns will be assigned to positions with Staff Judge Advocates (SJA) at legal offices throughout the Army.