Students in the military science program at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh and other schools in its Fox Valley Army Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) Battalion welcomed a stop by three UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters at Titan Stadium Friday morning as they prepared for a fall semester field training exercise at Fort McCoy.
While many rode a bus to their weekend field training, several of the junior and senior military science students contracted as cadets with the ROTC were invited to ride the helicopters from Oshkosh to Fort McCoy. Helicopter support for the air movement exercise was provided by a National Guard aviation unit in Madison.
Cadets were split into groups and took part in a confidence course, squad tactical exercise or ranger challenge for physically elite who will be participating in a challenging three-day event next month at Fort McCoy. There was training with water courses, rappelling and medical and obstacle courses. All weekend, participants rappelled from a 55-foot tower.
The first night, cadets worked on building shelters and slept in sleeping bags outdoors. The second night was spent in barracks at Fort McCoy. Cadets woke at 5 a.m. and conducted a three-mile battalion run as a means of instilling pride in the unit.
The Fox Valley Army ROTC Battalion is composed of students from UW Oshkosh, UW-Green Bay, St. Norbert College, Marian University in Fond du Lac and Ripon College.
Learn more: