Cadets get taste of combat

Flat against the ground with guns in hand and disappearing into the earth, cadets from UNC's Army ROTC were in their element Saturday morning.

"I love this," said junior Warren Green. "I was always the one to sit on my dad's lap and watch the war movies."

Clad in camouflaged Army fatigues and 4-pound Kevlar helmets, 38 cadets stood in formation at 0830 hours Saturday at Duke Forest, raring to begin their first strategic tactical exercises.

The training exposes cadets to the atmosphere and missions of war. It is designed specifically to place the juniors in leadership positions, preparing them for training camps they will attend this summer.

"We're making them be leaders now so they learn their strengths and weaknesses under stress," said Lt. Col. Elizabeth Agather.

At 1030 hours, cadets from one of the five squads hid among trees and grass, silently waiting to complete their first mission: ambush.

When the two enemies walked by a few minutes later, the atmosphere suddenly filled with shouts of "bang, bang, bang!" as cadets simulated gun shots.

Instead of real weapons, cadets were armed with fake guns made of high-density rubber called "rubber ducks" -- one of the few reminders that this was not real combat.

The squad then conducted the routine procedures of checking the dead for weapons and securing their surroundings after the ambush.

Cadet Tyrel Keplinger was the first of the juniors in his squad to lead a mission.

Keplinger had listened intently, rapidly taking notes of the details, as Master Sgt. Ronald Haley explained the squad's ambush mission about an hour earlier.

Building on this base, Keplinger planned the route of attack with a fellow cadet and then called his squad together.

He then pulled out laminated pink and yellow cards with words such as "objective" on them and laid them on the ground to form a map -- one of the first of many signs that the army is not always tense and drab.

"Well, we've got to have color somewhere," joked Amy Rutkowske, one of the seniors on hand to help supervise and manage the younger cadets. "Puts a little spice in our life."

During the meeting with Rutkowske and Haley after the mission, superiors evaluated the cadets' performance and pointed out minor errors.

"There are rules to the game they have to learn," Rutkowske said. "When someone is counting on you, you really have to get things done."

For the cadets, these training exercises will soon become reality -- they are required to serve at least four years of active duty after graduation.

While some cadets said they plan to make a career out of the military, others said they want to pursue other goals.

Junior Marshall Tucker said he plans to teach middle school English, and junior Nick Armstrong said he wants to pursue a career in venture capitalism.

Others cited different issues they have to take into consideration when they contemplate a military life, such as the effect it would have on their families.

But the thought of serving four years did not seem to phase some cadets, even with the war in Iraq looming over their heads.

"If anything, it makes me anxious to go," sophomore Chris Sheehan said. "You just want to get out there and help the people who are already there."

Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.