The University of New Hampshire ROTC is preparing for its biggest training of the semester, and for this class’s final, the last thing one would want to forget is to prepare.
“It’s going to be intense and they’re going to get frustrated, but we want to see how they react,” said Lt. Col. Paul Webber, Professor of Military Science. “But they have seen all of this before. Now, it’ll be taking what they’ve learned and applying it to real combat situations.”
Although Webber said all of the training the ROTC does throughout the year is created to be as real as possible, Friday’s training will take place at a commercial paintball facility and will include the use of paintball guns in order to simulate enemy and return fire. The training, which is being held at OSG Paintball in Center Barnstead, N.H., will place cadets in challenging scenarios ranging from mock improvised explosive devices and prisoner of wars to snipers and civilians, all while dealing with challenging leadership situations, like making sure everyone’s accounted for.
The training scenarios, which were created by the ROTC seniors, include three separate missions that will be carried out by three different platoons of cadets. Junior ROTC members act as the officers, taking charge of the sophomore and freshman cadets.
“It’s one of the more memorable trainings,” said senior Kevin Park, who said for the past three years the training was held at an abandoned prison in Bousquin, N.H. “They’re going to have to act quick on their feet and adapt to overcome.”
And although the large, end of the year training is usually fun for cadets, it’s important they’re learning, said Webber, who has been in the Army for 22 years.
“We’re in a serious business,” said Webber, who said Friday’s training would include 100 ROTC members. “Most of these cadets will go on to combat and they need to know how to get all of their men back safe. I get concerned when they think it’s all fun, and they think it’s a game.”
In order to keep training as contemporary and relevant as possible, the Army rotates in combat veterans to help explain and set up missions related to the two wars going on now.
“We want to get through to them what’s current but also what’s basic, like leadership abilities and knowing where everyone is,” said Webber. “We practice tactics being used in Iraq and Afghanistan. There’s always a realism to our training.”
After Friday’s training the Army ROTC will have one lab left for the semester - a battalion-training event on Dec. 4, which will include water-related exercises.
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