Competing for Warrior Flight

      Many things happened for the cadets of Det. 415 over the course of this week.  For PT, the members of Delta Flight faced Alpha Flight in several games of Icarus.  Though the members of Alpha flight gained the lead early and never slacked, Delta Flight was able to secure victory in a decisive showing of tactical knowledge and physical excellence.  On the next PT day, Delta Flight faced Bravo Flight in both Icarus and ultimate Frisbee.  To the shock of everyone involved, Bravo Flight was able to win consistently.  Their celebrations would be short-lived, however; Delta Flight was able to dominate Bravo Flight in several games of ultimate Frisbee that same morning.

            In AS100 class, Lieutenant Johnson briefed the freshman cadets on Air Force public relations.  Over the course of the class, Lt. Johnson covered examples of Airmen carrying out positive events for public relations (such as helping with disaster relief efforts, both foreign and domestic), and examples of how Airmen should not conduct themselves.  To illustrate incorrect behavior when on television, Lt. Johnson pointed out the flaws of Antoine Dodson and Sweet Brown’s actions when they were interviewed.

            Over the course of the week, every cadet had to face the same academic challenges they must face every week.  Though the courses each cadet is taking may differ from one another, no cadet was spared from having to complete seemingly endless hours of lectures, discussions, homework, and studying.  However, it was not all work and no play, at least for one particular group of freshman cadets.  The movie Interstellar had released and Cadet Weingartener, Cadet Warren, Cadet Gassie, Cadet Harris, and I decided to see it together.  After nearly losing our way to the theater (all while being directed by Cadet Gassie…), we were eventually able to make our way to our seats and proceeded to be mesmerized by the beautiful, albeit highly confusing, work of director Christopher Nolan.  Though some cadets were reduced to tears by the movie, every cadet in attendance agreed that the movie was outstanding in the end.

            In Gopher Football, Cadet Hubbard and I carried out flag detail for the American flag prior to the game.  Despite being our first time conducting the detail, the whole process went off without a hitch.  The American and POW flags were raised with dignity at the appropriate time and neither touched the ground at any point.  Sadly, this marked the high point in the game, as the Gophers were unable to secure a victory against the Buckeyes, leaving every cadet and Gopher fan in attendance highly disappointed.

-Cadet Pederson 

Retreat

The week began with an eventful, and stressful, Lead Lab. It was the 100’s first glimpse at outdoor marching and it showed us the importance of fully being able to perform the commands we have been learning all semester. The destination of our outdoor excursion was to Williams Arena where a Retreat ceremony was to be practiced. Retreat is the act of taking down the flag. Our nation’s colors flying in the wind and surrounded by our fellow wingmen reminded many of us of why we are in ROTC. Once we had completed Retreat and successfully marched back, Lead Lab continued with a lively game of Battle Ship. Battle Ship consists of flights marching around the gym while trying to run into other flights in column formation. This turned into a hectic event, which resulted in recitation of Warrior knowledge. Lead Lab ended with a GMC discussion about our views on the detachment and the usual announcements. In this time, we were reminded through a motivational brief that the Air Force requires 100% effort every day, and anything less will not be enough.

PT this week took a fun turn now that the FA has been completed. Tuesday morning the detachment’s morale was boosted and cadet bonding was strengthened. This was aided by a pancake breakfast, compliments of the POC and MWR flight. The intake of calories rather than the burning off at PT was a well-earned break. The following PT session brought the GMC more competition, specifically for Warrior Flight. They competed in a game of Ultimate Frisbee and Icarus (a game designed for the Air Force, but similar to dodgeball).

Last, but not least, Color Guard presented wonderfully at the Gophers VS Hawkeyes Game, which is good considering it was Military Appreciation Day at the stadium. The Gophers also beat the Hawkeyes 51-14.

-Cadet Weingartner

  (JMAC)-

JMAC!

Another busy week at Detachment 415 started off with Lead Lab. During lead lab there was a corps-wide open ranks inspection (ORI), as well as time for squadron marching. The 100’s were put into some intense leadership roles and they rose to the occasion. As always, there was a warrior knowledge review, the phonetic alphabet, and a briefing by the Wing Commander, Cadet Wachter, about Movember. Several cadets will be growing out their mustaches in order to raise awareness for men’s health.

            Then came the moment we had been training for all year, the FA (fitness assessment)!  Overall, Detachment 415 put up very impressive test scores, including several cadets maxing the push-ups, sit-ups and mile and a half run. It was a very motivating and rewarding time to see the improvement we had been training all semester for.

            To cap off the week the detachment participated in JMAC, the Joint Military Athletic Competition, with the other branches here at the University of Minnesota. The Air Force made a clean sweep of Army and Navy in both football and basketball. The 4x400 and warrior relay teams both posted good times but just fell short, taking second place. The Ultimate Frisbee team showed a valiant effort, but couldn’t quite connect the dots to defeat the Navy.  After the scores were calculated the competition was a tie between Air Force and Navy. This meant one thing, TUG OF WAR!! Both teams lined up and pulled for what seemed like an extremely long amount of time. Sadly, the Air Force cadets were bested by the midshipman. The whole day was an extremely fun experience and gave us motivation to get the trophy back next year!

            Next week holds many new exciting challenges and opportunities to look forward to, so wish us luck!

-Cadet Beck