Training tomorrow’s soldiers: ROTC students get hands-on experience in service

JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska (KTUU) - Reserve Officer Training Corp (ROTC) cadets with the University of Alaska got a hands-on lesson in active-duty military training during a biannual operational partnership between the institution, the U.S. Army and the Alaska Army National Guard (AKARNG).

Students from both Fairbanks and Anchorage ROTC programs teamed up for the fall program known as Operation Eagle Claw.

National Guard Maj. Jessi Fernandez, the assistant professor of military science for UAA’s ROTC program, said the goal of the field training exercise — which happens once in the spring and again in the fall — is to get students familiar with basic soldier skills.

“You have cadets here who have just graduated high school and they’ve never worn a uniform before,” Fernandez said. “They have never shot a rifle and they’ve never done land navigation — so it’s just getting their feet wet [and] getting them familiar with the tasks.”

The group of cadets is made up of the Nanook Battalion, with UAF as the host campus and UAA as a detachment, according to Fernandez. The five-day exercise took place on Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, where students learned land navigation and marksmanship as well as army courtesies and and customs.

Fernandez was in ROTC before enlisting and said that experience greatly shaped who she is today. It’s a full-circle moment for her to be able to teach the next generation.

“ROTC had a huge impact on me,” Fernandez said. “I want to share that with my students, and the rest of the cadets, that ROTC may be the reason why you join and it’s still the reason why [I] still serve.”

Sgt. 1st Class Nate Sandback, a military science instructor for UAA’s ROTC program and the Army National Guard, said around half of the battalion are first-year ROTC cadets, and that the program allows third and fourth-year cadets mentorship opportunities.

“This program is designed to develop leaders, and the way that we foster and develop the leadership attributes and core competencies really shines — especially in the third year,” Sandback said. “When they go to camp and you see these young men and women turn into leaders that are going to go on after that. They’re going to lead the soldiers of the next generation.”

Sandback has served 17 years in the Army and said that this program deeply aligns with his passion for training new soldiers.

It’s giving back to what his time in service gave him.

“I’m not the future of the Army anymore,” Sandback said. “It’s really passing the torch off to them, and so what makes me passionate about it is really leaving my footprint on the Army.”

Sandback said the university’s ROTC program is a great way for students to explore if a career in the military is right for them, as there is no commitment for the first two years.

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