Cadets from the Gustavus ROTC program engaged in a weekend of military operations and leadership training alongside other Minnesota-college battalions at Camp Ripley.
Ten Gusties departed campus early the morning of Fri., April 21. Picked up and transported by bus, they accompanied over 50 other Cadets from Minnesota State University, Mankato, and Bethany Lutheran College. Together the three colleges form the Maverick Battalion.
Driving three hours north they reached Camp Ripley. The 53,000-acre training facility stands outside of Little Falls, bordering the Mississippi River. The grounds are utilized by the National Guard, Minnesota State Patrol, Department of Natural Resources, foreign exchange programs, and other military units.
The Maverick Battalion was dropped off at barracks 7-133 in the center of the cantonment. Exiting the bus, Cadets retrieved their rucksacks, assault packs, Kevlar helmets and other necessities from the lower storage compartments.
They formed into a line on the grass and were each assigned their personal weapon — mock rifles, known as “rubber ducks” — for which they would be responsible for the next three days.
The Cadets were joined by two other ROTC battalions: the Golden Gopher Battalion, composed of the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, with 16 affiliated metro-area schools; and the Fighting Saints Battalion, composed of St. Cloud State University, the College of St. Benedict, and St. John’s University.
After signing in, first-year and sophomore Cadets, referred to as MS1’s and MS2’s (Military Science, first-years are 1’s, seniors become 4’s) were directed behind the building to be assembled.
They produced three platoons from the intermingled battalions; each platoon consisted of around 30 Cadets and was then further divided into squads and teams.
Individuals were selected to lead each platoon, squad, and team, and these assignments were changed multiple times throughout the weekend.
“Everyone gets repetitions of being a leader in front of Cadets, leading platoon tactics, and practicing their organizational skills and speaking,” MS4 Dave Brazel said.
While some Cadets have prior military service in either the National Guard or Reserves, most MS1’s and MS2’s have no military experience upon entering the ROTC program are immediately placed in leadership positions in order to “orient them to Army values and basic warrior tasks,” Brazel said.
Around noon the Cadets were given time for lunch — the staple food source for them while in the field were MRE’s (Meals Ready to Eat, plastic-packaged rations of one full meal).
The platoons then filed line-after-line onto white and blue buses, front-loading their rucksacks, wedging two Cadets per seat.
From the barracks they were transported away from the major buildings, traveling northwest toward a collection of lakes. The road turned to dirt as they passed numerous tactical vehicles and gun ranges, the thuds of ammunition-fire becoming less distant.
Cadets filtered out of the busses at a grassy opening, walking past the only two structures: a small set of silver bleachers and a low-built windowed shelter.
After forming back into platoons, the Cadets topped off their water canteens and were outfitted with a compass, protractor, and grid map of the wooded vicinity; they were to be first tested on their capability of land navigation.
The Cadets gathered around a large diagram of sticks and colored strings built on the ground, a portrayal of the maps they held. They received instructions, expectations, and emergency procedures for their mission.
In less than three hours they were to locate seven marked coordinates. Before embarking, Cadets plotted their assigned points and route — their pace count would be their only available measurement while traversing through dense forest, debris, marshland, and around the occasional lake.
At the beginning of the school year Cadets are enrolled in military science classes in addition to their physical and field training.
“That’s where we go over the concepts of everything, and one of the first things we did was learn land navigation,” MS1 Nate Williamson said.
Class duration and level increases through the years, and “the instructors are increasingly higher-ranked as you go along,” said Williamson, “the freshman instructor is a Sergeant First Class, sophomore and junior year there are Captains teaching, and Lieutenant Colonels and Majors teach the seniors.”
Once each Cadet had returned from the excursion, the busses returned to haul them toward their dinner. After the meal they returned back to the training site; their next mission would be a replica of the afternoon’s, but without the sun’s light or warmth. Cadets donned gloves, reflective straps, eye protection and red headlights.
They plotted their new routes and waited intentionally for dark skies.
After emerging successfully out of the forest for the second time, Cadets set up their sleeping arrangements next to their rucksacks, still in formation. Bivouacs were made under starlight, the temperature slowly receding.
They slept on whatever they were willing to carry — for many it was a simple sleeping bag, others unfolded inflatable mats, and a few determined Cadets unpacked their shallow tent. One platoon was made responsible for fire guard, remaining alert and watchful for possible enemy contact.
5:00AM surfaced abruptly. A thin frost clung to their bedding and boots as Cadets moved to the outskirts of the encampment to brush teeth and shave in the still-dark morning.
They gathered all of their equipment and again boarded busses that drove them to breakfast. A few hours later, the Cadets stood in platoons as the sun’s rays eventually overtook the treeline and began to warm their backs. T
hey began a march down a wide dirt road, moving forward in even lines that straddled both sides, heading toward a new site.
They established themselves at an expansive, open, and uneven field. Their objective that morning was to practice Individual Movement Techniques: low and high crawls, establishing fire superiority and providing cover fire.
These drills fed into larger squad formations and methods as they learned about the placement of personnel and guns, positional responsibilities and group movement. They later put their skills to use as they practiced clearing and occupying rally points and reacting to ambushes.
MS3’s spent the majority of the weekend becoming completely familiar and consistent with squad and platoon tactics. Many of them will be heading to specific camps during the summer, and their missions at Camp Ripley were intended to prepare them for that.
MS3 Micah Bergstrom said that many of their missions involved “establishing a patrol base, which is something we’ll end up doing a lot at Advanced camp…it’s a good mission because it’s very practical and there are multiple steps and people to work with.”
MS4’s and the cadre of officers were responsible for planning and coordinating every aspect of the weekend’s training. The main Tactical Operations Center (TOC) was headquartered closely off a rough dirt path that stretched through a wooded rise.
It was a large tent, propped up by metal beams and pegged rope; several red multi-gallon gas tanks sat to one side, fueling the constant buzz of the generator. Fold-out tables bordered the interior and were covered with laptops, printers, radios, chargers and lights.
Posters of schedules, weather expectations, contingency plans, radio frequencies, and group assignments hung from the sides.
No less than a dozen Cadets were crammed into the TOC at all times. They were kept busy with transmitting information, maneuvering medical trucks, transporting water and recording the whereabouts of everyone in the field.
It was constant occupation, remaining manned day and night until all operations were completed on Sunday.