ROTC trains at Freeman Ranch

Nov 10 2009 - 1:06am | Megan Holt

The sounds of simulated gunfire drifted through the trees as the Texas State Reserve Officer Training Corps ambushed the enemy bunker.

“This is our fall field-training exercise,” said Jake Wright, Battalion Commander and criminal justice graduate student. “We send them through eight total drills this weekend. Each tactic focuses on a different aspect of battle.”

Approximately 60 ROTC cadets practiced field-training exercises last weekend at Freeman Ranch.

Wright said the ROTC field trains once in the fall and twice in the spring. Seniors assess cadets on how they make decisions and conduct themselves during the simulated battles.

“We’ve been coming to Freeman Ranch for many years,” Wright said. “It’s nice to have this facility available to us because other universities have to reserve training areas at bases. We are able to train right here at home.”

Wright said cadets carry dummy rifles, or rubber guns and practice different exercises from bunker ambush to recon. Guns filled with compressed propane and air are used to simulate machine guns. 

 Chantelle Allen, cadet and family and child development senior, said cadets also go Camp Swift in Bastrop for land navigation training.

“We are working with people we aren’t used to in Bastrop,” Allen said. “It’s a stressor, but a good stressor. In this job, we will be picking up and moving every three years. We will have to get used to meeting new people.”

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