by Natalia Kirychuk, Student Public Relations Writer
Cedarville University’s Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) cadets will travel to West Point for the 2019 Sandhurst Competition on April 12-13. The competition will test individual and squad mastery of military skills across a rigorous 27-mile course.
A total of 49 teams will compete at the competition, representing 14 international military academies, 16 U.S. military academies, 16 ROTC programs and three U.S. service academies.
— Nate Mason
After beating all odds and winning the 7th Brigade Ranger Challenge Competition at Fort Knox, Kentucky, in November, an 11-member team of Cedarville ROTC cadets is preparing intensely for Sandhurst. The cadets have been training for five or six days each week, working on cardio and strength endurance. According to team member Andy Arreguin, a junior pre-law student from Tucson, Arizona, each team member has been putting in at least 10 hours per week extra on top of their other ROTC and academic requirements.
“Obviously we want to win the competition, but on a bigger level, we want to bring recognition to the ROTC program at Central State and Cedarville,” said Arreguin. “A lot of other programs get recognized solely because they have a large quantity of cadets, while those cadets aren’t of the highest quality. Our program is the opposite, a small quantity with a high-quality program, cadets and cadre alike. I think it’ll do the program well to get this international recognition and realize the things we are capable of.”
“Our goal is to represent the Marauder Battalion and Cedarville well by competing in a God-honoring way,” said Nate Mason, senior finance student from California, Maryland. “We would like to bring more recognition to our ROTC program by demonstrating the quality training and high-caliber cadets that we produce. Participating in extra training for the last four years hasn't been simply to compete in a cool competition like Sandhurst, but it is to prepare myself for the calling God has for me.”
The Cedarville students are part of a unit based at Central State University (CSU) which includes CSU and Wittenberg University students.
Located in southwest Ohio, Cedarville University is an accredited, Christ-centered, Baptist institution with an enrollment of 4,193 undergraduate, graduate and online students in more than 150 areas of study. Founded in 1887, Cedarville is recognized nationally for its authentic Christian community, rigorous academic programs, strong graduation and retention rates, accredited professional and health science offerings and leading student satisfaction ratings. For more information about the University, visit www.cedarville.edu.