All I could think about for the rest of the day was flying planes.

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1 27 March Spring 2014 Issue 2 Air Force ROTC Detachment 780 Special points of interest: The Navigator Selections Are In! The spring is always an exciting time for Air Force ROTC, and why would 2014 be any different? This year five cadets from Detachment 780 submitted packages for rated slots to become rated officers in the world s greatest Air Force. For those unfamiliar with rated slots, here is a bit of information to get you up to speed. Rated slots consist of occupations from traditional and remote aircraft pilots (RPA) to Combat Systems Officers and Air Battle Managers which are essential in helping to accomplish the Air Force mission. Being highly competitive, cadets must earn good grades, high physical fitness scores and succeed in a variety of other statistical areas if they hope to make such dreams become a reality. To say earning such a opportunity is difficult, is an understatement. The competitive nature of earning these slots didn t stop SDSU however, which had 100% of the cadets applying earn the slot of their choosing. With four new pilot selects and one RPA select, 2014 looks to be another great year for the detachment. I couldn t think about anything else when I heard the news, recalls Adam Wietgrefe, pilot select, and business economics major from Spearfish, SD. All I could think about for the rest of the day was flying planes. Interestingly enough, four of the five cadets who received these slots were aviation majors here at SDSU. Because of their unique undergraduate pursuit, they will have more experience than their peers, and they will have the choice to move immediately to undergraduate pilot training. This is because they have already demonstrated their ability to fly a plane. One such aviation major is Cadet Brian Hershey from Westchester, PA. It feels awesome to finally accomplish a life goal, says Cadet Hershey. There is a long road of training ahead, but it s certainly a great feeling. Cadets Hershey and Wietgrefe will be joined by Cadet Aaron Ingari from North Sandwich, NH in pursuit of flying tanker and airlift aircraft. The lone fighter jet hopeful is Cadet Kody Derosier, while Cadet Colton Stanek will represent the Detachment as a RPA pilot. To say the least, we are ecstatic for these cadets. Their dedication to excellence and perseverance in their pursuits is something to truly be admired. Although they still have a year before they commission, we will continue to cheer them on and support them in the years to come. Rated Selections GMC Lead Lab Colonel Huffman Combatives Water Survival Inside this issue: Rated Selections 1 GMC Lead Lab 2 Arnie s Corner 2 Colonel Huffman 3 Combatives 3 Pictures! 4 Water Survival 5 ORI 6

2 Page 2 The Navigator If people say that we live in a time with no heroes, they should look no further than to the one proudly wearing his BDUs - President Ronald Reagan GMC Lead Lab With every semester comes opportunities to help cadets from all grade levels showcase their abilities and impress their superiors. One such opportunity for freshmen and sophomore cadets is the GMC Lead Lab. During the week of GMC Lead Lab, the GMC swap places with the upper classmen, the POC, and serve as the leadership for the Detachment. In addition to holding positions of authority the GMC Wing Staff is in charge of planning the week s lead lab. Entrusted with the position of Cadet Wing Commander was Cadet Ethan Rasmussen from Elkton, SD. Cadet Rasmussen is no stranger to leadership as he also serves as the Wing s Senior GMC Advisor, an honor bestowed on a single GMC cadet to act as the liaison between POC and GMC. It was a good taste of what the job entails, and helped to teach me about working with my staff to create the best possible lab, says Cadet Rasmussen. They [the staff] did a great job and put in a lot of hard work to make my first experience with GMC Lead Lab such a success. To say the least it was definitely one of the most unique labs we had to date. To start off the lab USAA sent a representative to help teach the cadets about proper financial planning. While not necessarily being the most enticing topic to discuss on a Thursday afternoon, our speaker was engaging and provided a lot of helpful information in regards to being a financially responsible adult and officer. When the presentation was concluded the GMC wing staff were swift in getting us to the climax of the lead lab, the campus wide scavenger hunt! With any sort of position there will always be conflict, and this was no different. You just have to learn to deal with it and move on. recalls Cadet Rasmussen. His ability to manage conflict was certainly tested, as mother nature began to work against the cadets. By the time each squadron had finished the scavenger hunt, the temperature was well below zero degrees. In defiance against the cold temps, our cadets demonstrated high motivation and resiliency as each squadron finished the hunt within minutes of each other. Due to the environment Cadet Rasmussen proclaimed an informal dismissal and concluded another great GMC lead lab. If you are even remotely interested in participating in GMC lead lab, just do it! It is a great opportunity to learn what your future will potentially look like, you build your leadership skills and separate yourself from your peers. Don t let anything hold you back. And as he said, so he did separate himself from his peers with an outstanding lead lab. We here from the Public Affairs staff would like to extend a congratulations to Cadet Rasmussen and the other members of the GMC wing staff for setting the bar high, and continuing a tradition of outstanding GMC lead labs! Arnies Corner - Cadet Erickson Have an idea for an article? Get featured in next month s Navigator or your idea to the Public Affairs Officer, Cadet Erickson In our last edition we highlighted a great extracurricular opportunity for cadets to participate in known as Arnold Air Society. Since then, SDSU s own Bernie V. Guthrie squadron has been doing an outstanding job both in our area and nationally. Currently BVG ranks first in total service hours (815) and joint national project hours (240) in the seven state area, which has set us far apart from the competition. This success is due in large part to the efforts put forth by AAS Commander Cadet Brian Hershey and his staff to ensure that our tiny college earns a big reputation on the national level. The cadets are hoping that the hard work translates into success via awards at this years National Conclave (NATCON) which is being held in Washington, D.C. One thing is for certain, awards or not, Bernie V. Guthrie has brought plenty of recognition to our school and the great state of South Dakota.

3 Page 3 Region Commander Makes Vis it to SDSU -Cadets Ericks on and Hans en Earlier this month Northwest Region Commander Colonel Paul E. Huffman made his annual visit to Detachment 780. Although his schedule was quite packed, he still managed to take the time and sit down with our cadets and answer a few questions we had for him. Growing up in the great state of Pennsylvania, Colonel Huffman earned his undergraduate in Aeronautical Engineering and commissioning from the United States Air Force Academy in He cites graduation as one of his favorite memories. Upon commissioning, Colonel Huffman began a prosperous career as a fighter pilot, garnering over 3700 flight hours and earning the rating of a command pilot. Like many of his fellow fighter pilots, the best part of the job is flying fast! quite a busy job. Despite this, he still manages to find a great deal of positives in the position. When I do travel around, I love seeing all the Detachments, and the unique way each one trains the best leaders we have to offer, remarks Colonel Huffman. It makes me proud that, for as long as I have been in the Air Force we still continue to strive for excellence in all we do. To conclude his visit Colonel Huffman was able to present an award to our very own Cadet Jankowski, for being an outstanding engineering major, and join us for our water survival lead lab. War is an art and as such is not susceptible to explanation by formula. -General George S. Patton Jr. Being that the Northwest Region is the best in the country, being its commander can be Combatives: Train Today, Live Tomorrow From cadets who have gone to Field Training, it is not uncommon to hear that one of the more difficult training sessions was that of combatives. The rigors of hand-to-hand combat can certainly be quite a challenge for those who are inexperienced. But here at Detachment 780, we are working to make sure our cadets are ready to live tomorrow by training today. The combatives program was the brainchild of former cadet, now pilot trainee, Second Lieutenant Tyler Johnson, previously an instructor down at Field Training, and Cadet Travis Charfauros, now a retired CTA. The intent was to prepare the current class of AS300s to be the best they could be prior to attending training. Since its conception the combatives program has become an opportunity for cadets to learn different martial arts styles in association with the traditional combatives training you would learn from instructors like Lieutenant Johnson. Offered three days a week, cadets of all age groups attend in an effort to gain valuable experience for their Air Force careers. It is a lot of fun seeing how the program has grown, and how much some of the cadets have improved since joining the program, says Cadet Charfauros, one of the current combatives program supervisors. It s also nice to see the different styles of martial arts other cadets are experienced in to learn things you don t normally have the opportunity to learn. Cadet Charfauros is joined by Cadet Rice as the lead team in training our cadets, while some POC offer to teach new ways of fighting as well. With styles such as Tae Kwon Doe, Brazilian Ju Jitsu, Judo and Karate, combatives is a great place to gain valuable experience. For those interested in the program, you can talk to either of the supervisors or pop in Tuesdays, Wednesdays or Thursdays, 2000 at the HPER center to check it out. We hope to see you soon!

4 Page 4 Pictures!

5 Page 5 Spring 2014 Issue 2 Water Survival Lead Lab One of the never-ending missions of the Cadet Wing Staff is to provide fun yet relevant training for our Leadership Labs. One such Lead Lab the Wing Staff uses to stay ahead of the game is the annual water survival lab. The establishment of this lab came with the addition of Captain Beaudoin to our cadre last year. During his tenure at the Air Force Academy, Captain Beaudoin had the opportunity to participate in additional water survival training. He now has the opportunity to teach cadets a thing or two about staying afloat! To start off the lab, Captain Beaudoin had Water Survival Pictures the cadets attempt to swim 25m underwater without surfacing. While most cadets managed to make it about 10m, there were a few standouts who had no trouble accomplishing the task. Afterwards, cadets were asked to try different water treading and floating styles to help preserve their energy. While it certainly proved to be a challenge for an extended period of time, cadets did an outstanding job showing endurance and perseverance to stay in the middle of the pool and staying away from the edge. But it was certainly the second to last item that Captain Beaudoin taught that was the crowd favorite. Clothes inflation proved to be without a doubt the most entertaining of all the events. Helping cadets to stay afloat by using their shirts as makeshift life preservers. Many laughs were shared during this portion of the lab, and was a great conclusion to practical training. A huge thank you is extended to Captain Beaudoin for providing us the unique training experience. We hope to continue such an exciting opportunity in the future, and I know it will be a great asset for the Wing Staff to use when trying to make each semester better than the last. Monthly Warrior Knowledge Air Force Vision 2020: Global Vigilance Reach And Power

6 Open Ranks Inspection: Looking Sharp, Cadets! Detachment 780 Each semester, cadets prepare their uniforms for the Open Ranks Inspection (ORI) to bring a literal sense to Dress for Success. Cadets are rated in areas including uniform appearance and grooming standards to earn high scores up to 50 points. Achieving high scores help bring glory to both the individual cadet and the squadron they are in too. Upcoming Events Cadet Bierschbach tells Cadet Carr that Delta Flight is ready for inspection! Field Training Selections Warrior Weekend Governor s Day Colonel Huffman (left) presents Cadet Jankowski with a prestigious cadet engineering award. Public Affairs Officer C/1 Lt Jordan Erickson Public Affairs Staff C/4C Brooke Anderson C/4C Joshuah Hansen C/4C Mitchell Williams Cadet Williams being a great wingman during the ORI inspec- Detachment 780! Cadets attempt to re-create Ellen s famous Oscar photo! Questions? Concerns? Rude Remarks? Compliments? Suggestions? Contact: C/1Lt Erickson jordan.erickson@jacks.sdstate.edu Quote of the Month Leadership is the capacity to translate vision into reality. - Warren Bennis US Air Force: Not Even the Sky is the Limit