ROADRUNNER BATTALION SPRING 2017, VOL 1 MESSAGE FROM OUR C/BC Since the start of the Spring Semester, the Roadrunner Battalion has hit the ground running. Our hard work from last semester has carried over to the first half of this semester and put us in an advantageous position to begin training for the immediate mission before our Cadets; Advanced Camp in Ft. Knox, KY. Since January, we have trained primarily tactical movements and battle drills. Soon, we will have a 12-hour training event, which will test our Cadets on their day and night time land navigation skills as well as tactical competency. The progress of the Roadrunner Battalion, at the individual level, has occurred throughout all the ranks, MSI s-msiv s. As a whole, this organization has come leaps and bounds, not only since I came here in 2013, but even just since the start of this Spring Semester. UPCOMING EVENTS Air Assault President s Cup GAFPB Alamo Half Marathon Ranger Buddy FTX APFT Military Ball COMING SOON FB Sweepstakes Announcement New Battalion Coin UTSA Army ROTC Recruiting Video Spring Commissioning Ceremony I look forward to seeing you all throughout our training. Roadrunners Lead The Way! C/BC Wesley Greene MESSAGE FROM OUR C/CSM I am a firm believer in the quote Life is 10 % what happens and 90% your actions. In the 10% you will encounter many obstacles, there s not much you can do about that. However, if you focus on the 90% you will develop ways to adapt and overcome adversity, become more resilient, turn your weaknesses into strengths, and better yourselves daily as a leader. I encourage you to utilize every single day to influence those to the left and right of you to achieve higher and simply do more. Take pride in our organization and put your best foot forward every day. Now go forth and do great things. Roadrunners Lead The Way! Rowdy 7 Out! SCHOLARSHIPS Ed Rachal Foundation Scholarship Ask instructor SUMMER TRAINING Basic Camp (selected MSIs & MSIIs) Advanced Camp (ALL MSIIIs) Air Assault Training (selected Cadets) Airborne Training (selected Cadets) Project GO (CDT Yu) CULP (CDT Martinez, CDT Ibarra, CDT Garcia & CDT Salazar) Pre-Combat Diver Qualification (CDT Parent) CTLT (CDT Gonzalez, CDT Ibarra, CDT Williams, CDT Dewberry, CDT Medrano, CDT Cabello) C/CSM Josh White Battalion Commander: Wesley Greene Command Sergeant Major: Josh White Battalion XO: Marisol Sandalo 1
MESSAGE FROM OUR PMS & SMI Roadrunner Battalion Cadets, Alumni, and Friends: We are off to a great start this semester, as we continue to prepare our Cadets to enter the Army as Second Lieutenants and lead our next generation of Soldiers. The Cadets are training hard, and gearing up for several training events in the coming months. As I write this, we have Cadets preparing to go to Normandy for a Battle Staff Ride over spring break; Bataan team is making final preparations for the Bataan Memorial Death March in a few weeks; we have seven Cadets preparing to go to Air Assault School mid- March; 18 Cadets are training to compete for the German Armed Forces Proficiency Badge in April; our Color Guard team continues to represent the program well with multiple events in the coming weeks; and our Ranger Challenge team is finalizing for their roster for the Ranger Buddy competition in a few months. Busy times! As the Cadets return from spring break, we will focus our attention toward finalizing preparations for Basic and Advanced Camps, with multiple training events planned for the battalion. Our Cadets will be tested mentally and physically this summer, but I know that they are up to the challenge. Aside from the summer training at Fort Knox, we will also have several Cadets conducting Cultural Understanding and Language Proficiency (CULP) training overseas this summer. We are confident that they will be successful. I would also like to take the time to welcome new Cadre, and congratulate a few others on some tremendous accomplishments. This month we welcomed CPT Glen Walker to the team. Glen is an engineer officer, and is excited to get started training and mentoring our Cadets. Congratulations to CPT Nicole Amstutz, who was recently selected for promotion to Major. Outstanding job! And lastly, our SMI, MSG Mario Giron, was selected to attend the Sergeants Major Academy, a tremendous honor and highlight of his outstanding career. Well done! To close, I'd like to recognize our upcoming and recent commissionees. In December, we commissioned 2LT Johnson, Jeremiah (Medical Service Corps) and 2LT Johnson, Johnathan (Engineer) into the Active Duty. Very rewarding to see the culmination of all of their hard work. On May 12th, we are set to commission 16 officers and send them on their way to the next chapter of their career. I hope to see many of you there. Thank you for all of your support and dedication. Go Roadrunners! Major Chris Stelle & Master Sergeant Mario Giron 2
CADRE Congratulations CPT Nicole Amstutz who was recently selected for promotion to Major RECRUITING TEAM Congratulations MSG Mario Giron, SMI and MSII Instructor, MSG Mario Giron, was selected to attend the Sergeants Major Academy Working with Mr. Kellogg, the Recruiting Operations Officer, our recruiting team has successfully 3 completed many recruitment events around campus and the San Antonio area.
CADET SPOTLIGHTS Project Global Officer (GO)Cadet Alan Yu (MSII) will represent the UTSA ROTC Roadrunner Battalion this summer by spending 60 days in Beijing, China. Fall Cadet of the Semester George C. Marshall Award Congratulations to Cadet Blaine Fox for receiving the George C. Marshall Award CDT Alegado (MSIII) has been involved in ROTC since her freshman year of college. This Fall, she exceeded in her duties as Assistant S3, Athletic AOIC, GI Janes AOIC, and Color Guard AOIC (now OIC). She competed in the Battalion's Ranger Challenge Team and has volunteered for countless events. Congratulations to Cadet Kristin Alegado! SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENTS Military Officers Association of America Scholarship (MOAA) Cadet Ana Frederick and Cadet Marcus Dewberry Congratulations to Cadet Destinee Garcia for receiving the Society of American Military Engineers Scholarship! Congratulations to Cadet Wesley Greene for receiving the San Antonio Ed Whitacre Scholarship! 4
CADET SPOTLIGHT HIGHEST APFT Cadet Jose Michel (MSIII) achieved the highest APFT score this semester, with a 334. CULP These four cadets were selected to represent the UTSA Roadrunner Battalion overseas this summer. Pictured above are CDT Jesus Martinez (Brazil), CDT Andrea Ibarra (Guatemala), CDT Destinee Garcia (Mongolia) and CDT Daniel Salazar (Tanzania). They are preparing the paperwork process for their deployment overseas. Cadet Diego Cano (MSI) received a Battalion Coin from CPT Amstutz for demonstrating his leadership abilities in his class. OUR NEWEST COMMISSIONED OFFICERS Congratulations to the U.S. Army's two newest officers, 2LT Johnathan Johnson and 2LT Jeremiah Johnson. UTSA Army ROTC wishes you both the best in your future endeavors. 5
CADET SPOTLIGHT NORMANDY STAFF RIDE During spring break, five cadets were selected to attend a staff ride in Normandy, France. The group flew into France on 9MAR and returned home 14MAR. During their short time there, the cadets were immersed in practical leadership scenarios and gained valuable lessons regarding Commander's Intent and Mission Command. They were introduced to the tactics and leadership decisions by the allies and axis leaders during D-Day's Operation Overlord. The cadets were shown around Normandy by the "How2Lead" Cadre at specific places like the Omaha and Utah Beaches, The American Normandy Cemetery and Pointe Du Hoc. Cadets Alexandria Poole (MSIV), Wellington Rodrigues (MSIV), Kristin Alegado (MSIII), Joshua Adams (MSII) and Destinee Garcia (MSII) positively represented the UTSA Army ROTC battalion. BATAAN DEATH MARCH On 17MAR- 20MAR, 5 Cadets participated in the 28th annual Bataan Memorial Death March marathon in White Sands, New Mexico. The marathon honors the brave group of World War II soldiers who defended the islands of Luzon, Corregidor and the harbor defense forts of the Philippines. The 26.2-mile course through dusty and hilly desert terrain, around a small mountain, and back through the desert makes for one of the toughest races in the nation. 6
CADET SPOTLIGHT INTRAMURAL TEAMS Roadrunner Army ROTC Softball Team CDT Josh White playing Basketball with an Air Force Cadet Army ROTC Soccer Team 7
CADET SPOTLIGHT COLOR GUARD Cadets Garcia, Enate, Mendez and Buen enjoy complimentary breakfast after performing at 2017 Annual Texas Chapter Wildlife Society Meeting at the Wyndham Riverwalk Hotel on 17FEB17. Cadets Christina Enate, Marcus Dewberry, Andrea Ibarra, and Destinee Garcia support the first color guard event of the semester, the 7th Annual Wounded Veteran Golf Tournament at the JW Marriott TPC Golf Course on 16JAN17. 8
CADET SPOTLIGHT VOLUNTEERS Our Cheer Power Volunteers raised $3,000.00 for the ROTC Cadet Fund this past February. They received a Battalion Coin for their efforts. NEW ROTC WEBSITE & MOBILE APP The New Army ROTC website & Mobile App was launched this semester. It includes many updates, including a cadet portal where cadets can log in and see upcoming labs/events and most recent OPORDs. Download the UTSA Mobile App to stay update with the most update information our website. Cadets: Ask your class leader for the cadet portal username and password A special thank you to UTSA OIT for the hard and work and dedication they contributed on this innovative project. 9
SPECIAL TEAMS AIR ASSAULT TEAM Cadets Matthew Austin, Hector Landa, Connor Parent, Marisol Sandalo, Wesley Greene, Andrew Stracke and Josh White RANGER BUDDY TEAM Cadets Carlos Cabello, Hector Landa, Joshua Adams, Connor Parent and Andrew Stracke BATAAN DEATH MARCH TEAM Cadets Ashton Rouska, Dylan Thomas, Alexander Usseglio, Luis Camacho and Jack Scott 10
UTSA ROADRUNNER BATTALION Address: GSR 1.220.A.1 One UTSA Circle San Antonio, TX 78249 Phone: 210-458-5628 utsaarmyrotcs6@gmail.com ROWDY GOLD BAR NEWSLETTER EDITORS CDT Destinee Garcia CDT Amber Medrano SPRING17 S6 Team CDT Amber Medrano CDT Destinee Garcia CDT Nathaniel Ralph CDT Jack Scott CDT Wellington Rodrigues Soldiers will never follow you unless you are an inspirational leader and you find yourself setting the example at the decisive point at the decisive time. Your Soldiers will never appreciate the position you are in as an officer in charge and will never thank you until they see the results of your actions Major General Christopher Hughes 11