21-April-2008
The Company just took our record Army Physical Fitness Test this morning...achieved a 310 average with Cadet Dagg scoring a 371
17-April-2008
6-1! Time for the 2nd Round of the play-offs
10-April-2008
5-1! YEE-HAW!
05-April-2008
We just got back from our wet, cold, and fantastically enjoyable field training. Click here for some photos.
03-April-2008
4-0! What now, SON?!
01-April-2008
Our Volleyball team is now 3-0.
17-March-2008
The ROTC Volleyball team is still undefeated, going 2-0 tonight. A good time we had. Army Reserve SGT Braswell made some excellent saves. Props to you.
15-March-2008
Tonight we celebrated in style in the auspicious setting of the 66th annual Military Ball at Olean’s premier banquet center! With a live band, delicious cuisine, record attendance, and a performance by Houghton’s own string quartet, tonight’s Military Ball was a truly spectacular event. The night began with a social hour at 5:30, where we rubbed shoulders with military veterans, current officers, civilians, Seneca Battalion cadre and even a few generals. Service by the Premier Banquet staff was impeccable, with a diverse array of appetizers and hors d’oeuvres- from usual fare of cheese and crackers to extravagant delicacies such as watercress wrapped in bacon. After an hour of sampling the snacks and socializing, we entered the ornamented opulence of the Banquet Center. All 419 guests took their seats and listened to a brief set of remarks, formal toasts, Military Ball history, and watched a video presentation made by Michelle Trietley, wife of outgoing Professor of Military Science, Richard Trietley Jr. The video highlighted Lieutenant Colonel Trietley’s many years of incredible service to ROTC and St. Bonaventure, beginning with his years as a cadet and ending with his current post of Professor of Military Science. The video was greeted with a standing ovation by all present, which would have continued for several minutes, but Trietley, graciously accepting our accolades, signaled for the applause to stop so that dinner could be served.
The dinner, in harmony with the historic nature of tonight’s ball, surpassed even previous years, with succulent steak, carved chicken, and perfect pasta. Everyone relished the selection, and relaxed over cake and the speech by Colonel Farley. With the conclusion of Colonel Farley’s remarks, and the retirement of the colors, the formal ceremony of the Military Ball ended and the dancing began. Senior cadets entered the dance floor through the saber arch and swayed to their song, “I Hope You Dance.” Several songs later they were joined by a massive crowd of other cadets and their dates, dancing to the live music of the band. As usual we shattered any stereotype that Houghton students can’t dance, and we moved for several hours to songs from the Electric Slide to Shake it Up Baby (and even a few slow songs ;).
At 1:00 the dancing ended and we filed out to make the long drive back to Houghton. We were honored to commemorate both LTC Trietley and the Senior Cadets, and they will be sorely missed next year. Though the ball was over, the food, fun and fellowship left indelible memories of a truly spectacular Military Ball.
15-March-2008
The ROTC weekend started with a bang. The Awards Ceremony was a successful event, where Houghton was represented soundly by cadets Adams, Allen, Dagg, Geist, Groen, Pember, Williams, and Wise. The ceremony recognized the great achievements of the cadets in our battalion. Some of the awards included but were not limited to leadership, motivation, Esprit de Corps, scholastic achievement, and much more. After two rehearsals, the final ceremony went off with no glitches and was a resounding success. Following the awards was the induction ceremony for four new St. Bonaventure Army ROTC Hall of Fame members. COL Lois Morales (Class of '82), COL(R) David Hazen ('63), LTC(R) Thomas Kane ('80), and LTC(R) Jim Dirisio ('86) were the inductees. Overall the weekend started off with the wonderful ceremony where Houghton cleaned up.
12-March-2008
UPDATE: We WON! We crushed the first game out of 3 by beating the other team 25-15. The next round we came back from a 12-0 lag and lost in "overtime" by the 2 point rule. We won the third game, winning the series. HOOAH!
----Tonight is our first game as a "ROTC" volleyball team. Wish us luck. We're playing at 2215.
11-March-2008
Tonight we met at 2030 and had Class A inspections for Saturday's Awards Ceremony and Military Ball. The main reason we met though, was for Night Land Navigation Training. This was the first time some of our cadets had been out at night with no lights and just a compass, a map, and their pace count. We occupied the Ski Hill Hut by force and held it until 0200, Wednesday morning. Suffering no casualties and enjoying ourselves immensely, all teams that traversed the course came back with successes. The Ski Hut made an amazing TOC and everyone enjoyed the coffee, donuts, hot chocolate, tea, water, MREs, and even broccoli/corn-cheddar soup that Groen whipped up. Warm, spacious, well-lit and equipped with laptops, iPods and docks, and tons of other luxuries, the D Co TOC was hard on the leadership indeed. Let it be known though...Cadets Dean and Wise were top scorers, finding 5 out of 5 correct points out on the course. Cadet Allen also deserve props, correctly finding 4 out of 4 in just over an hour.
09-March-2008
Tonight a bunch of cadets headed to Groen's for some Poker and Pop. It was a good time. We'll have to organize an official tourney soon.
08-March-2008
This morning at 0545, our Commander, Cadet Groen drove most of the cadets in a 12 passenger fun through the blizzard and up to Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station where we got our Military IDs issued to us and then shopped at the Base Exchange. It was a great time and we lucked out in the end, almost losing our ability to get IDs. Unfortunately, this trip cost the club $92 in gas, so we all had to pay five bucks towards the club to compensate.
06-March-2008
Hosting our 2nd bi-annual ROTC forum, our club brought Navy Ensign Officer (and Chief-of-Staff, Congressmen Randy Kuhl, NY) Bob VanWicklin and Lieutenant Colonel (R) Dr. Robert Danner to serve as panelists for a discussion on today's military and the dynamic aspects of the Army and her sister branches. fielding questions from a variety of students, faculty, and community members, the panel, moderated by Cadet Groen, conducted an interesting and lively dialogue that lasted from 2000-2200.
05-March-2008
Today was our first Squad Situational Training Exercise, or SSTX, (STX lane for short) of the semester. We conducted a movement to contact mission that had our squad leader take us out on a patrol of Devil's Back trail in Houghton and eventually led us to a frontal assault of a disoriented enemy, over-running and annihilating them (the Alfred State cadets). The combination of paintball guns, nasty weather and terrain, and fresh cadets created a fabulous training environment full of chaos, stress and leadership opportunity.
03-March-2008
Today we had our first ever Cadet Training Board at Houghton. Serving on the board was the President and voting member MSG Wofford, MSG Morales, and C/CPT Groen. Appearing before the board in Class A's were MS-II cadets Geist and Pember as well as MS-I cadet Wise. Cadets were asked a variety of questions including the soldier's and cadet creed, land navigation, Troop Leading Procedures (TLP's), rank structure, history, current events, and more. cadets were judged on the accuracy of the answers, their poise, confidence, attitude, morale, and motivation. It appears that Houghton will have a good showing at summer training this year. MS-III's Allen, Dagg, and Williams will go to DCLT, Sapper School, and Air Assault after LDAC respectively. Cadet Geist will attend Basic Airborne Training or Air Assault. Cadet Wise will also be attending summer training.