Shots whistled through the woods opposite West Windsor fields last Friday afternoon. A light rain fell as camouflaged students in pairs laid down cover fire for each other while they advanced on the enemy position over 50 meters away.
The shots, however, were paintballs, and the large instructional notepad set up on a tripod nearby made clear the nature of this instructional "battle" fought in quiet Mercer County. The cadets of Princeton's Army ROTC program were learning the communication skills, quick breaks of running and diving and prone crawls toward trees that would keep them away from the "opposition's" fire — paintballs aimed at them by instructors and fellow cadets.
The exercise was the first of three leadership labs the program will hold this semester. In addition to teaching new cadets valuable infantry skill tactics, the lab provided a chance for older cadets to prepare and deliver short seminars — called individual skills labs — on topics such as M16 assembly and disassembly and the basics of the low crawl, high crawl and 3-second run used to advance on an enemy.
MS II Michael Taylor '05 said the paintballs added an element of realism to the exercise that had been missing in the past. "When you're shooting blanks you tend to get sloppy, but when there's projectiles flying through the air you tend to stay closer to the ground," he said.
This year's growth of the University's Tiger Battalion stems in part from a different sort of realism, last year's terrorist attacks.
More students from the Class of 2006 enrolled this fall than in recent history, a trend Lt. Col. Matthew McCarville credits both to an increased desire to serve after Sept. 11 and the Army's reinstating its full scholarship grant, which covers tuition and fees, and provides a monthly stipend and money for books.
"There's a greater sense of pride in what they're doing, a greater sense of purpose in learning skills because they really might have to use them," McCarville said. "The truth is it was always that way, but cadets don't always have that in front of them."
After graduation, cadets are commissioned as second lieutenants in the U.S. Army for at least four years of active duty in one of 18 fields, followed by four years of reserve duty.
The labs offer the opportunity for new cadets to learn basic military techniques, while student instructors gain valuable speaking and teaching skills and senior cadets refine management techniques essential to the leadership development at the heart of the ROTC's mission, McCarville said.
Thirty-seven University students, most on the full Army ROTC scholarship, are enrolled in the co-educational University-based program, along with a roughly equal number of students from the nearby College of New Jersey.
The program comprises a weekly military leadership seminar, up to three hours long for upper class cadets, and regular physical training. In addition to the three leadership labs, the cadets participate in one weekend of overnight field exercises each semester. The University awards no course credit for the program.
Cadet Major Pete Hegseth '03 — who had the idea of adding live-fire paintballs to the lab — emphasized the flexibility of the program as crucial to its success. More than a third of the cadets play a varsity sport, and most are also heavily involved in other University activities.
A variety of reasons compel students to join. Many have parents who served in the military, and for some, the full scholarship provides an incentive.
McCarville said, however, that students who stay with the program are motivated by more than money.
For Hegseth it was the simple desire to serve his country, along with the leadership opportunities given to junior officers in the Army right after graduation.
"How much more responsibility can you have coming out of school . . . [than] leading 45 people in combat?" Hegseth said.
Student Battalion Commander K.C. McWatters '03 said she enjoys the challenge of leadership under adversity. "It's not like being a leader in the corporate world, but about stripping away all the physical comforts and see[ing] what you've got," she said.
Back at the Armory in the late afternoon, the cadets — many of whose BDUs, battle dress uniforms, were splotched with purple paint — formed up in ranks for an "after action review," during which McWatters elicited suggestions for making improvements for the the future.
The cadets made a few practical suggestions, but most agreed that the day's activities were "all around awesome."
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