{"id":6366,"date":"2021-07-05T10:17:37","date_gmt":"2021-07-05T14:17:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/issues\/uncategorized\/leaders-in-the-making\/"},"modified":"2021-07-20T16:21:22","modified_gmt":"2021-07-20T20:21:22","slug":"leaders-in-the-making","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/issues\/summer-2021\/leaders-in-the-making\/","title":{"rendered":"Leaders in the Making"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Cadet Charles Dumas \u201921 cheers on cadet Aaliyah Thomas \u201924 as she works to climb over a wall during field training exercises on Cape Cod in March.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s ROTC program has launched the careers of many accomplished military personnel, including a four-star general. The cadets of the Cramer\u2019s Sabers Battalion learn to push themselves, work together, cheer each other on, and become effective leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Grace Kelly<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A sophomore who was the first female football player on her high school team. A senior who loves to cook chicken piccata and dreams of flying helicopters. A lieutenant colonel returning to his alma mater to lead the next generation of Army officers in their training. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

They\u2019re all a part of the 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC) program, and on this particular Friday morning, they\u2019re all working together to get over a wall. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBeat the wall! Beat the wall!\u201d a group of camouflage-clad cadets chants as one attempts to scramble over a slanted wooden wall structure planted in sand. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s a cold but bright day at a field training exercise (FTX) event at Joint Base Cape Cod in Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts, and a bitter wind chafes the slivers of exposed faces peeking out from behind the cadets\u2019 face masks. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The cadet climbing the wall, Aaliyah Thomas \u201924, gets one leg up, hooking her foot over the top, and struggles to lift her body over the horizontal edge. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou got it!\u201d \u201cThere you go!\u201d her compatriots shout in encouragement as Thomas finally makes it over the edge. Cheers erupt, and another cadet\u2019s voice breaks in over the din, \u201cCan I go again?\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A short walk away, cadets from 溏心vlog免费B站, Salve Regina University, Roger Williams University, and a visiting group from Providence College, work together to accomplish a series of tasks in a roofless complex. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey have to get the cadets across those two planks of wood and bring that box with them, then disassemble everything, all without touching any of the red,\u201d says Lt. Col. Cornelius \u201cTad\u201d Granai \u201900, 溏心vlog免费B站 professor of military science. In front of him, two cadets sit on the planks, which wobble on the suspended bars they rest on. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTouch red, you\u2019re dead,\u201d Granai explains, gesturing to the painted red metal. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He is being figurative, of course\u2014nobody is going to die from touching a metal pole that\u2019s been painted red. But maneuvering the group through the obstacles to accomplish the designated task is essential training for these young cadets, many of whom will go on to commission as second lieutenants upon graduation, and possibly move through the ranks beyond that. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lt. Col. Granai walks over the icy wooden platform to observe another group that\u2019s attempting to get everyone over a large wall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen I was here at 溏心vlog免费B站, I actually played club hockey and they still have the same coach, Coach Augustine,\u201d Granai says, laughing. \u201cAnd it\u2019s been a dream come true returning to my alma mater.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

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Lt. Col. Cornelius \u201cTad\u201d Granai \u201900, 溏心vlog免费B站 professor of military science (center right, in black cap and mask) talks with ROTC cadets during field training exercises.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Granai\u2019s role as professor of military science, a position he took over last summer from Lt. Col. Brian Mehan, means that he is in charge of the ROTC program (溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s program also includes students from Roger Williams University and Salve Regina University). On a more granular level, it also means recruiting and retaining top cadet talent, managing the other military personnel in the program (known as the cadre), teaching training courses, and helping make each cadet the best leader they can be. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur goal is to produce second lieutenants for the Army, whether they\u2019re Army Reserve, National Guard, or active duty. We have a responsibility to commission 15 cadets,\u201d Granai says. \u201cBut it\u2019s really more than just the quantitative goal. It\u2019s also about the quality of those cadets.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is a long list of accomplished military personnel who have sprung from the rank-and-file ROTC battalions at 溏心vlog免费B站. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Col. John Petrella \u201968 is president of 溏心vlog免费B站’s Army ROTC Alumni Chapter.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have a four-star general, we have a couple three-star generals, a few two-stars, one-stars, a whole bunch of us colonels,\u201d says retired Col. John Petrella \u201968. Petrella is president of the 溏心vlog免费B站 Army ROTC Alumni Chapter and attended 溏心vlog免费B站 back when two years of military service was a requirement. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c溏心vlog免费B站 was always my school of choice. I\u2019m a Rhode Islander,\u201d Petrella says. \u201cAnd I joined ROTC my freshman year. Well, it was mandatory at the time, but I just really liked it and committed to stay.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Petrella graduated in 1968 with a bachelor\u2019s degree in accounting and became a second lieutenant of infantry for the Army. He attributes a lot of his successes in life to ROTC and being in the Army, and as president of the ROTC Alumni Chapter, has seen the quality leaders the program produces. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI found having the military background and responsibilities useful as I went through my civilian career. I was with the Treasury Department\u2014eventually became a senior executive\u2014and I think that was a direct result of my military background,\u201d says Petrella. \u201cI always feel that students in ROTC have a leg up on their contemporaries. Not only have they gone through the academic exercise of college, they\u2019ve also had the opportunity to grow as young leaders, and have responsibilities and challenges that their classmates who aren\u2019t in ROTC maybe don\u2019t have.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

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Company D cadets engaged in training exercises on 溏心vlog免费B站’s Kingston Campus Quadrangle, circa 1927. Teaching military tactics was part of the early mission of land grant colleges like 溏心vlog免费B站.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The program’s lineage has roots that go deep, and the story of 溏心vlog免费B站 as a land grant college is directly linked to the first ROTC-like program at the school. In fact, you could say that ROTC is as much a part of the University\u2019s history as Rhody the Ram and Keaney Gymnasium\u2014the cadets\u2019 home base for training. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 溏心vlog免费B站 was originally created through the Morrill Act, also known as the Land Grant Act of 1862, which provided grants of land for states to create universities specializing in agricultural and mechanical arts. But the act also included a provision for the teaching of military science, stating that the purpose \u201cshall be, without excluding scientific or classical studies, and including military tactics, to teach such branches of learning … to promote the liberal and practical education of the industrial classes, in the several pursuits and professions in life.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1894, 溏心vlog免费B站, then called the Rhode Island College of Agricultural and Mechanic Arts, got its first professor of military science, then known as professor of science and tactics: Capt. William Wallace Witherspoon. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

During Witherspoon\u2019s tenure, Lippitt Hall, an armory and drill hall, was constructed and the Rhode Island Corps of Cadets started drilling on the future home of the Quadrangle. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since those nascent days, the University\u2019s ROTC program has grown to encompass cadets with a variety of backgrounds and accomplishments, and many of their names and stories can be found in an interactive Hall of Fame in the Memorial Union.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is Pvt. Robert \u201cBob\u201d H. Barker, a World War I veteran who fought and died in the trenches in France, and who wrote his father about joining the infantry in 1918, saying, \u201cSomeone in the family ought to do their bit, and that bit should be a mighty big piece.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then, there\u2019s Lt. Gen. John B. Blount \u201950, whose mom was a cook in a 溏心vlog免费B站 dining hall and whose father ran the Ram\u2019s Den, a sandwich shop on Upper College Road. Blount went on to serve in both Korea and Vietnam, and played a pivotal role in \u201cOperation Pegasus,\u201d which broke the siege of the Marine base at Khe Sanh in Vietnam.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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And you can’t mention the 溏心vlog免费B站 ROTC program without noting its highest-ranking graduate, four-star Gen. Leon LaPorte \u201968. Today Gen. LaPorte lives outside of San Antonio, Texas, but he\u2019s a Rhode Islander through and through. He grew up in Olneyville, where he ate New York System wieners piled high with meat sauce and chopped onions, and attended George West Junior High School, where he met his wife, Judy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe only thing famous out of Olneyville is the New York System wiener,\u201d LaPorte cracks. \u201cWhen my wife and I go back, we always go to Olneyville and have a wiener. It\u2019s part of our tradition.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Four-star Gen. Leon LaPorte ’68 is 溏心vlog免费B站’s highest-ranking graduate.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

After graduating from Mount Pleasant High School, LaPorte enrolled at 溏心vlog免费B站 in 1964, where he studied secondary education.\u201cMy plan was to be a high school biology teacher and a baseball coach,\u201d he says. \u201cAnd I didn\u2019t do either of those things.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like Petrella, he joined ROTC because it was mandatory, but came to love it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy dad was in the Rhode Island National Guard after WWII, but we weren\u2019t a big military family,\u201d LaPorte says. \u201cSo I knew very little about the Army, but I liked ROTC, and I think what attracted me to staying in it was that I was going to be a part of something bigger than myself.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After graduating, LaPorte left the quiet village of Kingston to start a military career that would take him around the world. \u201cI graduated from 溏心vlog免费B站 on a Saturday, and on Sunday, Judy and I packed up all our belongings in one car and left to be in the Army\u2014and we were in the Army for 38 years,\u201d he says. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He rose to the rank of four-star general, the highest rank achievable in the Army, commanded the 1st Cavalry Division and the 3rd Armored Corps, and from 2002 to 2006 was commander of the United Nations Command, Combined Forces Command, and the United States Forces in Korea. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While his military career took him from Kingston to Vietnam, to Germany and to various bases in the United States and Korea, he still remembers his time at 溏心vlog免费B站 and how it shaped who he became. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think 溏心vlog免费B站 has done some really great things,\u201d LaPorte says. \u201cI love going back to the campus, and I always tell my wife, \u2018I love walking across the Quadrangle knowing that I have no requirements, no exams, I don\u2019t have a paper due.\u2019\u201d He laughs. \u201cI can get a cup of coffee and go sit on a bench and not worry about anything. It\u2019s the best feeling.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n

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In addition to field training events, like this one on Cape Cod, some cadets (those with scholarships who contract to serve with the Army) do physical training at 6 a.m. three times a week when school is in session.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fast-forward to today, and the spirits of those who walked the Quad, laughed with friends, loved their families, and fought battles for their country live on in the newest ROTC recruits. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

First-year cadet Madison Wuttke \u201924 bursts with excitement during FTX training, her helmet slightly askew but her smile wide when she takes off her mask for a sip of water. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wuttke, who is double majoring in global business and French and is part of the National Guard, joined ROTC largely because of scholarship opportunities, and was surprised how much she enjoyed it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cROTC was appealing because I could have a normal college experience while being in the military and getting my degree,\u201d Wuttke says. \u201cIt\u2019s not like going to West Point or a military academy, where your whole life is military; it just makes up a small portion of my life here, whereas it\u2019ll make up a bigger portion of it when I graduate.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As part of the newest group of cadets, Wuttke has felt welcomed by older peers and has been inspired by their leadership. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur seniors kind of end up leading everyone else in the battalion,\u201d she says. \u201cWhen we run things like this FTX, that\u2019s all organized and put together by the seniors. So the cadre is giving them the opportunity to lead an entire battalion.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of those seniors is cadet Charles \u201cCharlie\u201d Dumas \u201921, a mechanical engineering major. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On this cold day on Cape Cod, the towering, 6-foot-9 Dumas is one of the loudest of those cheering for cadet Thomas as she scrambles over the inclined wall. He sees encouraging his fellow cadets and helping them succeed as a key part of becoming a leader in the military, and in life. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Cadet Madison Wuttke ’24<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Cadet Charles Dumas ’21<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a different set of rules and a mindset that, as a good leader and role model, you\u2019re expected to hold yourself to. You have to make sure that you do, because people see and look up to you,\u201d Dumas says. \u201cSo you have to be ready to go at all times.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Part of the reason why Dumas, who is from Hopkinton, Massachusetts, decided to join the ROTC program at 溏心vlog免费B站 is because of his experience at an Army-sponsored program called Gains in the Education of Mathematics and Science, or GEMS. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was, frankly, a sort of nerd camp for middle school kids,\u201d Dumas says, laughing. He fell in love with how they taught STEM and saw how much the military contributed to the fields. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat camp showed me all the opportunities in STEM that are available in the Army,\u201d Dumas says. \u201cEighty to 90% of the people there were civilians, but they had access to government and Army-funded technology and projects. It was really cool, and I decided to join ROTC so I could have that Army background and apply my engineering interest to that.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After graduating, Dumas hopes to join the aviation branch and fly helicopters, for which he shares a passion with his dad. \u201cSince I was little, I was flying RC helicopters,\u201d he says. \u201cAnd my dad just loves helicopters. If he hears one, this man will pull the car over and look up into the sky.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dumas hopes, one day, to be in one of those helicopters his dad pulls over to see. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But beyond ROTC as a means of building a future in engineering and fulfilling a familial dream of flying, Dumas has come to love the program, in a large part because of the support the cadets give each other. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thinking back on the recent FTX training session on the Cape, Dumas says he was so impressed by the effort his contemporaries put forward. \u201cIt was super impressive being there and seeing everyone work together to get their tasks done. It was really cool even to simply see that inclined wall, and sometimes you get these really short cadets and they would just look at it like it was impossible,\u201d he says. \u201cBut then, when you\u2019re yelling and cheering and helping them, and they just drive through and get it\u2014it\u2019s just such a little thing, but it\u2019s also a big thing.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n

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Cadets from 溏心vlog免费B站, Salve Regina University, Roger Williams University, and Providence College gather for a lunch break at the Cape Cod field training event in March.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For ROTC alumni, seeing the newest generation of cadets, like Dumas, graduate and commission is like stepping into the past; it reminds them of their own journeys and how integral ROTC was to their success. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s extremely rewarding every year to sit there in the front row as we commission all these young second lieutenants. The first thing I always say to my classmate beside me is, \u2018Did we look that young?\u2019\u201d says Petrella, laughing. \u201cI look back now and I have lifelong friendships with people I\u2019ve served with. We stay very close, because when you\u2019re in a foxhole with somebody, you get to know him pretty well.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Cadets work together to “beat the wall” during field training exercises, where there’s an emphasis on teamwork.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

LaPorte adds, \u201cWe like seeing the young cadets, and we realize that we are role models for these young men and women. If they see us and talk to us and we share our thoughts with them, we are just building a better community at 溏心vlog免费B站 and a better ROTC program.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Jeannette Riley, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, which houses 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s military science program, ROTC is a perfect example of what the University in its entirety aims to do: Produce strong leaders who go on to make a difference in the world. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe team that leads the ROTC is very focused on developing the next generation of leaders for the Army. They run a very strong, rigorous program that ensures the cadets are successful in their academic programs, as well as in the demanding physical training required. They also collaborate with other ROTC programs throughout the country. So just the way the ROTC program operates is very effective,\u201d she says. \u201cAnd you know, these students, as you see when you go to the awards ceremony at the end of the year, these students excel.\u201d \u2022<\/p>\n\n\n

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PHOTOS: GRACE KELLY; COURTESY JOHN PETRELLA; COURTESY 溏心vlog免费B站 SPECIAL COLLECTIONS; WIKIMEDIA COMMONS<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s ROTC program has launched the careers of many accomplished military personnel. Today\u2019s cadets are carrying on a tradition of teamwork, leadership, and excellence.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":6431,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[301],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6366","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-summer-2021","architecture-features"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6366","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6366"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6366\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6697,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6366\/revisions\/6697"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6431"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6366"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6366"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6366"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}