User blog:Keplers/Where I've Been The Past Two Weeks

I'm now enrolled at Texas A&M University in College Station, and a proud member of the Texas A&M Corps of Cadets, Company B-2 Patriots! The Corps of Cadets is a special ROTC program that lasts for four years, and has existed since A&M's foundation as a small military college in 1876. Lawrence Sullivan Ross, or "Sul" Ross -- a "knightly gentleman" who had experience as a farmer, Texas Ranger, Brigadier General in the CSA and was the sitting governor of Texas -- became the president of the university in 1890. Having been an exemplary role model, an agriculturalist, and a soldier, he was a perfect fit for Texas AMC (Agricultural and Mechanical College) and saved it from certain closure in the 1890s.

In 1959, James Earl Rudder (Major General, Ret.) became the president of A&M and in 1965 he became the president of the Texas A&M University System. On June 6, 1944, Rudder led his Rangers in the 2nd Ranger Battalion up Pointe du Hoc's thirty-meter cliffs, braving floodwaters and German fire in order to reach the top and destroy German artillery*. As president of the Texas A&M College, he made radical changes to the college that turned it into the world-class institution that it is today: he allowed women to study at the school, made membership in the Corps of Cadets optional, and integrated campus during times of great racial tension. Thanks to these efforts Texas A&M University is now the fourth-largest university in America. A special unit within the Corps of Cadets is Rudder's Rangers, a highly elite group of cadets who train in Ranger-like conditions and practice medical aid, marksmanship, physical fitness, land navigation, and infantry tactics. *If you've read recently about a WWII veteran who falsely claimed to have fought on D-Day while he was truthfully stationed in Ireland at the time, this is the specific battle he claims to have fought in.

Today, the Corps of Cadets has 46 units divided into companies, squadrons, batteries, and so on, depending on whether the unit is army, air force, the band, etc. Texas A&M is the only university with an ROTC program for the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines, but membership in the Corps does not require that one commission in the United States military. The Corps trains exceptional leaders of character in both the private sector and in the military.

That said, my unit, Company B-2, is a part of Third Brigade along with Companies A-1, C-1, and D-1, and the brigade as a whole is known for having high contract rates. Last year, all of B-2's graduating seniors commissioned in the Army with their first choice in specialization. B-2 is known "on the Quad" as being the Army unit.

The Quad is a large parade ground around which are the four-story dorms housing the Corps of Cadets. This year's freshman class is our largest since 1970, and for the first time in decades the entire Corps dorms will be filled by cadets.

Special units in the Corps include the aforementioned Rudder's Rangers, the O.R. Simpson Honor Society (named after General O.R. Simpson, the society recognizes academic achievement and all members are also required to spend 10 hours per semester tutoring other cadets free of charge), the Fish Drill Team (a drill team composed entire of freshmen ["fish" being a play on "fsh," an abbreviation of freshmen] that competes against non-freshman drill teams from ROTC units including the military academies and regularly beats them), the Ross Volunteers (a special unit that performs the ceremonial Silver Taps, a special memorial service held late at night on the first Tuesday of any month for any student who has died in the past month; they are also the official Honor Guard for the Governor of Texas), Parson's Mounted Cavalry (named for Colonel Thomas R. Parsons, this unit focuses on equestrianism and also fires a field cannon whenever A&M scores at a home football game), and the SEAL Platoon (a bunch of insane people who train specifically for SEAL training). In addition, the Corps is host to many intramural sports and Corps-related competitive teams, such as the Corps Marksmanship Team (which I'm going to join this year!) and Ranger Challenge, which is a more physically-oriented variant of Rudder's Rangers that trains to compete against other military colleges in the fields of athletics and tactics; last year the team went to Chile to compete internationally.

All that said, I also have a gallery for you guys.

I'm very proud to be a part of the 140-year tradition that is the Corps and to help keep the spirit of Aggieland. If anyone has any questions about the Corps, A&M, or their traditions, just let me know and I'll do my best to answer!