This weekend, NIU’s Reserve Officer Traing Corps (ROTC) left the comfort of warm beds and running water for their yearly field training exercises (FTX).

In the infrequent moments of peace, the Cadets slept on the ground under canvas tents and with every opportunity ate cold and palate-repellent entrees from brown government MRE (Meal Ready-to-Eat) pouches.

In the area of a disputed border between two fictional countries, the Cadets of first platoon were given a mission to clear their zone of enemies. Before they could clear them out, though, they would have to make contact, which was where the appropriately named Movement to Contact operation came in.

“It’s all geared around leadership evaluation,” said Major Zackary Riddle, an evalutator for the FTX, after the operation.

The evaluators followed the Cadets, introduced unplanned obstacles called variables – like the grenade and mortar attacks on 1st Platoon – and observed how they reacted.

“What are you going to do?” was the key question of the FTX.

By Saturday evening, Cadet assistant platoon leader William Nettleton, a junior industry & systems engineering major, was pouring over grid maps and planning the security patrol scheduled in 40 minutes.

“What if I told you you had to start your security patrol in 15 minutes?” Captain Eric Weyenberg asked. And indeed, Nettleton had to arrange for the patrol to begin far earlier than expected.

“They’re learning to make decisions,” Weyenberg said later.

Cadet Michael Cramer, senior kinesiology major and evaluator on the FTX said this weekend was the culminating event for the semester.

The Cadets under examination were Military Science (MS-I) I through MS-III, which roughly translates into freshmen through junior students. The MS-IVs acted as enemies and non-combatants, forcing the Cadets to react to simulated gunfire and awkward diplomatic scenarios.

Over the course of the weekend, the Cadets had to respond to firefights and improvised explosive devices (IEDs). Other scenarios tested their reactions to non-aggressive events, one of which included a pair of squirrel hunters who wandered too near a patrol.

“ROTC helps build these guys into leaders,” Weyenberg said. “This is a good start to their military education.”