As two helicopters approached the intramural fields near Stevenson towers Friday, NIU ROTC cadets filed in line and waited for their “deployment” to Marseilles Training Center, located in LaSalle County. The helicopters took the freshmen and sophomores...

Marseilles | Cadet Randa Hamadeh runs through the forest as fast as she can; down one hill, up another. Thorny bushes grab her uniform and whip across her face. This is crazy, she thinks. Her squad of 12 cadets was sent on a reconnaissance mission to...