Ripon College Days

Media Credit: Photo courtesy Office of Marketing and Communication. Training Procedures. ROTC cadets stalk through upper campus during a routine excercise. [Click to enlarge]

From various activities to administrative changes, fall 2005 has been a busy semester for the Ripon Red Hawk Reserve Officer Training Corp, better known as ROTC.

The Red Hawk ROTC Company welcomed a large incoming class of nine cadets from Ripon and others from Marian College, which is also part of the Company. Incoming cadets were joined by new Assistant Professor of Military Science, Lieutenant Colonel Dan Zimmerman.

"The interesting thing is that you hear so much on the news about recruiting numbers being down and that nobody wants to serve in the military," says Zimmerman. But he says Ripon's nine new ROTC cadets are one of the largest incoming classes in the program's recent history.

"You hear this all the time when in reality just the opposite is true. The average size is about six or seven, and this class [when you also include Marian's new cadets] is about twice that size."

Not only is newcomer Zimmerman excited about the boost in the company's size, but his enthusiasm also carries over into his new goals for the program.

He says he's striving for a minimum of six seniors from the program commissioned as second lieutenants each year from Ripon and Marian colleges. He believes this will allow Ripon to contribute to the battalion and show its military leadership presence.

Zimmerman, who is a 1988 graduate from the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, joins the Company with 22 years of previous service in both the intelligence branch of the army and service in the Gulf War. He was also deployed to Bosnia and Kosovo.

Sophomore Matt Bush welcomes Zimmerman's presence.

"I think he's a passionate leader," says Bush. "He's already taught me a lot. He makes me happy to be doing what I'm doing."

Among the activities Zimmerman has overseen this year are the Battalion Organizational Day and a Fall Field Training Exercise. The company will also participate in Brandon Elementary School's Veterans Day celebration this week.

Overall, Zimmerman expresses satisfaction with the Red Hawk Company.

"The performance has been great. Their attitudes have been great, too," he says. "The amount of motivation and energy that all these guys have is great for an old guy like me to be able to see and feed off. I would say morale here is pretty high."

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