In honor of my 175th post, you get a nice, concise one about the 175. Enjoy, and check out the shop for books!
One of the first major events of my tenure as a Cadre at AFROTC Detachment 175 mirrored the last event of my tenure. For various reasons, Det 175’s class of 2022 had a bunch of cadets who needed to commission over the summer, rather than right around their college graduation. For reasons that remain opaque to me, we Cadre allowed these cadets to commission as they were eligible, with their own little ceremonies, leading to a situation where I worked twenty-four consecutive days. Many of these were twelve-plus hour shifts. Never again, we decided. These are future lieutenants, not special little snowflakes.
Commissioning into any branch of the military brings with it a level of responsibility that simply is not placed on the shoulders of most 22-year olds. When I commissioned, I felt like I was on top of the world. Even though I knew I had a lot to learn, I figured I knew enough to get by. Eleven years later, when I stood in front of Det 175’s graduating class to publish their commissioning order and administer their oaths of office, they puffed out their chests and straightened their backs and with unwavering voices they proudly swore to protect and defend the U.S. constitution.
I was proud of them, but also terrified I didn’t teach them enough. Were they even paying attention in class? Will they do the right things? My God, did I even teach them anything?!
After the panic abated I remembered a conversation I had with Colonel Arguello, the commander of Det 175 during my first two years. The two of us were putting together the new desks and chairs for the AFROTC classroom, our first of many construction projects. Only two of the four air conditioning units mounted to the high windows were functioning, and one of them shook and rattled so much I thought it would drop into the parking lot behind the building at any moment. It was August in Hawai’i, and this Minnesota boy was sweating.
“Spence! Your job is to bring in at least fifty new cadets each year,” Colonel Arguello told me. “Fifty gets ya a dozen lieutenants. Bring in fifty, and the best twelve get through.”
“If we commission twelve per year,” the commander continued, “we stay on track with our recent average. Something you’ll get to know about me, Spence!, is that I am competitive. This program used to have over a hundred cadets enrolled. I want to get back to that.”
“Roger that, sir,” I replied. I had been on Oahu for less than a month and Det 175’s recruiting officer for less than two weeks. I hadn’t even been to my training yet. I had no idea how to get one hundred kids enrolled into Det 175.
“It’s probably too late for this year,” Colonel Arguello said. “School starts next week, and we have how many signed up?”
“Fifty Six, sir.”
“Which will give us twelve,” Lt Colonel Arguello put the finishing touches on the chair he was working on. He dusted his hands off and stood up. “You know what, Spence?”
“What, sir?”
“This seems like a great project for our cadets to wrap up. Practice their leadership skills,” he grinned.
“I agree, sir,” it was too damn hot anyway.
A week later, thirty-five prospective cadets crammed into the two classrooms in the Detachment on the University of Hawai’i’s “Lower Campus.” Twenty-one names had mysteriously vanished off our incoming roster when I sent out an email reminding our incoming cadets that the AFROTC Orientation for new students was at 0800 that coming Wednesday.
Two weeks after orientation, only thirty freshman cadets lined up at 0600 for PT with their peers in their newly assigned flights. By the end of the semester, over half of those cadets left.
I use the word “left” as opposed to saying “kicked out” because the vast majority of these cadets left of their own volition. True, some were strongly encouraged to leave, but very few of them were drummed out of Det 175 completely unwillingly. As the Cadre Advisor to the freshmen class, I got really good at convincing low performing cadets that it was their own idea to pursue new opportunities.
The whole point of the AFROTC and the other Air Force commissioning programs is to produce leaders of character, to commission lieutenants who will execute the mission and lead Airmen with integrity. That life is not for everyone, as you can see from the attrition numbers from just my first year at Det 175.
Remembering that the new Lieutenants who were now surrounded by their friends and family, getting smothered with Lei necklaces and hugs, had already beaten the odds quieted my concerns. Of course those concerns will never really go away.
Perhaps with this new interconnected world I will learn how the Lieutenants I trained handle their first leadership challenge. For now, I can only hope they are ready for the 2am phone calls that shake a squadron, or their first deployment.
In about a month the last of those fifty-six cadets remaining from the fall of 2022 take their oath of office. Hopefully they were paying attention in class.
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