“Candidates, are you ready for your mission?”
“Yes, sir!”
“Here’s the situation…”
AAS Rock Night at the Colonel Charles Scharf Squadron has been a tradition for at the least the past five years. At week five, the candidates are told that they will have an extended training session. As a type of reality check, they are put through some of the most difficult training that they will get in their candidate careers, second only in intensity to the last class. At the end of Rock Night, candidates receive a rock, which signifies a POW/MIA, to whom they are a guardian. The rocks must be brought to every AFROTC event, never touch the ground, and are never left behind. Each rock is decorated with symbols of the POW/MIA’s life, and each candidate must present a briefing on his/her soldier.
This year, the Charles Scharf Squadron “kidnapped” the candidates, provided training, and gave them a mission to rescue POW/MIAs. Rock Night occurred at Bender Park in Oak Creek, WI, on 30 Oct 05 and lasted five hours. The eight candidates were under the assumption that they would have a normal but extended training session that day. While they were doing PT, two cadets, dressed as terrorists, selected four candidates each and called them out of formation. While the candidates did not understand how they should respond to the new distractions, it was soon made clear by the CTOs and terrorists that the fun was about to stop. Blindfolded and with heads between their knees, the candidates were driven in two separate vehicles to Bender Park, twenty-five minutes away from the Marquette Campus. The intensity level rose as disbelief, confusion, and panic set in during the ride, enhanced by commands from the terrorists and CTOs.
Upon arrival at the park, the candidates marched in a single file, each with a hand on the shoulder of the person in front of them, lead by a CTO. The importance of the night was sinking into their minds. As seven terrorists, or members of the Charles Scharf Squadron, met to discuss strategy, the candidates were divided to receive specialized instruction which would aid them in a mission. TSgt Harvey from the Security Forces at the 128th Air National Guard stationed at Mitchell International Airport in Milwaukee, WI, provided training in M-16 use and Small Team Tactics. Senior AAS members instructed the candidate class on the use of Mission-Oriented Protective Posture (MOPP) Gear. Each candidate was able to suit up in new MOPP gear, adding to the real-life application of his/her training.
Upon completion of the Small Team Tactics, the candidates were whisked away to plan a mission, incorporating their newfound skills, to rescue POW/MIAs. Fifteen minutes for planning and half of an hour for the rescue were the time limits. The candidates naturally assumed that they would be searching for actual human beings, probably AAS members. The POW/MIA rocks were hidden under a low camouflaged tent, some 400 yards of thick brush and undergrowth away. The route contained the seven terrorists whose mission it was to ambush and “kill” the candidates. The CTOs lead two groups of four candidates each to the general area of the prisoners. Air raids, grenades, sniper attacks, and enemy fire resistance were used to delay the mission, add a sense of urgency, and enforce the importance of unit cohesion. None of the candidates could die, unless an extremely fatal mistake was made, which happened a few times. To make the situation even more realistic, two AAS members were able to use Night Vision Goggles to “attack” the candidates at moments when they were least expecting it.
After the candidates had lost half of their class to “injuries” incurred on the battlefield, they discovered and retrieved the POW/MIA rocks, were given a short briefing on their importance, and proceeded to return to the “base camp/instruction ground” in a stealthy fashion. After all the terrorists, candidates, and CTOs were gathered together at base camp, a short debriefing was given which further emphasized the importance of the evening. Candidates were given a few minutes to examine who their attackers were and de-stress before heading to the cars for a ride back to the Marquette campus. Overall, the night demonstrated the importance and application of real-world combat techniques and unit cohesion to the candidates, who all passed the half-way point of the ten-week class. As they learned, the fun is really just beginning.