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Lion Soldier Opens Door to Officer Training
by Lesli Frazier
Pfc. Young swears to protect the Constitution and obey the President in a ceremony on the quad conducted by Lt. Col. Mark Mirage, as her mother and sister in Colorado listen by cell phone
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Mars Hill College has established a partnership with Eastern Tennessee State University's Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC).
Sophomore Jessi Young led the project, which will allow students to take ROTC classes and count them as electives. Anyone who is interested can take the classes, which teach students how to be soldiers, the history of the ARMY, different ranks, and how to fight and protect your country. Students can take the classes even if they are not planning to join the army.
Private First Class Young thinks Mars Hill needs an ROTC program. "It will bring new classes, attract more students, and bring more money to Mars Hill College," she said.
The thought of an ROTC program was a "combination idea," said Young. "I brought it forward into the light. Dean Goforth had been trying to get it for a while. Major David Campbell, an ETSU scholarship officer, made the idea possible for me."
ROTC offers a full-ride scholarship to any student who applies and meets qualifications. Several different types of scholarships are available. Most require a commitment to join the army. Successful graduates enter the U.S. Army as commissioned officers with the rank of second lieutenant
Young decided to venture into the idea of an ROTC program when she realized that with the rise in tuition at Mars Hill College, the Army Reserves would only cover three-fourths of her tuition. With the ROTC program though, "ETSU gets money, MHC gets money, and I get the degree I want from the college I want."
Young (light sweatshirt) in her barracks at basic training
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Young joined the Army in May of 2007 and left college the following fall semester to go into basic training. She returned to the college in January. Why join the Army? "I honestly don't know," she said. "It was a combination of things -- like my Grandpa was in the Army. It felt like something I needed to do."
Although Young signed her contract in May, she did not "ship out" of the Charlotte MEPS (Military Entrance Processing Station) to go to Fort Jackson in Columbia, South Carolina, until August 1. She had the entire summer to spend time with her family, which was needed since she did not inform her parents of her plan to join the Army until it was done.
Young has since been conditionally released from her eight-year commitment with the U.S. Army Reserves. After she graduates, she will enter the service with an officer's rank and pay.
"And yes there is a chance I will go to Iraq, just like there is with everyone in the Army," said Young.
As for basic training, Young said it was "amazing, I really loved it. It really was the best. As long as you did what you were told and were doing it efficiently you were fine. They wouldn't yell at you unless you screwed up. Yeah, they would yell collectively. You had to go in with the mindset that this is the hardest thing I'm ever going to do."
"There is no difference between men and women in the army. You are a solider, not a man or a woman," said Young.
"I think the only difference is the way close-hand pushups are done. Close-hand pushups are done differently for females simply because of the way a female's body develops. We have a greater chance of tearing our muscles when we do diamond pushups, so we have to do square-hand pushups instead.
"The toughest time during Basic was once when we were marching to the Land Navigation Course, during week three or four in training. It was 0430 when we stepped to go, and we weren't sounding off (singing cadence) loud enough. The drill sergeant got mad and made us march three miles with our eight-pound rifles above our heads. It was the longest march of my life. It was worse than our 10-mile march at the end just because our weapons were over our heads."
"One of the most exciting times was when we spent three entire days learning how to throw grenades, and then we got to throw two live ones. It makes a big bang, a deafening boom. Your entire body shakes, it's so cool," said Young. "We also got to shoot off AT-4 rockets."
Another thing the cadets had to do was a "Night Infiltration Course," where the drill sergeant shoots live rounds over your head as you low crawl. "Your stomach can't come up off the ground the length of a football field through barbed wire and sand," said Young.
Her favorite course though was the Confidence course that was done at the end of Basic Training. "It's done on your own, and you really had to trust yourself and trust you know what you are doing," said Young.
Pfc. Young
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"The way I made it through basic training was that I had an extremely strong support network behind me. They passed out mail every day, and it was 20 pushups per letter and 30 per package. There were days I'd have to do 200 pushups just to get my mail."
Young said the worst part of basic training was "living with 56 other girls. There was a lot of drama."
But she finished with best friends in the form of "battle buddies." A battle buddy is someone you are assigned to, usually your bunkmate because you are never supposed to be alone during basic training. Young speaks with her "battle buddies" daily.
After Young enlisted with the Army, "My mother didn't talk to me for a week, and my Dad said, "It's your life." Now dad's truck is plastered with, "My daughter wears combat boots," and after my mom saw me in my uniform, she said it was the proudest moment of her life."
Young, who contracted for the ROTC on Thursday May 1, is excited for the partnership of Mars Hill College and Eastern Tennessee State University and cannot wait to see what it can bring to the students and college as well.
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