A change in the structuring of the Naval department has forced non-contracted students to do physical training within the Corps of Cadets, but allows them to participate in ROTC classes, according to a Naval staff member.
“You need to be either on basic standing for freshmen, sophomore, advanced standing for junior and seniors or you need to be on a scholarship, national level or side load, in order to train with us, due merely because of legalities,” said Capt. Todd Tedeschi, of the U.S. Marine Corps.
Tedeschi, a marine officer instructor for the Norwich Naval department, trains officer candidates for success at Marine Corps Officer Candidate School in Quantico, Va.
In the past, all students in the Corps of Cadets were required to participate in ROTC in order to graduate with a Military College of Vermont diploma. This meant training for three years with one of the three departments on campus: Army, Navy-Marine Corps and Air Force. During the fourth year, cadets not on a commissioning path would participate in corps physical training.
“As of right now, we can train you academically, just not physically. We can put you in the classroom and we can talk about history, we can talk about all those skills that we want you to hone if you want to go into the military at a later date. However, we just need you to have that physical done before we work on the physical part,” said Tedeschi
Mel Mahapong, 21, a senior physical education major from Queens, N.Y., is a cadet captain and a physical training officer.
“I am in charge of corps PT for freshmen that are not contracted. Whoever is with the Army, trains with the Army, I only have the Air Force and Navy options that are not contracted,” said Mahapong.
“The increase of size has changed how corps PT was run. In the past it was only the non-contracted seniors, now with all the freshmen and upperclassmen who are not contracted, my job is to take the freshmen and PT them.”
“It is a lot more efficient than it used to be, with a smaller group of people it is a lot easier to get that focus that the chain of command wants to see. The small unit level is easier to control, facilitate how we grade them, and the grading actually has a purpose. If somebody is not improving or performing up to standard then we can actually do something to help them to improve by having a lot more focus,” said Robert Dalhstrom, 21, a senior criminal justice major from Sutton, Mass.
Midshipmen Dalhstrom is the Bravo company executive officer. Bravo company is the Marine Corps side of the naval battalion. He is responsible for approving the physical training plans for the three platoons in the company, and keeping records of their personal fitness scores.
The change was ordered to be implemented after this past summer.
“A few students around the nation had physical problems after doing excessive PT or strenuous PT; having seizures or strokes, or actually even dying, and we had two cases here where we had to emergency evacuate somebody off of the side of Frosty Gold. It is just a good way to do business if we are not preparing you to go to officer candidate school or we are not preparing you to go into military service, why are we truly preparing you to that level anyways,” said Tedeschi.
“NSTC lawyers, Naval Schools Training Command, really do not want to afford coverage to everybody. If a staff member was to get injured under our watch, it is one thing, but if they’re not under our contract or legally binding contract with the United States Navy or Marine Corps we would be held responsible,” said Tedeschi.
With the freshmen class size increasing each year, and the restructuring of the Naval Battalion Corps, PT will be affected and grow as well
“About 120-150 people are doing corps PT. The increase of size has changed how corps PT was run. In the past it was only the non-contracted seniors, now with all the freshmen and upperclassmen who are not contracted, my job is to take the freshmen and PT them. The upperclassmen that are not contracted PT with their battalion. I have six platoon sergeants, I have a PT NCOIC or a sergeant major like how the naval battalion is set up, and they carry out my PT plans,” said Mahapong.
For those contracted midshipmen in the battalion, morale has increased as well as personal fitness scores with the change.
“Since we have made this change the personal fitness scores have made a huge improvement, even from the beginning of the year. They are the highest they have ever been before. I was incredibly surprised at the run times, seeing some of them cross the line so fast blew my mind. As the person who records Bravo company’s PFT scores, I have seen a very significant improvement in pull ups, crunches and run times from the beginning of the year. The training experience overall has been that much more efficient,” said Dalhstrom.
“This year we are commissioning around 25 on the Marine side of the house, as a unit we are commissioning over 50, which is really one of the largest in the country. The restructure has allowed me to concentrate and focus on those who want to commission while not just trying to focus on a few at the same time as trying to concentrate on those who are commissioning like in the past. There is a lot to be done in a short period of time to do it; it does work to our benefit to focus on those individuals who will get to commission,” said Tedeschi.