Current News
9 November 2009 - Navy/Marine Corps Birthday Ball
Marquette University Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps celebrated the 234th Birthday of the Navy and Marine Corp on 06 November 2009 in the Alumni Memorial Union Ballroom. Midshipmen and guests were able to experience the nights' festivities and witness Naval etiquette and traditions. The night began with a ceremony commemorating the Navy and Marine Corps and its history of service to the United States of America. The ceremony was followed by dinner and a speech given by the Guest of Honor, Mr. Larry Hisle, a former Major League baseball player for the Milwaukee Brewers. The night concluded with dancing and social activities for all. Pictures for this year's ball are under the pictures and activities tab.
2 November 2009 - NASC 1185 Guest Speaker
Last week the Naval Science Department welcomed a guest speaker into the NASC 1185 Leadership and Management class. Mr. Pat Moran, the Plant Manager for Rockwell Automation Milwaukee Based Operations took some time out of his day to share his experiences with the class. Mr. Moran has over 20 years of experience in line and staff leadership positions in Global Logistics, Supply-Chain Management, and Operations with both Rockwell and Harley Davidson. While the course focuses primarily on military application of the leadership and management concepts, it also references their application to the civilian sector. Mr. Moran’s comments were extremely professional, very well received and right in-line with the concepts taught throughout. He spoke of the necessity of operating rhythms, tangible and measurable objectives, consistent subordinate recognition and root cause analysis.
19 October 2009 - Madison Drill Meet
Over the weekend of October 10th, Marquette's battalion competed in the annual University of Wisconsin-Madison Fall Invitational NROTC Drill Meet. Marquette walked away with plenty of hardware, including first place trophies for endurance team, squad drill, color guard, as well as first place overall, a first in the history of NROTC Marquette. A brief synopsis of each is provided below:
Marquette’s NROTC Endurance Team finished this year’s grueling 15 mile, four hour-long competition at the University of Wisconsin Drill Meet in First place, undoubtedly helping Marquette to win the overall competition. In its first Endurance team win since 2005, Marquette fielded an impressive team with 12 midshipmen from all classes stepping up to meet the challenge.
The Marquette Naval ROTC Drill team competed at the Madison Fall Invitational drill meet, sending two teams, a platoon drill team commanded by MIDN 2/C Priem, and a squad drill team commanded by MIDN 2/C Cooke. The two teams practiced three times a week since the beginning of the school year. At the competition, the Marquette platoon took a commendable fourth place. The squad drill team captured first place. The squad drill team was composed of seasoned midshipmen and freshman who had drilled before.
The Marquette NROTC color guard consisted of MIDN 3/C Luke, MIDN 3/C Hackel, MIDN 4/C Dematteo, MIDN 4/C Hillebrand, and MIDN 4/C Jaspan. The color guard spent three weeks learning everything that was required of them and perfecting all movements. The dedication of the individuals involved was outstanding and was on prominent display out on the drill deck. Their hard work paid off when they tied for first place to help contribute to the overall first place trophy that Marquette took home.
Pictures of the MIDN in action are located in pictures and activities. Once again, Bravo Zulu to all the individuals involved and thank you to NROTC Wisconsin for putting on a first-class event.
18 Sept 2009 - POW/MIA Vigil
Marquette NROTC, in conjunction with AROTC and AFROTC, continued the tradition of honoring our Prisoners of War and Missing in Action on POW/MIA Recognition Day, observed the third Friday in September. The Midshipmen and Cadets held a 24 hour vigil, standing guard at the missing man table. The special meaning and symbolism is explained courtesy of the National League of Families of American Prisoners and Missing in Southeast Asia:
The table is round -- to show our everlasting concern for our missing men.
The tablecloth is white -- symbolizing the purity of their motives when answering the call to duty.
The single red rose, displayed in a vase, reminds us of the life of each of the missing, and their loved ones and friends of these Americans who keep the faith, awaiting answers.
The vase is tied with a red ribbon, symbol of our continued determination to account for our missing.
A slice of lemon on the bread plate is to remind us of the bitter fate of those captured and missing in a foreign land.
A pinch of salt symbolizes the tears endured by those missing and their families who seek answers.
The Bible represents the strength gained through faith to sustain those lost from our country, founded as one nation under God.
The glass is inverted -- to symbolize their inability to share this day.
They stood a silent vigil in the walkway between Raynor and Memorial Libraries. Godspeed to our POW/MIAs and their families.
4 June 2009 - Brewers Game
The staff of Marquette University NROTC, including the newly commissioned Ensigns and 2nd Lieutenants, took some time to build camaraderie at one of the Brewers' games last week. The game did not go the Brewers' way as they lost to the Cardinals, but everyone had a good time.
The game tickets were for an exclusive area of the park that included an all you can eat buffet of brats, burgers, chicken breasts, and various other ball park fair. Everyone had their fill and enjoyed the game.
28 May 2009 - Commissioning
On 16 May 2009, the Navy and Marine Corps welcomed their newest Ensigns and 2nd Lieutenants. The day started with a Navy and Marine Corps ceremony outside the St. Joan of Arc Chapel on Marquette's campus. The ceremony included each commissionee taking their oath of office and offering a first salute to an enlisted member of the commissionee's choosing.
Then it was off to a joint commissioning ceremony. At the joint commissioning ceremony, the commissionees from the Navy and Marine Corps joined those from the Army and Air Force to receive their commissioning warrants.
7 May 2009 - Senior Mess Night
Every year the senior class gathers for their Senior Mess Night to share one last night of camaraderie before going their separate ways after commissioning. The night is full of both traditional Naval dining-in etiquette and relaxed social time. This year’s senior mess night was held in the “caves” at Miller Brewing Company’s headquarters. The caves were originally constructed as an underground storage facility to keep products cool and fresh during hot summer months, but have now been turned into a small banquet hall facility.
The mess night festivities included a behind the scenes guided tour of the Miller Brewing Company facilities followed by a social hour, formal dinner and then formal and informal toasts. The night ended with the fun of making people pay for the formal rules they had broken throughout the night. This good natured end to the night included some seniors singing songs off key or drinking from the “grog” to make up for their transgressions.30 April 2009 - Marine FTX
The Midshipmen in Semper Fi Society went on a Joint Field Training Exercise (FTX) with the Army ROTC at Ft. McCoy to act as the opposing force to the Army ROTC Cadets. Although the weather was dreary, their spirits were high while they received marksmanship training with M4’s and used their creativity and training to set up the opposition. The midshipmen were split up into pairs or small groups to act against a squad of Army Cadets. While they were not playing this role, the senior Marine Options set up scenarios to train the juniors in squad and fire team tactics.
On the last day of the exercise, the midshipmen posed as insurgents taking over a town at Ft. McCoy’s Mountain Town Training Facility. The ensuing battle between the Army Cadets and “insurgents” lasted over two hours and provided both sides with excellent training in a close-to-real-life setting. The midshipmen learned a lot over the course of the weekend and now have a better understanding of how to conduct squad and fire team tactics.
23 April 2009 - Awards Day
This past weekend Marquette University’s Tri-ROTC Organization held the 12th Annual Tri-ROTC Awards Day. Once again organizations such as the American Legion and Founders and Patriots of America gave awards to deserving cadets and midshipmen for their outstanding performance over the course of their ROTC career.
This years Guest of Honor was Rear Admiral Beaman who is currently the highest ranking Marquette graduate in the United States Military. His speech touched on the many accomplishments of each of ROTC unit and emphasized how the most exciting years of our careers were ahead of us. He concluded by saying that he looks forward to a military under the leadership of this generation.
The ceremony concluded with a pass in review in which platoons from each ROTC unit marched in front the reviewing stand. All of the individuals who attended the ceremony were extremely impressed with the level of precision each platoon executed and look forward to this tradition continuing for years to come.2 April 2009 - Memphis Drill Competition
The Marquette University NROTC drill team competed in the 2nd annual University of Memphis Beale Street Drill Competition on the 28th of March, 2009. This competition is currently the second largest drill meet in the nation. The team was comprised of one platoon, three squads, and a color guard detail. The midshipmen on drill team practiced all year long for the Memphis drill competition. The team enjoyed success at the Madison drill competition last fall, and continued their hard work into the spring semester to prepare for Memphis.
Practices were held on Tuesday and Friday mornings with voluntary practices on the weekends. This hard work paid off with the color guard taking first place at the competition and the platoons and squads placing in the top five. The drill competition itself was an interesting experience due to rain and an extremely muddy drill deck. The midshipmen endured these conditions and proved their expertise to the Marine Corps drill instructor judges. After the drill competition, the midshipmen and unit staff were able to enjoy the live jazz music and fine food on Memphis's famous Beale Street. The trip was a success with Marquette University placing 2nd for overall performance out of fourteen schools.25 March 2009 - Summer Cruise
"Summer Cruise" selections are in full swing for the midshipmen. Each summer, midshipmen travel all over the globe getting first-hand experience with various communities within the Navy. The students completing their first year will be heading to either Norfolk, VA or San Diego, CA to experience many parts of the Navy. They will spend a week each with the Surface, Submarine, Aviation, and Marine Corps communities.
Students completing their second and third years of NROTC are given the opportunity to choose a specific community and get a more personal view of that community. Students typically spend 3 to 5 weeks with the community of their choice. This year students will be traveling to Hawaii, the Mediterranean, Japan, the Caribbean, and many other places around the world to gain experience with their chosen community.
These summer cruises not only provide valuable fleet experience, but also provide midshipmen with the opportunity to see the world and to meet midshipman from other universities. Many a life-long friendship has come out of midshipmen meeting each other out in the fleet, and many midshipmen come back from their cruises with amazing pictures and even more amazing stories. There is much excitement in the air as students choose what they will experience this quickly approaching summer.
18 March 2009 - Ship Selection
March 17-18 was ship selection time for our graduating seniors joining the Surface Warfare community. MUNROTC was well represented with 2 of 3 prospective SWO’s selecting their ship within the top 20 percent in the nation (24th and 48th out of 248).
Selecting first was our Battalion Commander, receiving her first choice, USS BLUE RIDGE (LCC 19) which is forward deployed to Yokosuka, Japan. Certainly many unique experiences and great training will ensue on the journey to becoming a SWO for our BNCO. As the flag ship for SEVENTH FLEET, USS BLUE RIDGE will be a wealth of knowledge for our BNCO in several areas of expertise, from Command and Control, Intelligence, and several more at a very early stage in her naval career.
The successes in ship selection continued for MUNROTC with our second MIDN also receiving her first choice, USS SHOUP (DDG 86), stationed in Everett, WA. SHOUP was commissioned 22 June 2002 and was built to conduct simultaneous warfare operations in multi-threat environments to include air, surface, and subsurface targets.
For the second and final day of ship selection we had one final MIDN to select his first ship. After re-arranging his top picks from day one, when the time came for ship selection, his second choice of ships was still available, USS COMSTOCK LSD 45, with a homeport of San Diego, CA. The ships motto is “Teamwork-Drive-Courage” which will definitely fit our MIDN.
All three of our graduating seniors joining the SWO community are extremely excited, and will be receiving official orders very soon. This semester’s ship selection was outstanding; all of our MIDN are going to great ships. Congratulations MIDN!! We wish you Fair winds and following seas in your journeys ahead.11 March 2009 - Commanding Officer Letter
Marquette Alumni, Family and Friends,
Greetings! We are still working on the association. Please let us know if you are willing to help. During the school year, we will add a short paragraph or two regularly to keep you up to speed on the Midshipmen, alumni, and other events. We welcome and encourage you to contribute an article to the website too. Maybe there is a story about fellow alumni that you want to share or you might have a fond memory of Marquette and NROTC that you want your classmates to remember. Please send any information to nrotc@mu.edu or directly to me at William.radomski@marquette.edu.
Marquette NROTC was established on September 11th, 1940. Fr. McCarthy, president of the university, worked tirelessly to establish the unit and Marquette became the first Catholic university and the 12th in the nation to have an NROTC program. There are, of course, many Navy and Marine Corps affiliated alumni associated with Marquette, MSOE and UWM that are not directly related to NROTC. All are welcome. I especially enjoy hearing from the V1, V5, V7 and V12 groups from the 40s. Most, if not all, were a product of the V12 program. As a unique part of NROTC, maybe one of you could explain those programs to the rest of us.
Thank you to all of you that responded to the survey. You provided some great new ideas. Also, there has been some interest in positions within the alumni association but it would really be helpful if someone wanted to chair the executive committee or become president. It is really up to the association in terms of creating committees.
Last, but certainly not least. The annual open house/picnic/lunch is scheduled for 25 July in conjunction with the university’s alumni weekend. The event will be held at the unit, please RSVP. If you are part of any organizations that publish reunion events, I request that you publicize our reunion. I hope to see you on 25 July.
All the Best,
Bill Radomski