ROTC Brigade Commander pays visit to Ohio State

This week, Col. Blaine Hedges, the Brigade Commander at 7th Brigade, United States Army Cadet Command, visited The Ohio State University’s Army ROTC Program. The notes below were proivded by our PMS&L, Lt. Col. Jim Bunyak.

Ed. Note: Some of the comments below were edited for content and clarity

Both CSM and the commander were blown away by our program. They did not have a negative comment. The Commander mentioned that he has been to several programs and ours is what “right” looks like. Great job! I am privileged to be a part of this program.

-Fisher College of Business Leadership Academy. The brigade commander was very interested in this initiative. For those of you who aren’t aware, we’ve started a partnership with the Fisher College of Business and will send Business students to the Dean’s Leadership Academy next semester. This academy is a “by invitation only” course and only 50% of the students invited to apply are accepted into the program. We will have 2-5 cadets in the academy next semester and will grow this partnership to include MSIIs and MSIIIs who have potential for leadership positions as MSIVs. Cadets do not have to be in the business school to apply.

-Sensing session with MSIIIs and MSIVs. The Sensing session went very well. Cadets asked relevant questions and were a good representation of their peers. The Brigade Commander reiterated that we are to build leaders of character, who are adaptive and able to creatively and critically think, and able to accept and thrive in ambiguous situations.

-Master Resiliency Trainer. Each program must have at least 1 MRT. CPT Carmona is working to get us slots at Ft Knox. The Brigade Commander mentioned that he would have the MRT trainers come to our location if needed.

-OSU Alumni Association and Network. COL Hedges wants to use our relationship with the alumni association and the active Army alumni as a best practice. I’ve recently reached out to all active duty OSU alumni. There are over 370 of them. My goal is to build a network of Army Buckeyes similar to what West Point has. Once an MSIV knows where they will be assigned, I will link them up with the Buckeyes at that installation. I will be asking for Alumni in the field to “adopt” cadets to make their transition easier. I’ve had multiple alumni contact me offering their expertise and help. For example, a Captain at HRC is in town this weekend and he will give the MSIVs a brief of career management on Monday. Who better to talk about officer career management than an HRC officer? I’ve also had a Colonel (PAO officer) offer to help us with strategic communication. This is a win-win relationship for us.

-Best Warrior Challenge. It was not canceled, but rather decentralized. We will participate at the Patriot Challenge in Indiana. Brigade has not published an OPORD yet.

-Mentorship program. COL Hedges will initiate a mentorship program for APMSs. All APMS will travel to Ft Knox for this event. APMS will shadow the brigade commander for a day. More to follow.

-Future of ROTC. PMS positions at large universities will become Command Select positions. The vision is to have a hub and spoke system where 1 large university will be a LTC and smaller schools in the area will be led by a Major or Captain, but fall under the large university.