Cadets find community, purpose through ROTC training

Cadets find community, purpose through ROTC training

This the third article in a four-part series highlighting how East Carolina University supports military-connected students, veterans and leaders through education and partnerships. From ROTC and advanced training to healthcare pathways, each story reflects ECU's commitment to those who serve.

ROTC cadets at East Carolina University frequently face demanding physical and mental tests. For Laurel Tonkinson, those experiences are preparing her to be a nurse.

"It gives you a perspective you won't necessarily find anywhere else," said Tonkinson, a College of Nursing student who also is in Army ROTC.

There are physical conditioning sessions during early-morning hours. Field trainings occur during the summer in hot, high-pressure conditions. Tactical simulations test leadership and real-time decision-making.

After completing some of these challenges, cadets realize their relevance.

"It's discipline," Tonkinson said. "I have the discipline to wake up every morning so early, which is something I'll be doing anyway for clinicals, and I think having a strict routine in uniform and upholding standards with a positive mind to work with others, that is huge in the healthcare field. So its discipline, routine, morals, would all carry over to my field."

ECU's Air Force and Army ROTC units, which are part of the College of Health and Human Performance, have developed a pipeline and support for attracting national scholarship winners. Lt. Col. Billy Dye, a member of the ECU Alumni Association Board of Directors, is the Air Force ROTC Detachment 600 commander. Lt. Col. Scott Nusom, professor of military science, oversees the Army ROTC unit.

Cadets learn from those mentors and can lean on each other as needed, along with faculty, staff and other students through campus collaborations.

A recent example, the tactical athlete collaboration, co-led by Drs. Stacey Meardon, Christine Habeeb and Whitney Moore in conjunction with Nusom, involved faculty experts and students in data analytics, physical therapy, nutrition, mental health, mental performance, and strength and conditioning. They all worked with cadets for a holistic approach to increasing performance.

One session was a water survival test in which sport psychology students were present for valuable hands-on learning, providing mental support and sharing strategies to cadets during stressful situations in the Minges Natatorium pool.

"Athletes, a lot of times, are done playing after college," Habeeb said. "For ROTC, what is unique is we're really training them for the next stage of their careers."

ROTC also partners with ECU Athletics. When Air Force ROTC cadet Holden Burroughs was asked how he feels supported at ECU, he highlighted ROTC's involvement at football games and the other Pirate teams that regularly host military appreciation games.

"At the military appreciation games is when you can always feel the support," said Burroughs, a piano performance major. "From the tickets to doing color guard, it shows there is military pride at this school. I think the awareness of ROTC has risen. My freshman year, it wasn't super high or people didn't know exactly what we are doing. But as that has continued to rise, people understand what ROTC is for and what we are doing and (it) brings more appreciation for the programs."

Psychology major Simone Ellerby just completed her first academic year in Air Force ROTC. She came to ECU with a base knowledge of what to expect, but her mindset was enhanced as she progressed through her freshman year.

"I already had a military background, with my family, but I didn't understand the accountability and didn't fully understand how big attention to detail was," Ellerby said. "A thinking mindset and being one step ahead has been constantly drilled into me. That has increased my mental game. Physically, it's not about just how hard it is, but having others do it with you. Seeing them struggle, but still pursuing it and pushing through, has made me want to do it and built my physical strength and my endurance. I feel like I'm at my prime here."

Dye experienced similar breakthroughs when he participated in ROTC at ECU. Following his military career, which included serving as an Air Force One advance agent and earning the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, he now emphasizes camaraderie and teamwork with cadets during military training.

"Some days are more difficult than other days," Dye said about military professions. "Being able to pick each other up and being able to keep motivating yourself and the folks around you is important, so you can execute the mission you are tasked with."

Dye also regularly mentions the U.S. Air Force core values - integrity first, service before self, and excellence in all we do.

"My time in ROTC taught me a lot more than just to be a pilot," he said. "It taught me that service is not just about serving yourself. It's about serving something greater than yourself. There's personal accountability and being there for others. The lessons of service are promoted so well by ECU. When you get those core values ingrained in you here at ROTC, then you find yourself on active duty and you really see how that plays a role."

Like Tomkinson, Greenville native Blake Owen recently found a professional pathway in studying nursing. Owen, 28, already has seven years of prior military service.

"We have virtual meetings with active-duty nurses who explain what it's like to be a nurse in the Army, and we also cover field medicine, so there's some crossover," Owen said. "Most people I am with are 18 to 22, so there is an age separation, but there are a lot of great people here in ROTC and I consider a lot of them my friends, despite the age gap. It's given me a good community, for sure."

Owen is one of the cadets who has benefited from the tactical athlete collaboration, which was modeled after the Army's holistic health and fitness initiative. ECU's version has blended strength and conditioning with focus areas such as mental performance and nutritional readiness to try to achieve peak health for cadets.

The collaboration has succeeded in being student- and cadet-led.

"Our students are getting a major advantage by being able to work with people in the military, or who are going into the military, through ROTC," Habeeb said. "It's one-on-one experience and it's great to work with ROTC, knowing that all students are learning and they are so excited to see other students and work together, peer to peer."

A major focus of ROTC is future readiness, though cadets' current roles also carry prestige on campus.

"There's pride when you put on this uniform," Burroughs said. "Even though I'm not active duty yet, just to be able to wear it, connects me to the bigger picture."

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