1908: High school cadet training offered through Normal School (above).

1918: After the U.S. entry into WWI, the Student Army Training Corps began. SATC was connected to the college during the war and was a basic training facility not only for students, but any young man planning to join the Army. The college continued the training between WWI and WWII. The SATC gymnasium razed in 1927, also served the school’s athletic teams 1918-26.

1942: The Army Air Corps Technical School is established in November on campus. The eight-week course covers typing, shorthand, office management and business for soldiers. More than 4,000 received such training during WWII.

1944: Researcher Ryan Smith is trying to locate the World War II plaque dated Aug. 3, 1944, that once appeared on campus (last known location is the Young House, where ROTC resides). It contains 1,644 names of Colorado State College of Education (now UNC) students and faculty who served. The honorary education fraternity Phi Delta Kappa was responsible for creating the plaque. Contact Smith at: ryan.smith@unco.edu or at (970) 351-1403.

1946: Following the war, many veterans returned home and wanted to attend college. However, they didn’t have homes in Greeley. Campus housing near Jackson Field provided veterans a place to stay.

April 1951: The campus serves as home to members of the Air Force’s 3464th School Squadron undergoing 12-week clerical training. A school is set up in Quonset huts northeast of Jackson Field with courses on typing, English and writing. Campus housing is offered for trainees in Hadden and Hays halls.

July 1, 1951: During the Korean War, the Air Force ROTC began on campus.

1960: The Air Force ROTC became a requirement for all male students on campus. Men had to take ROTC training once per week during their freshman and sophomore years. They had classes on campus and weekly marching at Jackson Field.

1983: ROTC was re-established on the UNC campus after a brief hiatus.

1987: The ROTC program merges with CSU’s. The Young House on central campus is designated for students interested in Air Force and Army ROTC.

2014: There are 25 students enrolled in the ROTC program. They take classes on campus in addition to physical training and exercises. Additionally, Roudebush Cottage has been designated as headquarters for military veterans returning to college. About 250 veterans are receiving aid through the services center, and there are a total of about 500 veterans on campus. Navy veteran Dan Turnbeaugh (MA-13) is in charge of the center, devoted to helping veterans and their dependents find their way through college.

 

Student Researcher Traces UNC’s Military Roots to WWI

Ryan Smith’s dedication to the military didn’t end after a career cut short by a non-combat injury. The sophomore and president of UNC’s Student Veterans of America chapter spends several days a week at the Veteran Services Office, researching the university’s military connections. Smith grew up in Greeley and Denver, and after high school graduation, joined the Navy. He returned to Greeley and UNC after a torn diaphragm ended his service. Smith has found more about the topic than he expected. Searching through the UNC Archives, Smith has located century-old photos and stories of the college and the U.S. military dating back to World War I.

UNC student Ryan Smith holds two pieces of World War II shrapnel on display at the Veterans Services Office. The pieces, collected by late professor Robert Longwell, are from a Japanese bomb and a kamikaze plane that hit the USS Halloran. Longwell served as an electrician on the ship.

Award Named for WWII Veteran

Memories of a war 70 years ago greet visitors of UNC’s Veterans Services Office at Roudebush Cottage, formerly the Home Economics building.

Late UNC Professor Robert Longwell (MA-61) collected the artifacts while he was aboard the USS Halloran — following an attack by Japanese kamikaze planes, which first shot up the ship, then made a suicide crash into the decks.

The ship and Longwell survived. The professor, who served at UNC 27 years and died in 2013, saved scraps of the plane so people would know what happened. Today, in this same building, reside Longwell’s own diary and copies of the ship’s log during World War II.

The UNC chapter of the Student Veterans of America established an award in Longwell’s name. The award is given annually to a deserving student veteran.

Thomas Gardiner, this year’s recipient of the Longwell award, narrates his experience, including learning Arabic, in a video slide show at www.unco.edu/news/?5462

 

Diving into ROTC

It’s one of the many tests ROTC cadets face: stepping off a 10-foot diving board, blindfolded, bracing for the impact with the water. Once in the water, they must remove the blindfold and swim to the side of the pool, still in possession of their weapon.

They’re also required to swim for 10 minutes and tread water for five minutes; jump into the pool in full battle uniform, discard packs and rifle and swim to the side of the pool; and the most difficult, swim the length of the pool in battle fatigues, packs and carrying a rifle. The rifle must remain above the water during the swim to prevent damage.

In addition to academics, they’re all part of the ROTC training program that prepares UNC students to become officers in the Army or Air Force.

Retired Capt. Dan Hoffman and 1st Sgt. Jimmy Sazama oversee the programs offered jointly with Colorado State University.

Hoffman was in the Army for seven years before retiring, and had tours in Iraq. He’s been with the Army ROTC unit since October. Sazama, a sergeant still in active duty, has been to Afghanistan three times, Iraq twice, and once to Qatar. As soon as he’s finished 13 months on this ROTC assignment, he could be called back to the Middle East.

Both men enjoy their jobs, teaching about the military, sharing their experiences, and getting students interested in making the military a profession.

The students just have to get through the physical and mental tests that face them.