Cadets get leadership training

Eight ROTC cadets spent part of the summer before their senior year of college shadowing lieutenants at Fort Gordon as part of the annual Cadet Troop Leader Training.

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"It's gone really well," said Nadia Orozco, a student at Texas A&M University who wants to go into military intelligence after she graduates. "I didn't know much about the Signal Corps."

The eight were at Fort Gordon from July 15 through Aug. 3 and were paired with first and second lieutenants in various units of the 35th Signal Brigade.

Before that, they had spent a month at cadet camp in Fort Lewis, Wash.

Nick Zappone, a Michigan State University student, got to experience firsthand a role he hopes to fill in a few years.

"They were short a lieutenant, and the platoon leader had surgery. I've been doing every day what he would do," Zappone said, who plans to join a cavalry unit after graduation. "It's been a really good experience."

Orozco's days included physical training followed by exercises setting up communications equipment and working in the motor pool or in the company office.

She called the experience a good one and said it affirmed her career choice.

"My father was in the Navy. I saw the opportunities the military gave him," she said. "I saw the Army's need for soldiers."

Zappone also comes from a military family. His father was in the Marine Corps.

"I didn't do ROTC just for the college money. They need officers in the Army, and it was the right thing to do," he said.