VMI ROTC Opportunities

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Here's a Facebook link to VMI's ROTC page. Two Cadets had opportunity to attend the Special Force Combat Diver Course in Key West FL this past summer and were the first 2 to graduate from the course in over a decade!!
Good Job VMI!!:thumb:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Virginia-Military-Institute-Army-ROTC/374048369345642

This is really impressive. Thanks for sharing it.

DS and I thought diving was strictly a naval specialty. (He's an avid diver and a competitive swimmer, but he ruled out navy a while ago because, special forces notwithstanding, he doesn't want to end up on a boat.) Shows what we know...
 
DS also graduated from CDQC with the two cadets from VMI. It is not an opportunity limited to USMA or SMCs, although the majority of the cadets who graduated were from one or the other.

We have heard rumors that due to budgets, cadet slots may be nonexistent in the future, as opposed to just rarer than hens's teeth, but RoughRider, if your son is interested you should encourage him to pursue a slot. It was most certainly a defining moment in DS's life and hopefully his career as well.
 
DS also graduated from CDQC with the two cadets from VMI. It is not an opportunity limited to USMA or SMCs, although the majority of the cadets who graduated were from one or the other.

We have heard rumors that due to budgets, cadet slots may be nonexistent in the future, as opposed to just rarer than hens's teeth, but RoughRider, if your son is interested you should encourage him to pursue a slot. It was most certainly a defining moment in DS's life and hopefully his career as well.

I would like to point out that, the CDQC was open to ANYBODY in our Army ROTC program. Other programs can't quite say that :wink:

The stipulations? We have a Combat Dive Club here, very similar to Ranger Challenge (except more emphasis on pool work-outs). The club meets 5 times a week to work-out or do pool exercises. At first there were a lot of cadets that expressed interest in going to CDQC, but as the year progressed, it boiled down to the most dedicated and qualified who went.
 
By contrast, my son had to fight tooth and nail for the ONE slot awarded to 7th Bde., then train on his own for months to be prepared. Obviously both paths are a means to achieve the dive bubble, but from his observations, what mattered most was what you did after you got there. There were several cadets who were trained intensively all year long by their schools who quit on day one or failed the PT test.
 
I would like to point out that, the CDQC was open to ANYBODY in our Army ROTC program. Other programs can't quite say that :wink:

The stipulations? We have a Combat Dive Club here, very similar to Ranger Challenge (except more emphasis on pool work-outs). The club meets 5 times a week to work-out or do pool exercises. At first there were a lot of cadets that expressed interest in going to CDQC, but as the year progressed, it boiled down to the most dedicated and qualified who went.

And that is as it should be.

@RoughRider. Thanks for the link. Been there. Didn't do that!

@JCC123. Congrats to your DS. He clearly had the necessary dedication and drive which he demonstrated before he even got there.
 
This was VMI's first year with a Combat Dive club, though not recognized as a formal school club. Because of the success of the last year they had a large enough interest that the school will recognize as a bono fide club! One of the Cadets who graduated from the CDQC was the CIC last year and the other is the CIC this year.:thumb:
 
Seems like a great way to help cadets prepare for CDQC. Hopefully there will continue to be cadet slots available going forward.
 
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