ROTC teams up with athletics department

IU Army ROTC has recently worked with the IU Athletics Department, allowing the ROTC Ranger Challenge team access to the workout facilities at the north endzone of Memorial Stadium.

The new relationship between IU Athletics and IU Army ROTC serves to bridge the gap between the two departments, ROTC representatives said. 

ROTC cadets are selected for the team through a rigorous tryout process. 

The team represents the IU Army ROTC program at the Bold Warrior Challenge, a regional ROTC competition with a national qualifier.

The Ranger Challenge team is gaining more recognition from the athletics department as a competitive sports team. 

The team currently receives varsity letters, and IUSA has voted for priority enrollment for cadets — a privilege already common to other collegiate athletes, ROTC representatives said. 

Tucker Warner, junior and Ranger Challenge team captain, said the use of the athletics department facilities has increased team morale and overall physical strength. 

“I am extremely humbled by the recognition that we have been given by the athletic department as an athletics team,” Warner said. “IU ROTC has been developing Army officers — warrior leaders — for many years now, and this partnership with the athletic department has given us the opportunity to train our cadets better and improve the United States Army.”

Brady Singleton, lecturer and tactical strength and conditioning coach, serves as a liaison between the School of Public Health, the IU Athletics Department and IU Army ROTC. 

He said because the team was awarded varsity letters, people on campus are able to recognize the Ranger Challenge team is comparable to an athletics team and deserves a similar level of a credibility.

“The cadets have an ability level very comparable to a collegiate athlete of similar body weight,” Singleton said. “They’ve not had any formal experience in the weight room before, so my job at this point is teaching them the mechanics of the movements so we can then train them more intensely.” 

Warner said he had always wanted to be a Big Ten athlete, but his calling to lead soldiers outweighed that. He credits Lt. Col. Tim Hoch, ROTC’s commander, for facilitating a smooth transition for him to team captain and for all of his team’s training.

Warner said Hoch plays an active role in their readiness to compete and sometimes exercises with the team, “which increases team morale and motivation
tenfold.”

Singleton is currently working with the cadets to help prepare them for the upcoming Seventh Brigade Bold Warrior Challenge in Louisville, Ky.

“The Bold Warrior Challenge is a simulation of what someone may see on deployment or in a mission,” Singleton said. “There are cognitive processes involved, and it is also very physically rigorous.”

The regional competition tests mission-readiness Singleton said. This year, 38 schools will be competing, and the winning team will go on to compete in a national competition.

Singleton brings to his position experience in collegiate coaching and in preparing U.S. military personnel for deployment.

He served as a collegiate strength and conditioning coach and then as a field readiness instructor for active duty military personnel before coming to IU.

He is also the first full-time tactical strength and conditioning coach in the Big Ten.

The relationship between ROTC and athletics began during former professor of military science LTC Michael Ogden’s term as ROTC commander, Warner said. 

However, the official partnership started just a month ago and was facilitated by Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach Chris Virtue, Head Strength and Conditioning Coach for Olympic Sports Mark Wateska and Master Sergeant Wilson, senior military instructor and facilitator for all ranger challenge training. 

Singleton said the mental acuteness and physical strength of the cadets are both high as they prepare for the challenge.

“They do what’s asked, they train intensely and they never complain, which is all I can ask,” Singleton said. “Our hope would be to continue this relationship with athletics in order to continue to facilitate this training, possibly even on a larger scale.”

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