In This Edition:

Kaizen at THON

The Dining Out

Updates from

Delta Company

Exercise Science

Research

Professional

Development

Upcoming Events

Commander’s

Corner

The surprise performance by the popular band DNCE Friday night really got the party started and motivated the dancers through the night! Many bands continued to perform throughout the event including My Hero Zero, talented THON children, and Go Go Gadget. This year, Penn State students raised over $10 million for the Four Diamonds Fund!

Seth Goldsmith, the Nittany Lion Battalion’s THON child, has been celebrating some exciting news with the battalion. As of November 16, Seth is finished with chemotherapy at Hershey. This is an exciting step because it means his cancer is finally under control. His final treatment was completed with the tradition of “ringing the bell” to signify the end. Many Kaizen members and alumni attended this event including Mike Bretzger(‘13), Sarah Bretzger(‘13), Joshua Williams(‘15), Matt Wolfel (’16), Walker Glunz (’16), Ariel Hendricks, and Kyle Rutter. We had members from Kaizen’s beginnings who have been with Seth the whole journey. To celebrate with the Gold-smiths, Kaizen planned a sur-prise party for Seth at SkyZone. We spent the afternoon bouncing around and playing dodgeball with Seth. Kaizen has been busy this year with many other events. We participated in the THON 5k, raised over $200 at our pasta

dinner and over $3,000 on our canning trips. The highlight of our year, THON Weekend, was held from Febru-art 18-20 in the Bryce Jordan Center. Cadets Koby Allen, Erin Hesse, and Kyle Rutter repre-sented Kaizen this year, and Cadet Nick DeLissio danced for Lion Ambassadors. The 46-hour dance marathon had many highs and lows throughout the event.

Kaizen dances for a cure at THON

By Cadet Kyle Rutter

Kaizen members with Seth at the THON 5k last fall.

Business Name

Newsletter Date Volume 1, Issue 1

The Dancers

“Dancing in THON is an experi-ence that I will never forget. From the moment we stood at 6 p.m. on Friday until we were able to sit and see the totals raised for this year 46 hours later, everything I experienced was just incredible. My favorite moment was getting to see the smiles of the families and chil-dren when they were on the floor.” - Cadet Koby Allen

Cadets Allen, Rutter, and Hesse

danced for 46 hours during THON

2017.

“Dancing in THON was a goal I set for myself to accomplish after my first THON experience freshman year. There truly is nothing at Penn State that com-pares to seeing the community come together this one weekend every year to raise money and awareness. My biggest motiva-tion was my brother, who was diagnosed with cancer in No-vember 2016. Another huge motivator was our THON family the Goldsmith’s. We are Penn State and most importantly We Are Seth Strong!” - Cadet Erin Hesse

THE LION’S ROAR Page 2

The Dining Out is an annual

custom held at the Nittany

Lion Battalion. Packed with

tradition, the Dining Out

exemplifies the finest of mil-

itary culture. This year, the

banquet was held at the Penn

Stater Hotel and Conference

Center. Guests were wel-

come to the Dining Out in

order to share the legacy and

heritage of the unit with

their friends and family.

This year, our honored

guest, COL Mike Dietrich

(Ret.) spent the evening with

us and shared valuable les-

sons on leadership. He has

an extensive background

with the Army, and we are

grateful to have heard some

The Dining Out

By Cadet Hannah Levine

of his unique experiences.

The senior class was addition-

ally recognized with their

friends and family in the tradi-

tional Saber Arch. The Saber

Arch, performed by Lion’s

Guard members, honors the

accomplishments and future

plans of the senior Cadets in

the Nittany Lion Battalion.

The 2017 Dining Out was a

great success. The members

and guests of the Nittany Lion

Battalion shared a lovely

evening of comradery, friend-

ship, and military tradition.

The Receiving Line

The Nittany Lion Battalion Cadre

Honored Guest COL Mike Dietrich (Ret.) Cadet Luke Biersmith and his parents Michael and Laura walk through the Saber Arch

Page 3 THE LION’S ROAR

Combining academics and fitness to improve the battalion

By Cadet Nikki Legha

From a very young age, my life has had ties to the mili-

tary, whether it was riding around in tanks in my un-cle’s company, or watching

my older brother attend the United States Naval Acade-

my, I knew this is what I wanted to do in my life as

well. Here I am, currently a senior studying Kinesiolo-

gy at Penn State on track to commission this summer at the end of Advanced

Camp.

My passion for fitness and ROTC has landed me to do

my senior year internship within the Army ROTC pro-

gram.

This semester I am running a research study to see how Cadets’ VO2 maxes, or their maximal oxygen consump-tion, correlate to their Army Physics Fitness Test score. The VO2 can help us deter-mine how battalion PRT can best improve their scores by the end of the semester, and how effective our training is. I get to use my background in Kinesiology and my inter-est in Army

ROTC to develop training and nutrition programs for cadets to improve their over-all health and fitness. I am also helping plan and exe-cute the Freedom Fitness Challenge this semester, which includes a Combat Functional Fitness event, 26.2 mile ruck march and Individual Movement Tech-niques (IMT) event. I look forward to the results

of these events, and I am grateful for the opportunity

to combine my two passions with these projects. Cadet Kelly Clark takes part in a

VO2 Max test earlier this month

Delta Company: Updates from Altoona

By Cadet Maria Gibson

Delta Company is located about an hour southwest of

University Park and is com-prised 52 Cadets. The bulk of our company is made up of

MSL I Cadets (freshmen). Since our school is a common-

wealth campus, many Cadets move to University Park after

their sophomore year. The company is led by four MSL

IV Cadets and four Cadre members, who help guide and execute training.

Within our company, we have two clubs: Ranger Challenge/ Tactics Club and Color Guard.

Our Ranger Challenge team is comprised of Cadets with the

best physical fitness and mental fortitude. This year our team

was accepted to participate in the Ranger Challenge Competi-tion at Fort Dix, NJ. 11 of the

20 Cadets who trained were chosen to compete. The com-

petition was over 2 days long from October 14-16 where they

faced physical and mental chal-lenges along with 50 other teams. Although they did not

finish first, they are highly mo-tivated to continue working

hard and preparing for next year. During the off-semester of Ranger Challenge, Cadets

participate in Tactics Club where they teach each other

and conduct field exercises to improve their tactical skills.

Our Color Guard Team learns Army drill and ceremony, par-

ticipates in local ceremonies for Veterans, and attended the

Flight 93 Memorial in Stony-creek Township, PA.

Our Company is very unique in

the fact since we have a smaller number of upperclassmen, we

get to try out most of the lead-ership positions, which makes us more experienced leaders.

We play an integral part in the battalion, and we are Penn

State Proud!

The Delta Company Ranger Challenge Team

Cadet Maria Gibson,

D Co Commander

THE LION’S ROAR Page 4

In my time at Penn State I’ve found numerous opportunities

to become involved outside of ROTC. Part of being an of-ficer means you have to be

able to lead a diverse group of Soldiers from various back-

grounds. The best way to achieve this experience be-

forehand is to become as in-volved and well-rounded as

possible.

I initially started out freshmen year joining some of the

standard ROTC clubs like Ranger Challenge and Lions Guard. By sophomore year, I

began to get involved in the other parts of campus. I

joined the Penn State Interna-tional Affairs Debate Associ-

ation (Model UN) and Lion Ambassadors. In each organi-zation I met students from

diverse and original back-

grounds and was forced to work in a wider variety of

teams and groups.

In ROTC it's easy to find yourself working with a ho-

mogenous group of kids with similar upbringings. Finding myself in other organizations

taught me that everyone has something unique to bring to

the team. Both organizations also taught me how to be a

public speaker and interact with people of significant

status, including major donors to the school. Essentially, I was able to fine-tune the so-

cial skills that are required of an officer.

These organizations also pro-

vided me extra leadership opportunities that I may not

have in ROTC. For example, in my junior year I joined the

Nittany Divers SCUBA club. I enjoyed the club so much

that I served as the marketing and recruiting chair. By the spring semester of that year, I

was elected to be the club Vice President, and at the end

of the year I was elected again to be the President.

The Importance of professional self-development

By Cadet Nick DeLissio

Cadet Nick DeLissio on a dive at the National Aquarium in Baltimore, MD

While my time in ROTC and around Wagner building

has allowed me to develop my Soldier skills and Army

knowledge, I attribute the most of leadership develop-

ment to my time spent in other Penn state Organiza-tions.

My Experience at the Sapper Leader Course

By Cadet Tim Olson

Sapper school is designed to train joint-service leaders in combat engineering tasks, leadership skills, and tactics required to perform as part of a combined arms team. These tasks were applied in the pa-trolling phase of the course, a two-week span that consisted of 24-hour combat operations under the environmental

stressors of extreme sleep and food deprivation. Attending Sapper school taught me a lot about the Army and combat engineer-ing. Throughout the course I learned a lot of technical skills, such as demolitions, mountaineering, and path-

Last summer I had the unique opportunity of attending the Sapper Leader Course (SLC), also known as Sapper school. SLC is a 28 day course in-tended for combat engineers; however, any Soldier from a combat or combat support branch has the opportunity to attend.

finder operations. The other stu-dents, mostly enlisted E5-E7 and officers O1-O2, were great in helping catch me up on a lot of the skills that I had little to no experience with. They also shared their experiences in the “real Army” and the invaluable lessons they had learned through previous deployments and years of service. The patrolling phase taught me a lot about myself. It pushed me to maintain my basic Soldier disciplines even when I was tired, hungry, and in con-stant pain. Failure to do so would result in my fellow stu-dents not earning their tab. This hard truth taught me how imper-ative it is to look out for the per-son next to you. If you don’t have the support of the guys and girls around you, you are des-tined for failure in Sapper school or other military schools like it.

Cadet Tim Olson’s class at Sapper Leader’s Course

THE LION’S ROAR Page 5

Cadets completing the high-ropes course

at Fall Field Training Exercise

What’s Next in the NLB?

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GAFPB

GAFPB Spring Break

Arlington Trip

Arlington Pentagon Trip Tactics FTX

Tactics FTX Staff Ride

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April 2017

APFT JFTX

JFTX

FFC 26.2 Ruck/ IMT Branch Day Blue/White

Classes End

Graduation Commissioning

End to the Drawdown

The National Defense Authorization

Act will bring the Army’s strength up

to 476,000 Soldiers, or 16,000 more

than originally planned.

Women in Combat Roles

Ten female Officers have graduated

the Army’s first integrated infantry

course, and 13 have graduated the

first integrated armor course.

New Retirement Plan

This is the last year military person-

nel can choose to enroll in either the

old or the new retirement plan. Eve-

ryone who joins the military on or

after Jan. 1, 2018, will be automati-

cally enrolled in the new plan.

New SECDEF

Gen. James Mattis (Ret.) is con-

firmed as the 26th Secretary of De-

fense. He previously served as com-

mander of CENTCOM, commander of

USJFCOM, and as Supreme Allied

Commander of Transformation.

2.1% Pay Raises

Follow this link to see the full pay

chart:

http://militarybenefits.info/2017-

military-pay-charts/

OPAT Test

The Occupational Physical Assess-

ment Test is now being implemented

to determine eligibility of branches

Soldiers and Officers can enter. The

tests are age and gender-neutral.

Considerations over Beard, Earrings

and Nailpolish Policies

The Army is testing potential changes

in the uniform policy including author-

ization of beards, nailpolish and ear-

rings while wearing the Army Combat

Uniform.

10 Big changes in the U.S. Army this year

By Cadet Hannah Levine

New Talent Management Initiative

The Army has launched the Assignment

Interactive Module pilot to analyze a broad-

er range of Soldiers’ experience and inter-

ests to determine job and duty station as-

signments.

European Deployments

The Army is increasing its presence in Eu-

rope by deploying 4,000 Soldiers from an

armored brigade combat team.

Involvement in Syria

Currently, there are about 500 troops de-

ployed to Syria, and about 5,000 in Iraq.

The Pentagon is drafting proposals to poten-

tially increase the number of troops there.

Cadet Matthew Smyrl,

Battalion Commander

Commander’s Corner

212 Wagner Building

University Park, PA 16802

Phone: (814) 863-0368

Email: army.rotc@psu.edu

Penn State Army ROTC

Nittany Lion Battalion

The Nittany Lion Battalion is a Cadet-centered battalion, where the

seniors are the command team and lead a unit of over 300 Cadets on

two Penn State campuses: University Park and Altoona.

Penn State Army ROTC was one of the first units created by the Mor-

rill Land Grant Act in 1862. The unit was actually deployed during the

Civil War. Military instruction has been taught since the college be-

gan, and fell under the ROTC umbrella in 1917. During that year, the

Army and the PA National Guard used Penn State property to train

their Soldiers for WWI. During WWII, ROTC was created at the Berks

and Abington-Ogontz Campus in addition to the ROTC at University

Park. Altoona and Hazleton ROTC programs were created soon there-

after.

Currently, Penn State Army ROTC has four companies over two cam-

puses, and is the largest Army ROTC program outside of Senior Mili-

tary

http://www.army.psu.edu

https://www.flickr.com/photos/psuarmyrotc/

We’re on the Web!

LTC Richard Garey, Professor of Military Science, gives Cadet

Matthew Smyrl Command through the passing of the Guideon.

Nittany Lion Battalion, I am Cadet Matthew Smyrl. I took on the role of the Cadet Nittany Lion Battalion Com-mander on December 5th, 2016. My command policy is centered around the importance of deci-sion-making at every level. It allows latitude to the command-ers and all Cadets to make deci-sions so that they can come up with great ideas or learn from ones that aren't so great. I’m there with the command team and battalion staff to make sure that the Cadets of the battalion are preparing for their jobs in the Army. This includes not only the fundamental skills nec-essary to perform a jobs as members of the military, but also the critical leadership skills required of an officer. The leadership of the battalion works to improve Cadets physi-cally, tactically, and mentally so they are as prepared as possible for any future challenge they

may face in ROTC, the Army, civilians careers, or simply everyday life. We teach Ca-dets all of this by giving the upperclassmen leadership opportunities to plan classes and teach the underclassmen the basic Soldier skills.

The Nittany Lion Battalion is a great organization, and I am truly honored and humbled to have been chosen to represent and lead the battalion as its commander. Penn State Proud!