Missouri S&T’s Air Force and Army Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) cadets participated at a two-day competition against teams from several other Midwestern universities Oct. 13-14.

At the ROTC Ranger Challenge, S&T’s Army 11-person team finished second and its seven-person team finished first. The Air Force team finished seventh overall, while earning fourth place in the obstacle course and land navigation test.

The Ranger Challenge is designed to develop adaptive leaders who can manage mental and physical stresses similar to those experienced while conducting military operations. Over the course of the weekend, participants moved up to 20 miles with all their gear, as a team, but were also be scored individually on challenges. Those challenges range from land navigation and the ability to provide emergency medical treatment to tying knots, crawling under barbed wire and marching six miles with rucksacks that weigh up to 35 pounds.

“Cadets started preparing for this event shortly after school started in August,” says Maj. Jesse Evans, assistant professor of ROTC aerospace studies at S&T. “Our cadets even hosted a mock ranger challenge a couple of weekends ago, at one of the team members’ family farms in the area. All our cadets said they would be back next year, with their eye on winning a couple of events and a goal of a top three overall finish.”

This is the second year in a row that S&T’s Army ROTC advanced to the next round of competition at a regional event.

“Our program consistently performs well at the Task Force level competition,” says Capt. Erica Stitt, assistant professor of military science at S&T. “In fact, a few members of this year’s team had competed all the way up to the national event at the U.S. military academy in 2021.”

The following students are members of the team representing Missouri S&T’s Air Force ROTC:

• Silas Angell, a junior in mechanical engineering from St. Clair, Illinois
• Elijah Biehle, a first-year student in aerospace engineering from Pacific, Missouri
• Noah Bronstein, a sophomore in civil engineering from St. Louis
• Leilani Dill, a first-year student in mechanical engineering from St. Joseph, Missouri
• Aiden Ewald, a sophomore in chemical engineering from Nixa, Missouri
• Conner Gasparich, a sophomore in aerospace engineering from Chatham, Illinois
• Nathaniel Guy, a senior in nuclear engineering from Forsyth, Missouri
• Elye Krueger, a first-year student in aerospace engineering from Redford, Missouri
• Sukanya Nyhus, a sophomore in aerospace engineering from Lee’s Summit, Missouri
• Jeffrey Ostrander, a first-year student in computer science from St. Peters, Missouri
• Celeste Stevens, a sophomore in aerospace engineering from Merriam Woods Village, Missouri
• Daniel Vandergrift, a first-year student in aerospace engineering from Rolla, Missouri
• James Voigt, a sophomore in civil engineering from Saint Robert, Missouri.

The following students are members of the teams representing Missouri S&T’s Army ROTC:

• Roberto Arzabala, a sophomore in physics from Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri
• Andrew Becker, a junior in civil engineering from Imperial, Missouri
• Liam Corrick, a senior in business and management systems from Noel, Missouri
• Jacob Ewing, a senior in engineering management from Neosho, Missouri
• LeeAnn Ford, a junior in business and management systems from Pryor, Oklahoma
• Irvin Heggemann, a first-year student in chemical engineering from Wentzville, Missouri
• Corey Hubkey, a junior in geological engineering from Brumley, Missouri
• Matt Jones, a first-year student in mining engineering from Saint Charles, Missouri
• Colin Mitchell, a junior in history from Saint James, Missouri
• Luke Souders, a junior in environmental engineering from Olathe, Kansas
• Scott Stutsman, a sophomore in civil engineering from Troy, Missouri
• Jenevieve Tong, a first-year student in undergraduate studies from Saint Robert, Missouri
• Brandon Tracy, a sophomore in computer science from Owensville, Missouri
• Cameron Turner, a senior in biological sciences from Lake Saint Louis, Missouri
• Robert Velasquez, a sophomore in history from Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri
• Julia Watson, a sophomore in aerospace engineering from Manchester, Missouri
• Breanne Willson, a first-year student in engineering management from Stilwell, Kansas
• Dayton Wilson, a first-year student in mechanical engineering from Cameron, Missouri.

About Missouri University of Science and Technology

Missouri University of Science and Technology (Missouri S&T) is a STEM-focused research university of over 7,000 students located in Rolla, Missouri. Part of the four-campus University of Missouri System, Missouri S&T offers over 100 degrees in 40 areas of study and is among the nation’s top public universities for salary impact, according to the Wall Street Journal. For more information about Missouri S&T, visit www.mst.edu.