October 2020

Spartan Goals Program

By: C/3C Kim, C/3C Tiruthani, C/3C Tran

Of all the things negatively affected by the Coronavirus epidemic, fitness remains a top priority. Because of the reduced ability for us to exercise together, the Spartan Goals Program has become more relevant than ever. Spartan Goals, which is a relatively new initiative to promote personal fitness, revolves around a point system: pushups, situps, and running miles count for different amounts of points, and each cadet is given the goal of maximizing their points for their assigned team. To date, the Spartan Goals program is responsible for promoting 680 miles of running, 40,500 pushups, and 35,850 sit-ups.

The competition itself revolves around four teams, numbered one through four, with about 25 cadets and cadre randomly assigned to each. “Having everyone split into teams helps promote healthy competition since individuals can all come together and help contribute to a common goal, which is to be 1st place and to win the prize,” said C/1st Lt Huynh, describing the benefits of team competition. “ It encourages teammates to bring out the best in each other, helps cadets feel they are contributing towards something bigger, and motivate those who might have not wanted to in the first place.”

Of course, the primary purpose of the program is encouraging cadets to pursue PT at home. In addition to the three basic exercises, cadets can perform alternate exercises to reach an equivalency with the ones above. For instance, a cadet that has biked three miles will receive credit for running one mile. Similarly, a bench press repetition with greater than 60% bodyweight will count as one pushup. The combination of flexibility in exercises and the added camaraderie of team competition makes the Spartan Goals program a strong opponent in the face of COVID challenges.

“Cadets can help push each other to work out more this way. The best part about this is that this is not a super serious competition but something that is more on the fun side.”

Delta Flight has also interviewed C/3C Kim, the GMC PFO of Fall 2020, to access his thoughts on this semester’s Spartan Goals. He was asked what his goals for this semester’s Spartan Goals were as the GMC PFO where he responded with,

“My ultimate goal for all cadets is to help them achieve a better Fitness Assessment score than last semester. For 100s, I want to prepare them in a way so that they achieve their best FA score that they can personally get. Another goal, especially for GMC cadets, is to have them log their cardio exercises on Strava. With the current situations we are living in right now, it can get hard to get outside and work out.”

Strava Logo ImageAnother implementation that Detachment 045 had is the Strava app, a mobile app that tracks the runner’s distance and time while running, biking, or walking. This app has been used since Spring of 2020, but this time around, there is more emphasis on the usage of the app and tracking miles as it is a major criteria in the Air Force PFA. The running portion of the PFA consists of 1.5 miles that totals to 60 possible points a cadet can earn. Not only does this app track the runner’s distance, but the runner may also join other clubs and challenges that would motivate them into running or biking more. Detachment 045 also has a club online in the app for cadets to join and share their runs where others may give kudos to one another.

You Can Fly Scholarship

By: C/3C Berrien, C/3C Chang, C/3C Rodriguez A., C/3C Sharma

Cadet Berrien portraitThis semester, five cadets were selected to receive the AFROTC “You Can Fly” (AYCF) Scholarship. To address the Chief of Staff’s top priority of fixing the alarming shortage of pilots (more information about this situation can be found in this article), the program allows selected cadets the opportunity to spend up to $3,500 for flying lessons at the aviation school of their choice, in hopes of pursuing a Private Pilot License. The scholarship covers Private Pilot Ground school, student and instructor flight time, and flight equipment such as headsets.

Cadets Heriberto Amaral, Ethan Berrien, Athena Chang, Adhavan Tiruthani, and Amado Shrestha were all selected for the scholarship this semester. The cadets all heard about this opportunity from Cadre, responding with their interest in hopes that the financial burden of flight training could be relieved, and that receiving this rare opportunity would put them one step closer to receiving the coveted pilot slot.

Cadet Chang portraitWhen asked how she reacted when she found out she was selected, C/3C Chang said her first emotion was relief. C/3C Chang said she had worked three jobs the entire summer to save up thousands of dollars for flying lessons, but was so grateful she was relieved of some of that financial burden. C/3C Amaral was also quoted as saying

“The idea of flying is exciting itself, especially because this will be the first time I’ll take flight lessons. Without the scholarship, I probably couldn’t start flying anytime soon.”

Cadets were also happy that receiving the “You Can Fly” scholarship would put them one step closer to achieving their dreams of flying for the Air Force. C/Tiruthani stated simply,

“I felt like I had made progress towards my goal of being in a rated AFSC.” C/Berrian elaborated, “I was a little emotional because I felt like my dreams were coming true. I remember calling my parents and friends to tell them. It felt pretty awesome.”

All cadets seemed to agree that the opportunity of being in the air was what they were most excited for. We are proud to congratulate these cadets for earning this outstanding opportunity and wish them luck and blue skies going forward.

Promotion Ceremony

By: C/3C Christ, C/3C Postle, C/3C White

During LLAB on 16 October 2020, a group of outstanding cadets received promotions to C/1 Lt. These cadets are as follows: C/Aguda, C/Blake, C/Chase, C/Combalecer, C/Flores, C/Huynh, C/Kan, C/Keane, C/Kelly, C/Rabe, C/Rodriguez, V, C/Taylor, C/Urlik.

These cadets have demonstrated outstanding leadership skills and perfectly embody the kind of values every cadet in the detachment can look up to. The promotion ceremony is not just a simple rank pinning affair, but a milestone of achievement that every GMC cadet can look forward to as they embark on their journey through ROTC. FTP can take this ceremony as a herald for their own time up there should they put in the time and dedication. These cadets have proven themselves not only as POC cadets in Det 045, but as future leaders in the Air Force. As these cadets step up to their next rank, they have proven and will continue to demonstrate their flexibility as leaders, and as we all know, “Flexibility is the key to air power.”

Cadet Rodriguez V. portraitThis ceremony was a recognition of the hard work they had put in throughout the semester. Some of this hard work included the revamping of the detachment website by C/1st Lt Urlik, the securing of a grant from SJSU by C/1st Lt Rodriguez V., and the assistance of TSgt Garcia in the ongoing process changing from ABUs to OCPs by C/1st Lt Rabe C. Wingstaff would shake their hands, salute them, and hand them their new ranks, but due to the COVID-19 restrictions they will have to wait until their next in-person meeting.

For one cadet, C/1st Lt Aguda, he will beCadet Kan portrait receiving his ranks in another fashion. C/Maj Cervantes briefly mentioned how proud he was of C/Aguda for his achievements, and told him that he will be handing down his C/1st Lt ranks to C/Aguda when they see each other next. We asked C/Aguda if he made it a goal to receive this promotion, he said

 

“My goal was never to be promoted, but to be the best I could be for my team and I refuse to disappoint them.”

When asked for advice for future POC, he ended by stating

“If you want an amazing outcome, you have to put in the amazing effort first.”

This is a prime example of living by the core values, and C/Aguda sets an outstanding example of what mentality a leader, and a wingman, should have at all times.