Wake Up Call

The alarm clock rattles “5:24 a.m.” on your nightstand as you fumble through morning darkness to hit the “off” switch. No time for snoozing here. As you gather your gear and suit up in a blue uniform, you hit the ground running for an early workout, yet again, without a doubt in your mind that you wouldn’t rather be sleeping in like the rest of your civilian colleagues. Your determination drives you. Your thirst for life is quenched by excellence. You will settle for nothing less than to become one of the best in the world’s most elite force—the United States Air Force. Welcome to Detachment 025, home of the Flying Devils. Do you have what it takes to become an Air Force officer?

You won’t have to worry about missing out on any college experiences or opportunities, as you will create some of the most exciting times of your life in Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corp (ROTC). You will develop confidence in overcoming obstacles, making difficult decisions and facing tough challenges as a leader during your training as you earn your degree and work toward your ultimate goal as an Air Force cadet—your commission. To become a leader in the most powerful air force in the world can be a tremendous task with many responsibilities, but that’s the price of greatness. We take our careers as future officers seriously, basing our leadership skills around values of honor, integrity, excellence and discipline. Our cadre is comprised of nine world-class military and civilian personnel who provide the support and direction to our cadet organization, powered by more than 100 cadets. Led by their (cadet) wing commander, cadets learn to effectively operate and manage a wing while living in a student environment attending college at ASU. 

The Day to Day

Air Force ROTC is a program created to challenge even the strongest of character. Four to five days a week, cadets engage in military esprit de corps and academics through several cadet-run training programs supervised by cadre. Physical training (PT) is a strenuous one-hour workout that takes place three times a week starting at 0600 hours sharp. Your cadet class and academic status determines how many Air Force academic classes you are required to take: underclassmen are normally required to take one class a week, while upperclassmen attend two classes a week. Leadership laboratory (LLab) is also hosted early; every Thursday the entire cadet wing reconvenes for two hours at 0630 hours, discussing up-coming events, instilling and reviewing core values and presenting situations to cadets that help promote development to become better leaders and prepare for their future as Air Force officers.

Two types of cadets make up the wing, the Professional Officer Course (POC) cadet and the General Military Course (GMC) cadet. The POC make up the upper echelon of the corps, having already been to field training (four intensive weeks of mental and physical leadership training) and having served two years as a GMC. POC cadets aid in training and leading their underclassmen apprentices and also help design guidance, information and other services needed to increase motivation, retention and performance of cadets. The GMC serve in an apprentice-like role, as their job is to primarily focus on learning the basics of the mission, structure and lifestyle of a military officer in the Air Force, in addition to preparing for field training.

Off Into The Wild Blue Yonder

If leadership is what your heart desires, then cross into the blue at Detachment 025 at Arizona State University. It will prove to be a most rewarding experience filled with challenge.