committed to excellence! - florida a&m university

The Rattler Battalion has

been extremely busy

within the last few

months, and have an even

busier schedule leading up

to the Leadership Devel-

opment and Assessment

Course (LDAC), along

with new changes to the

course curriculum as di-

rected by the new Profes-

sor of Military Science

(PMS).

The Outgoing PMS, LTC

Jeffrey Williams and his

Family will be heading to

the DC Metro area. LTC

Williams, wife Melissa

and their three sons will

be greatly missed by the

Rattler battalion, FAMU

alumni, faculty and

friends.

Florida A&M University President James Ammons

passes the Army ROTC Rattler Battalion Colors to the

new Commander, MAJ Joseph Kelly on 21 April

2011. The Change of Command Ceremony took place

at the Eternal Flame just outside of Lee Hall.

Rattler Battalion Change of Command

Inside this issue:

Standout Cadets 2

Running Rattlers 3

Joint Awards Ceremony 4

Commissioning and Ball 5

Farewell MSG Myers 6

Grades and PT Studs 7

Pre-LDAC 8

Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University Army Reserved Officer’s Training Corps

Committed to Excellence!

Special points of

interest:

PMS Welcome

Cadet Activities &

Events

Spring 2011 Commis-

sioning Ceremony

Cadet Summer Activities

Camp Special

Cadet Orientation Week

Outstanding Grade Re-

port

Calendar

JUNE 2011 VOLUME 1, ISSUE 1

Commanding General of Cadet Command Visit

MG McDonald, Commanding General of Cadet Com-

mand, presents LTC Williams with his PCS award.

On May 5, 2011, the

Commanding General of

Cadet Command, MG

Mark McDonald, visited

Florida A&M Univer-

sity. His first stop was

Howard Hall, where he

presented LTC Williams

with the Meritorious

Service Medal.

Cadets James Seay, Pier

Jea Lyon and Marcus

Jackson gave an excel-

lent briefing on the status

of the Rattler Battalion,

and all of the upcoming

initiatives in mentorship

and improving training.

Hello and welcome to our first quarterly

newsletter! It is my honor and privilege to

serve you as your Professor of Military Sci-

ence! My Family and I are very excited to

be here at Florida A&M University. We are

very proud to be Rattlers!

To our new Cadets, we would like to wel-

come you into the Rattler Battalion. We are

very excited about our upcoming school

year. We look forward to seeing you all

during our Cadet Orientation Week (COW).

It is here where we will train you on the basics of college life and the ROTC

program. We will conduct physical training and community service projects.

We will also discuss upcoming changes to the course syllabus to include the

addition of writing courses designed to assist you with your college career, and

introduce our participation in Toastmasters.

For our returning Cadets, welcome back! We look

forward to seeing you at Cadet Orientation Week!

I hope you have been doing Physical Training in

your off time along with eating somewhat prop-

erly. We have hard work to do and loads to lift!

There are some syllabus changes to the MS II and

MSIV curriculums as well. We will incorporate

Toastmasters at both levels. Toastmasters is a

speaking organization designed to improve speak-

ing and leadership skills. MS IVs will have to

participate in professional blogs, submit an article

for publication along with conducting a media in-

terview.

Again, I truly look forward to serving you as your

PMS. Leaders are only successful when the people

they are leading become successful.

Cadet Kashayla Unis was selected to attend the

2011 Battle Command Conference which took

place at the United States Military Academy in

West Point, New York. The Battle Command

Conference serves as the capstone experience

in United States Military Academy‟s

(USMA‟s) professional military ethic educa-

tion and focuses on battle command in the

contemporary environment.

COMMANDER’S CORNER

Cadet Kashayla Unis Attends the Cadet Battle Command Conference

2011. Cadet Bellamy participated in three

days of thought provoking seminars with dis-

tinguished panelists, and she also had the op-

portunity to interact with our nation‟s top mili-

tary and government leaders. She was not

only able to gain insight from being a part of

these unique educational activities, but she was

able to reunite and establish relationships with

her fellow Cadets.

Cadet Salita Bellamy Represents FAMU ROTC at Leadership Conference

Cadet Salita Bellamy was the recipient of the

prestigious 2011 George C. Marshall Award.

The George C. Marshall Award is awarded to

the top ROTC Cadet of a college or university

based on excellence in the pursuit of military

and academic studies, leadership potential and

professional development. She had the privi-

lege to attend the 2011 Army Cadet Command

George C. Marshall Awards and Leadership

Seminar which was held in Lexington, Vir-

ginia. The conference was from 14 - 17 April

COMMITTED TO EXCELLENCE!

“Leaders are

only successful

when the people

they are leading

become

successful”

- rick pitino

Cadet Kashayla Unis

Cadet Salita Bellamy

On 23 April 2011, FAMU

ROTC Cadets—led by Cadet

Shaurice Keys—celebrated

Easter weekend by hosting its

First “Easter with the Rattler

Battalion” located at Howard

Hall. This was a fun filled

community service event held

for children of all ages within

the local community. Over

30 children and their families

participated in the event—

consisting of various activi-

ties such as face and egg

painting, egg and spoon rac-

ing, and balloon hop racing.

They also had the pleasure of

enjoying great music by

Ghost Entertainment Produc-

tions and complimentary food

provided by M&M Barbeque.

Cadet Keys did an out-

standing job of coordinating

this event and both Cadets

and participants had a won-

derful time. Children were

awarded various prizes like

Easter baskets, games and

puzzles.

At the conclusion of the

event, FAMU ROTC and

M&M Barbeque donated over

50 hamburgers to a local

homeless shelter called, “The

Shelter,” located in downtown Tallahassee. All Cadets who vol-

unteered represented FAMU and the ROTC program in a superb

manor.

On April 16, 2011, FAMU

Army ROTC Cadets partici-

pated in the 37th running of

the Palace Saloon 5K. The

2011 event featured 1,064

finishers completing the 3.1

miles which started from Tal-

lahassee Community College

for the first time. This was a

much more competitive race.

The Rattlers finished 5th in

the team categories.

FAMU ROTC Hosts Easter Event

Rattlers Participate in the Palace Saloon 5K Race

lahassee on a USA Track &

Field certified course. The

course began with a 3/4 mile

downhill stretch, covering

rolling hills through the beau-

tiful Meyers Park neighbor-

hood and finished with a flat

and fast 1/2 mile from the

start area. Rattler Battalion

Cadets finished strong to re-

ceive the winning title, as

well as two Cadets, Cadets

Jerome Maples and Roland

Pitts, receiving individual

awards.

One Rattler, Cadet Jason

Tarin, participated in the 10K

portion of the race.

Rattlers Win Springtime Tallahassee 5K Race

April 2, 2011, FAMU Army

ROTC took first place as the

corporate team in the 43rd

Annual 2011 Springtime Tal-

lahassee Festival. This festi-

val is an annual event held to

celebrate Tallahassee‟s his-

tory and culture. The race

took place in Downtown Tal-

VOLUME 1, ISSUE 1

Cadet Shaurice Keys leads children on the Easter Egg Hunt por-

tion of the “Easter with the Rattler Battalion”

Springtime 5K Participants:

Jerome Maples - 19:51

Roland Pitts - 20:37

MAJ Kelly - 23:42

Jonathan Londono - 23:57

LTC Williams - 24:11

Tarolyn Granthum - 25:15

Salita Bellamy - 25:24

Amanda Uwaibi - 26:01

Alexandria McCloud - 26:31

Carlos Pitts - 28:18

Palace Saloon 5K Runners:

Ronald Penn - 18:55

Jerome Maples - 20:18

Peter Falcone - 21:19

Ketrick English - 21:37

LTC Williams - 23:23

Heather Moore - 25:08

Salita Bellamy - 25:24

Amanda Uwaibi - 26:45

Desiree Day - 34:36

Cadets (l-r) Ronald Penn, Ketrick English, Amanda Uwaibi and Peter

Falcone coming down the home stretch of the Palace Saloon 5K Race

Cadet Brione Lewis face painting

units. This year‟s guest

speaker was LTC Williams.

The Joint Awards ceremony

concluded with the presenta-

tion of the General Ferguson

Most Outstanding Cadet

Award to Cadet Kashayla

Unis. The recipient of this

award gets their name on a

plaque in Howard Hall.

Other award winners:

On Thursday, April 14, 2011,

The Rattler Battalions of

Army ROTC and Navy

ROTC held their Annual Joint

Awards Ceremony on the

campus of Florida A&M Uni-

versity in the Pharmacy Audi-

torium. This ceremony is held

every year to honor those

Cadets and midshipmen who

have gone above and beyond

their duties in their respective

FAMU ROTC Cadre and Faculty take First Place!

Army/Navy Joint Awards Ceremony

Angels introduced 7 new An-

gels to the Rattler Battalion

and the campus of Florida

A&M University. Congratula-

tions Ladies. New inductees

are: Kimberly Alexis, Alicia

Milton, Tina Burroughs, Sili-

enne Saint-Fluery, Mareshah

Owusu-Yaw; and two Naval

ROTC Cadets—Krystal May

and Erica Ware

Pershing Angel Conference and Probate

On April 2, 2011, The Na-

tional Society of Pershing

Angels and Pershing Rifles:

Company C-16, attended the

Annual Royal Blue & White

Conference held at Morgan

State University for the 2010-

2011 school year.

On April 6, 2011, The Na-

tional Society of Pershing

On 6 May 2011, The FAMU

ROTC Cadre and Staff par-

ticipated in the FAMU De-

partment of Public Safety

Spring 2011 Physical Readi-

ness Challenge. This is a

physical fitness event geared

toward uniting the community

and promoting fitness aware-

ness and healthy lifestyle.

The event is comprised of a

stadium bleacher run, 200

yard shuttle run and 25 yard

dummy drag along with a few

other team events.

Ms. McGhee (HRA), MSG

Pitt and SFC Haskins took 1st

place in several categories as

Team FAMU ROTC won the

overall first place.

The event was a huge success

and much credit should be

given to the FAMU Depart-

ment of Public Safety for put-

ting together such a class act

event. Several organizations

participated in the event along

with children from nearby

schools.

Professor of Military Science Major Joe Kelly holds the champion ship trophy

with (l-r) SFC Charles Haskins, FAMU Department of Public Safety Chief Ross,

MSG David Pitt and Ms. Elizabeth McGhee (HRA)


MSG Pitt and SFC Haskins pre-

pare for the 200m shuttle run

American Legion Scholars: Salita Bellamy, Richard Johnson,

Silienne Saint-Fleury, David Singleton

American Legion Military Excellence Award: Alexandria

McCloud, Roland Pitts, Meghan Jones, Fionia Washington

Reserve Officer’s Association Award: Heather Moore, Maurice

Arnold, Tavarris Andrews, Emily Ferrucci

Military Order of World Wars: Ryan Warren, Shaurice Keys,

Peter Falcone, Dale Landry II

Daughters of the American Revolution Award: Amanda

Uwaibi, Kashayla Unis

Sons of the American Revolution: Rafael Watts

Military Officer’s Association of America Award: Domanique

Hyman

AUSA Member Award: Ronald Penn, Jr

More awards continued on page 7 (see Ceremony page 7)

On Friday, April 29, 2011,

eight Cadets were commis-

sioned as Second Lieutenants

into the United States Army.

The ceremony took place at

11:30am at the Florida Capi-

tol Courtyard. This year‟s

guest speaker was FAMU

ROTC Alumnus and former

Ms. Army ROTC, LTC Eury-

dice (Stephens)Stanley, Ph.D.

She delivered an outstanding

address to the new lieutenants

as she stressed the importance

of continuing education, and

the importance of having a

mentor.

Former PMS, LTC Jeffrey Wil-

liams gave the LTs their Oath

of Office. Notable attendees

were: Dean Turner, COL

Ronald Joe, and Ms. Lynn

Bannister. Newly commis-

sioned officers are:

- 2LT Salita Bellamy, Signal

Corps, Active Duty

- 2LT Amanda Uwaibi, Adju-

tant General Corps, Education

Delay

- 2LT Celeb Weldon, Finance

Corps, Georgia Guard

- 2LT Jamar Littlejohn, Corps

of Engineers, Georgia Guard

- 2LT Xavier Smith, Transpor-

tation Corps, Florida Reserve

- 2LT Kashayla Unis, Ordnance

Corps, Active Duty

- 2LT Keontra Campbell, Field

Artillery, Florida Guard

- 2LT Anthony Dowling, Adju-

tant General Corps, Florida

Reserve

were Cadets Jerome Maples,

Silenne Saint-Fluery, Ronald

Penn and Salita Bellamy (all

pictured above l-r). The night

concluded with dancing.

On Friday, April 15, 2011, the

Rattler Battalion held the an-

nual Military Ball at the Na-

tional Guard Armory in Talla-

hassee, Florida. This year‟s

guest speaker was FAMU

ROTC Alumnus COL Jeffrey

Fletcher, Fort Benning Garri-

son Commander. Event in-

cluded skits by each Military

Science Class, a traditional

military punch bowl cere-

mony, and presentation of

Cadet awards. The recipients

Spring 2011 FAMU ROTC Commissioning Ceremony

Spring 2011 Military Ball

VOLUME 1, ISSUE 1

“When they ask

you what school

you went to, you

look them in the

eyes and tell

them, Florida

A&M University!”

LTC Stanley giving address at commis-

sioning ceremony

The Rattler Battalion is sending several Cadets to attend the prestig-

ious U.S. Army Airborne School and U.S. Army Air Assault

School. The United States Army Airborne School - widely known

as Jump School - conducts the basic paratrooper (military parachut-

ist) training for the United States armed forces. The course is three

weeks long and consists of "Ground Week", "Tower Week" and

"Jump Week". Rigorous physical training (PT) is emphasized

throughout the entire course. Cadets attending Airborne school this

Summer are: Ciara Cooper-Thomas, Peter Falcone, David Gilles-

pie, Jerome Maples, Stefan Sabur, Marcus Jackson, and Shaurice

Keys. Our first Airborne School graduate this summer is Cadet

Cooper-Thomas who will graduate on 26 May 2011.

The Air Assault School deals with making soldiers qualified to con-

duct airmobile and air assault helicopter operations. Aircraft orien-

tation, slingload operations, proper rappelling techniques and fast-

rope techniques. The school itself is 10 training days and requires a

12-mile (19 km) march with rucksack in order to graduate.

The school is located at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, (home of the

101st Airborne Division). There are also schools at Schofield Bar-

racks, Hawaii, Fort Hood Texas, Camp Blanding, Florida, Fort

Bliss, Texas and Fort Drum, NY. We have one Cadet attending Air

Assault School this Summer, Cadet Ryan Jackson. He is currently

scheduled to graduate on 25 May 2011.

Farewell to MSG Myers and wife Rebecca

Airborne and Air Assault Schools

their mission, travel to their

assigned country and work

together on a project. The

Army pays for the entire pro-

gram and even provides a

modest wage for the month.

Our Rattler Battalion Cadets

who are participating this sum-

mer are:

Alexandria McCloud - Benin

Silienne Saint-Fleury - Togo

Shaurice Keys - Thailand

Vieanna Smith - Ghana

Rattlers on the Move

We have several Cadets par-

ticipating in our Cultural Lan-

guage Program (CULP). This

program allows Cadets to

apply for a month-long sum-

mer program to work with a

foreign military organization,

take a language course or

participate in an humanitarian

project in a developing coun-

try. The program's objective is

to create army officers who

are more experienced in deal-

ing with foreign cultures.

Selected Cadets go to destina-

tions in the Philippines, Af-

rica, E. Europe, Asia and

Central America. Teams are

organized into groups of

around 30 Cadets who plan

The Rattler Battalion said

farewell to one of its Cadre

members. MSG Thomas

Myers has finalized his

permanent change of duty

station to Fort Carson,

Colorado. He came to the

Rattler Battalion in March

2008 and has done an out-

standing job training our

Cadets as he prepared

them for not only the

Leadership Development

A s s e s s me n t C o u r s e

(LDAC), but for subse-

quent life as adults and as

second lieutenants. MSG

Meyers and wife Rebecca

recently finalized the pa-

perwork on their beautiful

newly adopted daughter, Audrey.

We are sad to see the Myers fam-

ily leave, however he will con-

tinue to serve our Army in within

the Special Forces branch. His

last day at

the Rattler

B a t t a l i o n

was Friday,

6 May 2011.

We wish you

and your

family safe

travels and

r e m e m b e r

once a Rat-

tler, always

a Rattler!


Wreath Laying Ceremony

Directly after the Commissioning Ceremony on 29 April

2011; LTC Eurydice (Stephens) Stanley and MSG David

Pitt participate in the FAMU Alumni Association Wreath

Laying Ceremony located in the Grand Ballroom.

The overall grades in the Rat-

tler Battalion were not good

this past Spring 2011 Semes-

ter. We have to get the grades

up! This is urgent and re-

quires action. While some

Cadets are doing what they

are supposed to, others must

act now to improve their

GPA!

We have a policy in place at

the Rattler Battalion that any

Cadet with a Cumulative

GPA below a 2.5 must attend

study hall. Study hall is every

Monday, Tuesday and

Wednesday at a designated

location within Howard Hall

(ROTC building).

With that being said, we have

several Rattler Battalion Ca-

dets who are making the

grade and excelling in the

area of academics. We are

excited to publish our Com-

mander‟s Academic List Ca-

dets for Spring 2011!

(Criteria for these grades is a

full-time student at FAMU

earning a minimum of 12

credit hours.)

Diamond Award (Perfect Score - 4.0): Brione Lewis, Salita

Bellamy, Heather Moore, Kashayla Unis, Kevin Quick, Keon-

tra Campbell

Platinum Club (3.70 - 3.99): Ciara Cooper-Thomas, Richard

Johnson, Roland Pitts, Celeb Weldon

Bold Golds (3.4 - 3.69): Brittany Blackmore, Alexander Man-

dakunis, Ashley Edwards, James Rolling, Ryan Warren, Rofael

Watts, Shedrick Jones, Pier Jea Lyon, Amanda Uwaibi

Silver Award (3.0 - 3.39): Desiree Day, Peter Falcone, Emily

Ferucci, Diamond Ivey, Jerome Maples, Tavarris Andrews,

David Gillespie, Romonia Johnson, Meghan Jones, Shaurice

Keys, Silienne Saint-Fleury, Terrance Burch, Tameka Carter,

Rebecca Fanfan, Courtney Goner, Ryan Jackson, Condarrio

Murdaugh, Ronald Penn, Johnathon Strickert, Jason Tarin

Congratulations on an outstanding performance!

Making the Grade

look it up on the web.) The

core muscles are the key to

everything we do. There are

excellent programs to assist

with your personal training

goals and personal training

improvement. The most fa-

miliar are programs like

Crossfit, P90X, Insanity and

many other fitness programs.

Whichever program you

choose, do so wisely and

safely. Running on roads can

be dangerous. Remember to

preferably run in daylight

areas, wear reflective gear,

run against oncoming traffic

so you can react to oncoming

vehicles, beware of running

with headphones (can be very

dangerous), and do not add

mileage to your runs prema-

turely.

Staying fit can be fun and

exciting if you make it so.

Now get out there and train!

We have several Cadets who have excelled at the Army Physical

Fitness Test (APFT) in physical fitness. They are as follows:

Physical Training (PT) Studs (Score 300+): Marcus Jackson,

Ronald Penn Jr., Ronald Pitts, Kashayla Unis

Brave and the Bold (Score 290 - 299): Salita Bellamy, Ashley

Edwards, David Gillespie, Mason Marshall, Heather Moore,

Amanda Uwaibi, Ryan Warren, LTC Williams, MAJ Kelly

Honorable Mention (Score 280 - 289): Tavarris Andrews,

Maurice Arnold, Domanique Hyman, Pier Jea Lyon, Alexandria

McCloud, Stefan Sabur, Silienne Saint-Fleury

Physical Fitness

Physical fitness is a very im-

portant part of what we do

here at the Rattler Battalion.

It is absolutely imperative that

Cadets do everything in their

means in order to remain and

excel in physical fitness over

the course of this summer.

Physical fitness helps us feel

better, be better and look bet-

ter. It is a way of life that we

must learn to enjoy and live

with. Our main issue with

physical fitness is that Cadets

go home after school and do

not continue to train. There-

fore when they return to

school, they are often in

worse shape than before they

started the ROTC program!

Continue to do physical train-

ing. Do not only just focus on

push ups, sit ups and the 2

mile run, but focus on core

training. (If you do not know

what core training is, then

VOLUME 1, ISSUE 1

Ceremony (continued from page 4)

Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Award: Shedrick Jones

Military Order of the Purple Heart: Ashley Edwards

National Sojourners: David Gillespie, Courtney Goner

National Defense Transportation Association Award: Taro-

lyn Granthum

USAA Spirits Award: Theresa Rollins

Superior Cadet Decoration Award: Anthony Scavella,

Vieanna Smith, Salita Bellamy, Stefan Sabur

Scottish Rite of Freemasonry Award: Brione Lewis

Congratulations to all or our award recipients! The Army/Navy

Joint Awards Ceremony was narrated by Cadet Amanda Uwaibi.

Lewis, Washington.

We hold a voluntary Pre-

LDAC here at the FAMU Rat-

tler Battalion in order to pre-

pare our Cadets for the actual

LDAC. This „mini-camp‟ is

comprised of several events

such as an Army Physical Fit-

ness Test (APFT), 4.5 mile

Road March, extensive classes

on map reading, land naviga-

tion (day and night), patrol

base operations, call for fire,

nine line medical evacuation,

zodiac operations and squad

The Rattler Battalion is gear-

ing up for another exciting

summer at the Leadership De-

velopment Assessment Course

(LDAC). Every Army ROTC

Cadet who enters into the Ad-

vanced Course attends the

Leader Development and As-

sessment Course. It's a five-

week summer course to evalu-

ate and train all Army ROTC

Cadets. This course normally

takes place between your jun-

ior and senior years of college,

and is conducted at Fort

tactical exercises.

The event was highly success-

ful due to some dedicated peo-

ple to include all staff and

cadre, Ms. Amy Schwartz and

Bell Bella Restaurant, Golden

Corral, and last but definitely

not least, the staff at 6th Bri-

gade Headquarters located in

Savannah, GA. The 6th Bde

Staff played a huge role in

supporting our efforts to train

our Cadets. This includes Ms.

Ferguson and the entire Bde

S4 Shop.

Pre-LDAC (Leadership

Development Assessment Course)

Phone: 850-599-3515 Fax: 850-561-2430 E-mail: [email protected]

Committed To Excellence, Second to None!

We’re on the

web!

Www.famu.edu

1750 Wahnish Way (Howard Hall) Tallahassee, Florida 32307

A little more about our battalion….

Basic Military Instruction - This component prepares a student for the advanced course. The basic

course consists of freshman (MS I) and sophomore (MS II) level courses designed to develop basic

military skills and fundamentals of leadership.

For students not taking military science during their freshman year, both MS I and MS II courses

may be attended simultaneously as designated compression students. Upon completion, these stu-

dents will qualify for the advanced course in one academic year. Students must maintain academic

alignment (i.e., all ROTC MS III third year Cadets should have junior class status).

Advanced Course and Leaders Development Assessment Course (LDAC)-The advanced course

is designed to prepare students for commissioning as Army officers. The third year course (MS III)

consists of individual skills development in preparation for the 32 days Leadership Development

Assessment Course (LDAC). The final year (MS IV) consists of professional leadership and man-

agement development and completes pre-commissioning preparation. All advanced course partici-

pants are eligible to receive a minimum of $450 per month stipend and are paid for their 32 days

LDAC. Successful LDAC completion, combined with the bachelor‟s degree, qualifies the student

for commissioning as second lieutenants in the U. S. Army. Army Reserve, or Army National

Guard.

At left, Cadet Burch lays out a sand table; (above) Cadet Goner on break; CPT Blake and Cadet

Occeus on the chalkboard; (upper right) CPT Middleton in class and presenting Golden Corral

with a Certificate of Appreciation; (right) Cadet Warren on break enjoying an MRE.

committed to excellence! - florida a&m university

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