Oct. 19, 2015
CWU Air Force ROTC Flies High, Earns New Regional Honor
Central Washington University’s Detachment 895 is the top, medium-sized Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps (AFROTC) in the Northwest Region.
The detachment was recently honored with the 2014-15 “Right of Line” award, which is given to the top detachment in each of the four AFROTC regions across the county.
The award, selected by the regional ROTC commander, is based on production, cadet activities, university and public relations, and recruitment and retention efforts. It is a reflection of the student-cadets and cadre’s professors, and the all-around excellence of the university.
“This honor puts us in the top 10 percent of detachments nationwide,” says Lt. Col. Richard Warr, the CWU detachment commander. “Everybody worked very hard last year and put in a very good effort. We definitely earned it and I am very pleased and happy to see this recognition.”
Warr says the decision to apply for the award came following a national inspection of the CWU unit late in 2014, at which time Central’s program was found to meet—and exceed—all national ROTC standards.
“We had a great recruiting class last year,” Warr points out, as among the detachments 2014-15 noteworthy achievements. “We were also able to send a lot of cadets to field training this summer, where they performed well, and we had others cadets selected for pilot training.”
That included June graduate, 2nd. Lt. Slava Ulanovskiy, from Monroe, who was tabbed as one of just 51 candidates, from 143 air force detachments nationwide, for the prestigious Euro-NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training Program. Through it, he will become one of the world’s elite military pilots.
In addition, the local chapter of the Arnold Air Society, a national community-service organization comprised of CWU Air Force ROTC cadets, hosted the Area XI conference, which was attended of more than 150 people from the five-state area.
“The national staff had a lot of good things to say about our cadets,” Warr adds. “They were elected to be the area staff for this year for the good things they did.”
The AFROTC also helped initiate a new competition involving CWU, along with the detachments at the University of Washington and Washington State University, to showcase the talents of the cadets from the three institutions.
As students within CWU’s College of Education and Professional Studies, AFROTC cadets earn minors in aerospace studies as a part of their military coursework. Those completing all phases of the program are commissioned United States Air Force second lieutenants.
“I feel that we are producing some outstanding officers and I’m proud of every one of them,” Warr notes. “We’re training a lot more that are going to do great as well.”
Of the approximately 85 cadets now enrolled in the rigorous CWU academic program, 45 percent made the university dean’s list during the 2014-15 academic year.
Detachment 895 now will be judged against the other three regional winners for the national “Right of Line” award. It will be announced later this month at the national ROTC Commanders Conference at Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery, Ala. Warr will be among those attending the conference.
“To say anything more than we have a 25 percent chance is just pure speculation on our part,” Warr admits, pertaining to winning the national award. “But we have a shot.”
Right of Line is military parlance for the top performing squadron which, during parade formation, is always placed at the front right position. AFROTC is the largest and oldest source of commissioned officers for the U.S. Air Force. CWU’s detachment was initiated in 1951.
Media contact: Robert Lowery, director of Radio Services and Integrated Communications, 509-963-1487, loweryr@cwu.edu
October 19, 2015