Events & Activities

ROTC Offers Many Opportunities to Excel

In Army ROTC, it’s not all classroom and field training. There are many opportunities for you to get to know your fellow cadets better and increase your skills in a variety of areas. Learn more about these events and activities below.

Tri-Service Military Ball

Each year, cadets from Boston University’s Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corp ROTC programs join together for the annual Tri-Service Military Ball. The military ball is a special event to which cadets and cadre alike bring their boyfriends, girlfriends, husbands, and wives to enjoy a night of dining and dancing. However, it is not all fun and games; it is also a night to remember POWs and MIAs from both past and current conflicts. It is held at the Park Plaza Hotel in downtown Boston and is one of the most anticipated events of the year.

Pictures from the 2011 Tri-Service Military Ball

Sheehan Cup

The Army, Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corp ROTC programs at Boston University meet annually to compete in the Sheehan Cup, which consists of soccer, basketball, dodgeball, and ends with a track relay. This year’s Sheehan Cup also included a new event: the Warrior Challenge (pictured right), a grueling sequence of events including an 800 meter run, pushups, sit-ups, burpees, buddy carries, and more.

The service that wins overall gets to take home the Sheehan Cup trophy and proudly display it in their respective detachments. This year Army ROTC fell one event short of winning the Sheehan Cup. However, Army ROTC has won the Sheehan Cup four times in the last five years.

Pictures from the 2010 and 2011 Sheehan Cup

 

Ranger Challenge

Ranger Challenge is considered the varsity sport of Army ROTC. Each year, the competition, for 1 st Brigade is held at Devens, MA (a former Army Fort), which is the home for ROTC’s 1st Brigade/ Eastern Region. Those schools, which field a team, provide nine primary members and one alternate, which make up a squad. These squads participate in a series of eight events over the course of the competition weekend. These squads are compiled from the best cadets in each host school’s ROTC Battalion. The events for the competition are the APFT, an obstacle course, one rope bridge, a patrolling exam, orienteering course, M16 marksmanship, M16 weapons disassembly/reassembly, concluding with a 10 km ruck march.

 

Pershing Rifles

Pershing Rifles (P/R) at Boston University is a branch of the National Society of Pershing Rifles, a tri-service, co-ed military honorary society which draws from ROTC units around the country. , Pershing Rifles is built around military proficiency, scholarship, leadership, and a very strong esprit de corps. Potential new members are indoctrinated into B-12 through a challenging Candidate Term which lasts six to nine weeks.  They undertake a rigorous physical training program, consisting of calisthenics, running, and weight training. To ensure that academic success remains a priority, candidates attend study hall moderated by members with past experience in their fields of study.Candidates also learn many new military skills including infantry tactics, land navigation and the use of the Global Positioning System (GPS), and Drill & Ceremony. They will participate in a weekend-long Field Exercise modeled on the US Army Special Forces’ ROBIN SAGE exercise, during which they will plan and execute their own small-unit missions in a tactical environment.

To learn more about Boston University’s Pershing Rifles Company please visit: http://bupershingrifles.com/

Scabbard and Blade

Scabbard and Blade K-6 Company is driven by the pursuit of excellence.  Our pledge term and our honor society trains cadets to be leaders of the Charles River Battalion through tactics training, personal counseling, and hands-on leadership experience.  Candidates prepare for success in ROTC by improving their Army Physical Fitness scores, mastering tactics, and building their own team to work cohesively.