My article from last week (before editing) and here is the edited version in The New Hampshire: http://www.tnhonline.com/the-summer-of-a-lifetime-1.2920700#.UHHK_zmA3zI
Cadet Patrick Linehan woke up at 2 a.m. at Fort Benning, Georgia, on the morning of Sunday July 15, 2012. While most University of New Hampshire students on summer break were either sleeping or still out from the night before, Linehan spent the early hours of the morning doing a two-mile road march, obstacle courses and drill exercises as part of the initiative stages of Air Assault School--One of the most competitive, rigorous, and prestigious Army training schools in the country.
Linehan began his summer, however, On June 10, 2012, after being issued his military-official red passport, when he was put on a plane to Kežmarok, Slovakia.
Linehan was sent through UNH’s ROTC and CULP--Cultural Understanding and Language Program. As the only UNH cadet being sent to Slovakia, Linehan was teamed up with approximately 30 other cadets from around the United States.
“I had never left North America,” said Linehan. “I had no idea what to expect, just that it would be very different from the life I was used to back home.”
According to Linehan’s Captain Benjamin Groen, the officer in charge of CULP at the time Linehan was sent to Slovakia, one of the overall purposes of sending cadets abroad is for them to gain an understanding of life in other parts of the world.
“The overarching goal is for the cadets to have an understanding of other cultures,” said Groen, “and specifically, how our military interacts with other cultures.”
Each year, thousands of cadets from all over the nation vie for the opportunity to go abroad through ROTC. If a cadet gets the approval from their commander, then they have permission to apply. Out of the cadets who apply, 40 percent are accepted.
“In order to be accepted,” said Groen, “cadets typically need to have very high GPA’s, perfect physical fitness scores, and they need to be well rounded cadets who participate in a lot of ROTC and extra curricular activities.”
Once accepted, cadets are required to write multiple papers and compile presentations on the country to which they are assigned, so they can better understand and prepare for the culture in which they will be immersed.
Linehan’s experience in Slovakia was not the typical college-semester-abroad. His platoon spent their time in austere parts of the country, visiting destitute villages and doing intense training with the Slovak National Military Cadets.
He spent the first week in Kežmarok with a local priest who took in former drug addicts and prostitutes. The priest ran his own rehab program.
“He was one of the most amazing men I’ve ever met,” said Linehan. “Years ago, he was part of a tragic climbing accident involving two other people. They were all tied together and they fell. The third man tied to him had to cut himself, and he fell to his death. He became strongly religious after, and gave up his life to become a priest.”
Linehan’s platoon traveled with the priest to run-down gypsy villages outside of Kežmarok, becoming assimilated with the culture and helping the villagers. Most of these gypsy settlements in Slovakia have been eradicated, but about 300 of them still remain.
“Their only water was this brown stream that ran through the middle of the village,” Linehan said. “The villagers lived in awful conditions. We gave the children candy and talked with them. Just doing small things like that made their day. It really moved me.”
Linehan then traveled with his platoon to Liptovský Mikuláš where they spent a week doing integrated training with the Slovak national military cadets. He trained with Slovak military weapons, participated in team-building training exercises, and got to know the Slovak soldiers individually.
“We really bonded with them,” said Linehan. “They were hilarious, and they taught us a lot of stuff we didn’t expect to learn.”
Linehan spent his last few days in the country with the Slovak cadets hiking the Low Tatra--a mountain range in central Slovakia where he climbed the 6,699 ft. to the top of Ďumbier, the highest peak in the range.
“The pace was a little tough,” Linehan said, “but it was hands down the coolest hike I’ve ever been on.”
That night his platoon joined slovak cadets in a goulash party--a slovak tradition that involves grilling sausages over an open flame. After a month of training, hard work and culture shock, Linehan was ready to celebrate.
But his biggest challenge was still ahead of him.
Linehan returned to the United States on July 9, 2012, where he spent five and and a half days in his hometown of Atkinson, N.H., mentally preparing himself for Air Assualt School. Linehan’s older brother, David Linehan, was both shocked and impressed to hear about the challenge his younger brother was about to take on.
“My initial impression of Pat going to Air Assault training was, ‘I heard that was extreme. Good luck!’” said David Linehan. “Pat explained the percentage of individuals who actually passed. I just hoped that he would maintain his body and mind as he pushed himself through the program.”
Then, at Fort Benning in Georgia in July, the hard work began: 10 and a half days going through intensive training, learning aircraft orientation, aircraft signaling, sling-load operations, and rappelling out of helicopters. The school is one of the most famous oriented with jumping out of helicopters in a battle. It also has up to a 60 percent fail rate.
In Air Assault school, cadets sprint everywhere. “You sprint into the classroom, stand with your hands on top of the desk and scream ‘AIR ASSAULT!’ at the top of your lungs,” said Linehan. “We did that every day. If we weren’t completely silent after, we did it all over again.”
The first day--called Zero Day--involved a timed two mile run, a series of obstacle courses and a two-hour long smoke-sesh--an intense session of doing sprints, diamond push ups, jumping jacks, and getting yelled at... a lot.
“On the first day I had one of my trouser buttons undone,” said Linehan, “and I got smoked for 25 minutes.”
The next day, Linehan began phase one: three and a half days spent intensively learning aircraft hand and arm signals, aircraft orientation and different aircraft capabilities. In just a few days, the cadets in Air Assault school had to memorize the flight times, speeds, and capabilities of every air craft in each branch of the military.
Phase one ended with a written test that cadets had to pass with a 70 percent or higher. If not, they were sent home. Cadets who passed were awarded with a six mile road march--a six mile run in full gear in an hour and a half.
Linehan then moved on to phase two, which he recalls as the most challenging academic endeavor he’s had to face.
Phase two is another three day phase in which cadets learn how to conduct all sling load operations. Sling loads are an external helicopter load with a complex attachment. They are crucial in the army when large supplies need to be sent somewhere fast and effectively.
“It’s really serious inspecting it,” Linehan explained, “because if you do it wrong and they have to drop the load, then that’s millions of dollars of equipment going down.”
Linehan spent 12-14 hours every day in mandatory classes and hands on exercises. They practiced attaching actual sling loads to helicopters, with objects such as fuel drums, cargo trailers and HMMWV’s, which they were later tested on.
“You run up to what you’re being tested on and immediately rip the thing apart looking for deficiencies,” said Linehan. “Deficiencies could be anything, and they were difficult to find.”
After passing the sling load phase, Linehan was handed his gear for the final three-day phase of the school--the rappelling phase--in which he learned how to rappel down the side of a tower, out of a helicopter, and tie a swiss seat (a hand-tied harness).
“We rappelled out of UH-60 Black Hawks,” said Linehan. “They parked on the field, we’d get in, and they’d fly us 100 feet up in the air. Then the sergeants inside would signal, and then you gotta jump.”
Linehan mastered the rappelling lessons, but it was tying the swiss seat that almost brought his career to a halt. The day before graduation, Linehan failed the swiss seat harness test--a requirement to pass in order to graduate.
“A swiss seat is this really complex harness with three knots and a bunch of twists,” Linehan explained. Feeling confident, he walked up the sergeant giving the test, only to be told he failed. Cadets are allowed one re-test.
“45 seconds into the re-test, I get to the square knot and say ‘wait, that’s not right.’ I looked down... it was wrong. With 50 seconds left, I tie the knot again. My fingers are fumbling, so I tie it wrong again. Then I started freaking out. I had 30 seconds left to finish three more knots, and hook my carabiner in. I somehow do it at the last second. Then I hear, ‘hands on your heads!’ I look down and I’m like oh my god that’s wrong... I tied the overhand knot wrong.”
Linehan thought he lost everything he had just worked for, 24 hours before graduation.
“The sergeant grabbed my harness,” he said, “the last thing he checked was the overhand knot. He looks at it, looks up at me, then turns it. I just had it upside down. It was the longest 10 seconds of my life”
Linehan and his fellow cadets woke up at 1:30 a.m. the following morning for one final march--this time 12 miles. Half way through, they were handed their air assault wings, signifying the ultimate honor of passing the program.
“I just held the wings in my hand and looked at them,” he said. “I was just like, wow, this is it. I did it.”
Linehan graduated from Air Assault School later that day. He flew back to Manchester, N.H. later that night, where his roommate Alex Loiseau picked him up.
“He walked out in his uniform looking like a new man,” said Loiseau. “I’m not surprised that he passed. He’s dedicated and he makes the army his life.”
Linehan is currently a squad leader in UNH’s ROTC. He does PT three days a week, and is preparing for an important training session at Fort Devens, Mass. at the end of the month, where he will be in a leadership role. His hard work has not gone unrecognized by his superiors
“If he didn’t have a drive to do it then we wouldn’t have sent him,” said Groen. “If cadets don’t want to succeed, they wont. We don’t want that. its a waste of the army’s money, the tax payers money, and it doesn't look good for UNH. Linehan’s graduation of Air Assault School is a reflection of the Wildcat battalion. He’s definitely a leader and his graduation is exemplary.”
UNH’s ROTC excels in their training programs, and currently has one of the best records in the region when it comes to cadets being sent to and passing training schools.
Because of students like Linehan, who had the experience of immersing themselves in places like Slovakia, more cadets this year will apply to programs through CULP. The application process for next summer is currently open.
Linehan now has a prestigious army school to his name and the cultural experience of a lifetime. “Every day was really long and hard,” he said, “but looking back, I never would have had those opportunities if it weren't for the army, and my experiences this summer will help me out in the future.”
Linehan will become a 2nd Lieutenant in May of 2014 when he graduates. He looks forward to his career in the army, and aspires to one day work in law enforcement on the federal level.
