VMI Cadet. April 25, 1975

              VOLUME LXV Virginia Military Institute, Lexington, Virginia April 25, 1975 NUMBER 24
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FTX:
An Evaluation
On the 16th of April, the corps
left barracks for a three day
stay in Goshen Pass. These
three days were to consist of
military exercises designed to
train and unify the corps and to
give the corps a break from
study before exams.
FTX began Wednesday
morning as the companies left
at various times for the march
to Goshen. The two battalions
had different routes for the
march. First battalion was to
march over Jump and North
Mountains foi* supposedly about
8.2 miles before reaching their
destination, second battalion
took a flatter but longer route.
The companies after reaching
their destinations spent the rest
of the day setting up camp and
getting some sleep.
On Thursday, the First
Battalion spent the day doing
organized PT., the Leader-ship
reaction course, and a day-light
naviagation course,
this was followed by the night
time navigatin course.
Second Battalion spent the
day on the escape and evasion
course. On Friday the bat-talions
switched stations and on
Saturday the corps was trucked
back to barracks.
This writer was with the First
Battalion for the entire FTX
so* his experiences only
consist of things which hap-pened
to the First Battalion.
The author found that most
people while not enj(^ing the
hike out, did not really dislike it.
Most people found the hike to be
quite challenging and as with
most hikes, they were glad
when it was over. The main
complaint was that the two
hikes held before FTX did not
really pr^are the corps for the
march to Goshen. In both of the
conditioning hikes the corps
marched over fairly flat ground
and only in the second hike did
they carry any extra equip-ment.
The Leadership Reaction
Course was quite interesting
and provided cadets with a
chance to use their wits and
leadership abilities. The LRC
committee deserves a lot of
praise for their ac-complishments.
The different
stations were quite interesting
and it took quite a bit of work to
construct them. The Corps is to
be congratulated for the at-titude
that they took towards
this course. Seconds, thirds, and
rats all cooperated to get the job
done.
The day and night navigation
courses consisted of finding
various markers at day and
night with the use of a compass.
It really tested the skill of the
compass man in the squad as
many of the points were close
together and often a decision
had to be made between two
points. Often the wrong decision
was made.
The escape and evasion
course consisted of a small
squad being released on the
boundary of a 3 by 1 mile
course. The squad was to cross
the course without being
detected and shot or
captured by Aggressors who
prowled within the course
continuously. The spirit with
which the corps undertook this
adventure was amazing; every-one
seemed to take it quite
seriously and as such the
exercise served its purpose.
All the exercises previously
mentioned seemed to be of
value to the basic concepts of
the FTX and most of the corps
seemed to enjoy them. There
was a lot of hostile attitudes
found to come from the
organized PT though. Most
people could not understand
why they had this organized
exercise when they had just
taken a several hour hike the
previous day and they would be
walking most of the rest of the
FTX. The answer: the
corps needed something to let
their frustrations out on and to
relax. Surely there were other
ways to do this besides playing
battleball and british bulldog.
There were several injuries
from these games and most
people claimed they only served
to tire people out. Perhaps
Softball would have been a
better choice. Some people said
that maybe this block of time
should have been given to the
individual company com-manders
to use as they saw fit.
(continued on page 8)
Chip Deyerle strains over leadership reaction course.
Alumni Host
First Class
Thursday evening the V.M.I.
Alumni Association gave a
banquet for graduating first
classmen in Moody Hall. This
dinner meeting is an annual
event which is held for the
purpose of introducing the first
class to the various Alumni
organizations in order to
familiarize them with the
privileges which they will ac-quire
as alumni. Represen-tatives
of the VMI Alumni
Association, the VMI Foun-dation,
the Keydet Club, and the
Alumni Review spoke con-cerning
the opportunities for
graduates to aid in improving
the programs offered at the
Institute. The speakers
welcomed the seniors into the
large fraternity of VMI
graduates.
Members of the Class of 75
are invited to drop a card by Vic
Arthur's room concerning their
plans after graduation.
Only 22 days left for 75 and 74-
B!
Echo Company moving out.
This Week
SATURDAY. APRIL 26:
Biseball doubleheider, VMI vs. Dividion. Pitchin Field.
SUNDAY, APRIL 27:
VMI-W&L sludent wonhip tervicc, • ! L n Chipcl.
Ficully Q u b ipiing picnic at Goihen Boy Seoul Camp.
TUESDAY, APRIL 29:
Baieball, VMI vs. Washinflon and U t , at WAL Athletic Field.
WEDNESDAY. APRIL 30:
1 p.m.
2 p.m.
7 p.m.
8 p.m.
THURSDAY. MAY I:
Golf, VMI, Virginia Tech. and Univenity of Virginia. Lenington Golf Count.
Baseball. VMI vs. Madison College, Patchin Field.
Lecture, "Fantastica and Follies in European Gardens," by Helen Lowenthal. of Victoria and Albert
Museum. London, and the English National Truit, duPont Auditorium, W*L.
Glee a u b concert, VMI and Virginia Intermont College, Jackson Memorial Hall.
Golf, VMI vs. Roanoke C o l l e r , Lexington Golf Course.
Final lecture History 106 serin, "Technology and Behavioral Piycholocy," by Maj. Paul Scaool,
chemistry lecture room.
Lecture. "Chinese Influence on Western T u t e . " by Helen Lowenthal, duPont Auditorium. WAL.
FRIDAY, MAY 2:
I p.m
9 p.m.
SATURDAY, MAY 3:
II am
12:20 p.m.
9 pm.
Regutration begins for ALUMNI REUNION WEEKEND, Moody HaU.
Alumni dance, informal. Moody Hall.
Annual meeting of the VMI Alumni Association. Jackson Memorial Hall.
RegimenUI review, with special ceremonies marking VMI's designation u a National Historic District
Alumni dance. Moody Hall.