By Rich Lamance
Special to The Citizen

For most college students taking the summer off between their sophomore and junior years, life is usually filled with a summer job, time at the beach or a little extra time in front of their favorite video game.

For the daughter of a Tyrone couple, this summer is quite a bit more strenuous. Sara J. Harper, daughter of Donald and Kathryn Harper, of Tyrone, is an Air Force ROTC cadet going through a boot camp of sorts, during a more than three-week physical and mental challenge designed to prepare more than 2,300 cadets nationwide for eventual commissioning as a second lieutenant. This is the first year that cadets have converged to one single location for their training, with the most sweeping changes to the program in more than 60 years.

For Harper, it's the toughest challenge she'll face during her ROTC stint.

"The training is not fun, especially when people are yelling at you constantly," said Harper, a 2006 graduate of Sandy Creek High School. "But we are learning really neat and valuable things like weapons training and hand-to-hand combat -- so overall, it's not too bad."

The ROTC field training course is divided into three phases: The first 11 days of the training is primarily devoted to classroom work, focusing on leadership, marching and problem-solving scenarios.

Each group of about 350 cadets then moves into a more intense, six-day training at the "Blue Thunder" camp, a tent city set up at Maxwell. There, the cadets learn hand-to-hand combat, land navigation, tactical communication, face leadership reaction obstacles and qualify at the small arms range on the 9 mm pistol.

For the first time, cadets will wrap up their training with a six day exercise at the Joint Forces Training Center at Hattiesburg, Miss., in an environment that gives them a safe look at what they might face if deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan. Reacting to roadside bombs, conducting convoy operations, learning small arms tactics and getting their first look at urban warfare situations are some of the challenges awaiting these cadets.

"I have learned a lot about self discipline, as well as how to respect others," said Harper. "Going through ROTC, and working with the caliber of people here really has given me a sense of pride for my country."

Harper is currently attending Auburn University where she is majoring in international business.

"I would love to be an intelligence officer and be able to live overseas," said Harper. She plans to receive her commission to second lieutenant in May of 2010.

These college students may not get the chance to hang out at the beach or play the latest video game this summer, but the experiences they take from their training here, could very easily save lives in the future.

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