Homecoming 2014 - A Fresh Take on an Old Favorite

With Homecoming less than a month away, plans are in full swing and the Wentworth staff is working to put the finishing touches on a Homecoming celebration that is sure to provide something for everyone!  The Wentworth campus will soon welcome home alumni from around the country and extend the opportunity for them to reconnect, share memories and celebrate Homecoming with the 135^th Corps of Cadets through honored traditions such as Lunch with the Corps and the Memorial Ceremony/Dress Parade.  

In addition to these traditional favorites, Homecoming 2014 will also introduce new events and a focus on family-centered fun for alumni who wish to share their dragon spirit with children and grandchildren.  Festivities will include the First Annual Dragon Den Festival, a carnival atmosphere packed with games, food and fun for Dragons of all ages. 

A Saturday afternoon reception honoring Wentworth's supporters is another new feature.  Those alumni who have earned Red Coats through the Century Club program are being encouraged to wear them to the reception and Alumni Dinner on Saturday evening.  It's a visible sign of the support that today's cadets receive from those who have preceded them.

Homecoming 2014 will kick off on Friday, October 10 with the Alumni Golf Tournament and Lunch with the Corp.  Festivities will run through Sunday, October 12 and wrap up with a brunch following the Memorial Ceremony/Dress Parade and Alumni Flag Ceremony.  This year’s theme is “Honoring Our Veterans” lending itself to a weekend packed full of opportunities to salute all those who have served our country.  For more information or to register, please go to our website at https://wma.edu/homecoming-2014-registration/.

A Few Memories from 50 Years Ago

Down in the vault of the Administration Building, we have copies of prior editions of The Trumpeter.  We browsed through the September 16 issue of 1964, and found these gems that might bring a few memories.

John Fotenos' name was misspelled in this issue, but as his football fame grew, they learned to get it right!

The Maid-Rite is still there, but Maib's is just a fond memory.  Perhaps they should have charged more for a 3 piece fried chicken meal!

Upcoming Events

Upcoming Events

1) 16th September 2014

- At 7:30 pm “Live in Lexington” Simply Sinatra

2) 20th September 2014

- Higginsville Parade

3) 25th September 2014

- At 10:30 am Lexington Live

4) 27th September 2014

- American Royal Parade

5) 10^th-12th October 2014

-Homecoming weekend

- Sunday Alumni Parade

6) 17^th-18th October 2014

- Fall Parents Weekend

For the official campus calendar, please go to http://www.wma.edu/calendar

Wentworth Athletics in Full Swing

By Cadet Taylor Jones

School is off to a good start and the athletics program is going strong. Teams are conditioning and practicing for their games. This season in the college we have soccer, volleyball, baseball, and cross country.  On the high school side, there is football, volleyball, and the Raider team. All of the teams have struggled early on, but improvement has been seen and victories are not far off! 

    There have been quite a few games played over the past month.The college soccer team started their preseason out on August 8.  They played against Benedictine College JV at home.  They lost that game, but learned a lot about where improvements needed to be made.  The soccer team played on August 27 in Independence, MO at the Blue River Community College,  August 30 in St. Charles, MO at the St. Charles Community College, September 3 against the Missouri Valley College at home, and September 6 against Benedictine College, this time in Atchison, MO. After four games, the soccer team was not able to get a win…...until September 9th.  The Red Dragons got their first win in Springfield, MO against Baptist Bible College, with a score of 8-0!  They will continue to train and practice to better their 1-4 start to the season. The soccer team is coached by CPT Andy Commins.

    The Lady Dragons college volleyball team also had a slow start.  Their first outing was on August 22-23 at the Ft. Scott Invitational Tournament in Ft. Scott, KS.  The ladies played hard, but came up short.  On August 27, the Lady Dragons played at home against MCC-Longview College. They had a home tri-match on August 29 against Cottey College and Stephens College.  On September 2, the Central Methodist University JV came to town and on September 4 it was Coffeyville College. At this point, the Lady Dragons were still looking for their first win. That weekend Coach Phillip Bennett and the team went on the road to Lamoni, IA, for the Graceland Invitational. It was here that they won their first match 25-23 and 25-18. Back at home on September 8, the Lady Dragons were ready to take on the Red Devils of Allen College. Many fans came out and supported Wentworth.  It was a close match-up with the Lady Dragons falling just short of a win.

    College baseball started out the season on September 9 in Trenton, MO against North Central Missouri College. This was the first outing for both teams.  This wasn’t a regulation game, more of a scrimmage. The Red Dragons got a chance to see where their strengths lie and which areas need work.  Coach Troy Katen and the Red Dragons play again this weekend.

    The college cross country team, coached by COL Tim Casey, started their season on August 30, at the Eagle Invitational (Central Methodist University) in Fayette, MO. They ran well, but improved at their next meet on September 6 at the Maple Leaf Invitational (Baker University) in Baldwin City, KS.  “An historic event took place on Saturday, September 6, as Wentworth's first ever women's College Cross Country Team competed in the Maple Leaf Invitational at Baker University. The team placed 10th overall and was led by Cadet Emma Lindberg who ran 17:06 through the 4 kilometer course and finished 19th overall. The men's team also finished 10th and was led by Cadet Jeff Austin who finished the 5 kilometer race in18:04. All the Wentworth runners made significant improvements in their times from the previous week's competition. The men's cross country team will compete next in the University of Central Missouri Mule Run on September 13”, said Coach Casey.

    High school football started their season on September 5, at home against the Southwest Early College Academy. It was a tough 70-0 loss against a very large team. Coach Mike McClafferty and the Red Dragons continue to work very hard in practice to get ready for their matchup against Sweet Springs on Friday night, September 12.

    High school girls' volleyball had their first match on September 2 in LaMonte, MO. This was a tri-match with LaMonte and Chilhowee.  The Lady Dragons lost both matches 2-0,  but they worked very hard and played well.  They continued their season with a road trip to Malta Bend on September 4. The girls lost, but made improvements and did a great job at working together. The high school girls are now 0-3 and still practicing everyday, working hard, and looking for that first win. The Lady Dragons are coached by CPT Becky Mueller.

Falcon Cadet Interview

Falcon Cadet Nicole Severson Interviewed by Cadet Guadalupe Mendez

Mendez:  How do you become a Falcon Cadet?

Severson:  First you apply to the United States Air Force Academy and if you make it through the applications process, you are almost accepted. Except you need one more year of prep. They offer you a scholarship to go to a Military Preparatory School for a year, and then you get better chances of getting in the next year.

Mendez:  Is it an easy process?

Severson:  No, the application process for the Academy itself is very intense. You need to apply for nominations with two of your State Representatives, two Senators, and also a Congressman. You can also apply with a Vice President, and if you are from a military family you can apply with the President as well. Each application requires three letters of recommendation. You have a lot of packages to send out and you have to write essays for it. You have to fill out all the applications for each individual representative and it’s pretty long, so no, it’s not an easy process.

Mendez:  Are you going into the Air Force because your family was in the Air Force?

Severson:  I’m the first person from my family to go to the military. It’s just something I’ve been interested in for a long time.

Mendez:  How do you feel being the only one?

Severson:  It’s pretty cool.  No one from my family really knows about the military, so they have a lot of questions for me. I didn’t know a lot, but since I got here I learned a lot right away. It’s kind of intimidating.

Mendez:  Why are you at Wentworth?

Severson:  When you get offered the Falcon scholarship, you get to choose between seven preparatory schools that you can go to. I chose Wentworth because it’s an academy, military, academic, athletic and it has every aspect. Also, because Wentworth has 100% of the past Falcons make it, so it’s pretty good odds to make it through the Academy.

Mendez:  What are your goals?

Severson:  My goals are to attend the United States Air Force Academy and become a pilot. I’m excited to begin the year there and I also want to join the jumping team there. I enjoy jumping from high heights.

Mendez:  What do you like about being a Falcon?

Severson:  I like the challenge because we get treated a little different. Everyone expects more of us, it seems, because everyone here is Army and we are Air Force. It’s cool and we really need to push ourselves, since we keep hearing how good the Falcons from previous years were really good. But I like it, people at Wentworth are awesome.  Everyone is pretty cool.

Mendez:  Tell me about yourself!

Severson:  I love to run and cook. I enjoy doing yoga and do scuba diving. I also love to travel. This summer I went to Europe, France, and Switzerland. It was a bit scary at first because it was the first time I went by myself, but it was pretty cool. I like to water ski and to play basketball. I will be playing for the basketball team and I’m also doing cross country, since it’s something all Falcons need to do. But it is fun.  I really enjoy it.

Falcon Cadets Receive Scholarships

By Cadet Anastasia Miller

     It was a special day for our six Falcon Cadets.  It was the day they received their scholarships to the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado.  The ceremony honoring our Falcons took place on August 26, 2014 in the Chapel.  Lieutenant General Jay Kelley, President of the Falcon Foundation, was the keynote speaker.  General Kelley attended the Air Force Academy from 1960-1964.  He is a great advocate of the Falcon Program.  He assisted in the development of programs that help Falcons have successful careers.  General Kelley congratulated the Falcons and the entire Corps of Cadets for their service to the Academy and to the Nation.  “You have good momentum, so keep it up”, said General Kelley.

     

     General Kelley presented each Falcon Cadet their scholarship to the Air Force Academy and an Air Force Pin.  Each scholarship presented was given in honor of a specific individual.  The following is a list of the 6 Falcon Cadets and the scholarship they received:

Cadet Jeffrey Austin received in honor of William Stuart Symington.

Cadet Luke Easton received in honor of Stephen Douglas.

Cadet Emma Lindberg received in honor of Major General Muir S. Fairchild.

Cadet Amanda Miller received in honor of Brigadier General Chuck Yeager.

Cadet Paige Ramirez received in honor of Dudley C. Sharp.

Cadet Nicole Severson received in honor of Hans M. Mark.

                                      LtGen Kelley with Cadet Luke Easton

Straight from the Commandant

Written by Cadet Ashley Hall

     Lieutenant Colonel Fitz Gerald has been working at Wentworth Military Academy and College for almost 6 years.  He was the Professor of Military Science in the SROTC Department for approximately 3 years. After retiring from the United States Army, LTC Fitz Gerald worked as the Dean of Students. In June 2013, LTC Fitz Gerald accepted the position of Commandant of Cadets for Wentworth.

     The Sounding of the Cannon Ceremony was the first time staff and faculty saw the 135th Corps of Cadets as a group. They marched into the chapel under the watchful eye of LTC Fitz Gerald. “I’m very pleased with the way the Corps has started off. I think the Corps leadership is off to a good start. They are definitely on the right foot. I felt when I watched the Corps march in during the Sounding of the Cannon Ceremony, it looked better than the Corps did at the same time last year”, said LTC Fitz Gerald. “If you recall when you were going through your rehearsal for the ceremony I was being truthful when I said you all sounded better and sounded louder than the Corps before and that’s all I really want is each successive Corps of Cadets to be better than the one that came before it. I think that the 135th Corps is on that track, but they still need to pay attention.”

     The new school year brought many exciting, new changes around campus.  In addition to the new fitness center, sand volleyball court, and landscaping, there were changes to the cadet rules and regulations.  “I am excited to see how the Corps reacts to some of the changes I made in the rules and regulations.   There are certain things that I relaxed or turned into benefits for them”, he stated.  “One in particular is college students now have unlimited furloughs as long as they are in good standing. I think many of them were quite happy because they want to make sure they don’t make a mistake and get it taken away from them.”

     Being the Commandant of Cadets has many responsibilities.  The Commandant is responsible for every single person in the Corps of Cadets, as well as his staff.  Some parts of the job are harder than others.  “The hardest part I’d say is first, trying to get through to the cadets that for whatever reason, don’t want to follow the rules, regulations, and standards of a military school. They don’t want to, they don’t like to, they don’t understand why they have to, and they just want to fight it at every turn”, said LTC Fitz Gerald.  “Another thing I would say that is difficult, is dealing with a cadet who has a lot of potential, has the desire to try and succeed and do well, but keeps doing things that get them in trouble and eventually have to be suspended from the school because they’ve done something that they can’t recover from. You can work with them and you can see that things are going well, and then they make a very bad decision and there’s nothing else you can do for them. That’s hard to deal with.”

     Everyone has something that they have had to overcome in their life time, the Commandant being one of those people.   LTC Fitz Gerald spoke of one of those times. “I was deployed to Afghanistan at the time;   I was the Operations Officer.  I was the third highest ranking officer in the unit behind the Battalion Commander and the Battalion Executive Officer. We had several spontaneous missions going on in the region that we were working. The Battalion Commander was on one of those missions, and on a separate mission we have one of our Company Commanders. His unit was ambushed and the Company Commander was killed. There were also a couple other soldiers that were killed and we had to mount an operation to recover their bodies which was hard to deal with because I’d known the two soldiers that were killed, and I had to take someone who was working for me at the time, who was really good friends with that Company Commander, and tell him that in about an hour, he was going to get on a helicopter and he was going to fly up to that area and he was going to have to take over for his friend who had just died. All this was going on while my Commander was on another mission and couldn’t get back, so we had to do all this. We were trying to coordinate all this by radio.”

     The Commandant's vision for the 135th Corps of Cadets is as follows:  “The 135^th Corps of Cadets is led by Cadets, with the Commandant's Staff in direct support, works daily to uphold high standards in conduct, appearance, and character while striving with integrity to achieve excellence in academics, self-discipline, leadership, and athletics.” LTC Fitzgerald did not lay out a specific set of goals for the Corps, but instead created this vision.

New School Year Starts off with a Boom!

Written by The Trumpeter Cadet Staff
The 135^th Corps of Cadets marched into the chapel where faculty, staff, alumni, former employees, city and county officials, and friends of WMA had assembled.  The invocation was given by COL Tim Casey, COL Rick Cottrell introduced those on stage and COL Michael Lierman welcomed everyone to the ceremony. 
COL Lierman spoke of the people who would end up being most important in the lives of the cadets.  “Most times it’s the little things that make the biggest impact”, said COL Lierman.  “Wentworth is not the buildings, or seats you sit in.  Wentworth is the people. You are one of those people.”

COL Lierman went on to explain the history of the ceremony.  COL Jerry Brown, former president of Wentworth Military Academy & College and now the Mayor of Lexington, started the ceremony in 1993 to signify the start of the school year and as a time to set goals and expectations.  COL Lierman made the following suggestions to the Corps:  Set goals and expectations for yourself.  Write them down and look back at them often.  Focus on what you want to achieve and visualize the goal.  Step out of your comfort zone.  Treat others the way you would want them to treat you.  And finally, make good decisions and don’t pass judgment.

COL Lierman then spoke of Congressman Ike Skelton.  Congressman Skelton passed away last year.  He had been the keynote speaker of the Sounding of the Cannon Ceremony for the past 15 years.  Congressman Skelton overcame many struggles in his life, and he finished every race he started.  He was special to Wentworth and his message was “Achieve the Honorable.” 

COL Lierman finished with this quote by Lao Tzu, “Do the difficult things while they are easy and do the great things while they are small.  A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.”

Mayor Jerry Brown invited the cadets to be part of “Legendary Lexington” and to participate in everything the community has to offer.  “You are now part of the community and its history,” Mayor Brown told the cadets.

The 135^th Corps is led by C/LTC Justin Aldred.  The Battalion Commander spoke to the Corps and thanked them for their service to Wentworth.  He went on to say that we are a team and a family.  We should motivate, help, and encourage each other.  He then quoted part of the West Point Cadet Prayer, “Choose the harder right instead of the easier wrong.”

The 135^th Corps of Cadets raised their right hand as the Cadet Oath was administered by Commandant of Cadets LTC Darren Fitz Gerald.  LTC Fitz Gerald also administered the Honor Council Oath to the seven members in attendance.

The last part of the ceremony was the actual sounding of the cannon.  COL Cottrell recited part of General Douglas MacArthur’s Thayer Award acceptance address given at West Point in 1962.  This address has become known as the “Duty, Honor, Country” speech.  Part of the speech is as follows:

Duty, Honor, Country: Those three hallowed words reverently dictate what you ought to be, what you can be, what you will be. They are your rallying points: to build courage when courage seems to fail; to regain faith when there seems to be little cause for faith; to create hope when hope becomes forlorn.  They build your basic character. They mold you for your future roles as the custodians of the nation's defense. They make you strong enough to know when you are weak and brave enough to face yourself when you are afraid. They teach you to be proud and unbending in honest failure, but humble and gentle in success; not to substitute words for actions, not to seek the path of comfort, but to face the stress and spur of difficulty and challenge; to learn to stand up in the storm but to have compassion on those who fall; to master yourself before you seek to master others; to have a heart that is clean, a goal that is high; to learn to laugh yet never forget how to weep; to reach into the future yet never neglect the past; to be serious yet never to take yourself too seriously; to be modest so that you will remember the simplicity of true greatness, the open mind of true wisdom and the meekness of true strength. They give you a temper of the will, a quality of the imagination, a vigor of the emotions, a freshness of the deep springs of life, a temperamental predominance of courage over timidity, an appetite for adventure over love of ease. They create in your heart the sense of wonder, the unfailing hope of what next, and the joy and inspiration of life. They teach you in this way to be an officer and a gentleman.

After each of these words, Duty, Honor, and Country, the cannon is fired.   

Good Luck 135^th Corps of Cadets, faculty and staff!!