UI, WSU NROTC reward achievements at first Spring Awards Banquet
“Midshipman Vaught, front and center.”
Diana Vaught, a NROTC sophomore student from the University of Idaho, said she has heard this command many times before, and she welcomed it graciously at the first annual NROTC Spring Awards Banquet.
Vaught, a biology major, was called four times to accept recognition and scholarships for both academic achievement and excellence in performance and leadership.
For Vaught, the evening gave her an affirmation of both her own hard work and the pride of being recognized alongside others whom Vaught admires from the UI and Washington State University NROTC battalion.
“I hope to one day follow in their footsteps and do great things … Being a part of our university’s NROTC has been a wonderful opportunity to grow as a person and a leader,” Vaught said. “It has been part of this process of realizing what I’ve been called to do — serve my country.”
The banquet, which was held on at the end of April at Banyan’s Ridge in Pullman, welcomed students and faculty from both universities, as well as guests from military organizations across the country.
Fourth-year WSU student Josiah Scott Phinney, who proposed and coordinated the event, said the awards ceremony was elevated from a short, casual ceremony to a formal awards banquet in an effort to better honor guests, build camaraderie between battalion members and show proper respect for
award recipients.
“I really wanted to dedicate this for our battalion,” Phinney said. “We don’t get a lot of opportunities to have big events … I’m very proud to have been given the opportunity and trust to put this together.”
Kirk Delmas, a third-year mechanical engineering student in the UI NROTC, said the banquet was a nice change of pace for the battalion.
“Usually we have it within the unit itself and don’t make a formal event out of it,” Delmas said. “I liked the fact we tried something different.”
Delmas received an award and a scholarship and, like Vaught, said he was honored to be among the recipients of more than 40 awards and scholarships.
“It felt good to be recognized among my peers,” Delmas said. “The hard work eventually pays off. However, there were many people there who work just as hard, but didn’t get an award.”
Regardless of public recognition, Delmas said the real reward comes for each battalion member at the end of four years when they receive their service selection and commission into the Navy or Marines.
“Being in the program is a reward itself, from the experience gained to the people with whom you get to work with,” Delmas said.
Several battalion members recognized faculty members from both UI and WSU who had also shown excellence through their work in the classroom. Along with influential professors, Vaught said the commanding officers were integral to student success through empowering battalion members.
“I really respect all of our officers because of their knowledge and experience,” Vaught said. “They’re very approachable when you have any questions and are great mentors.”
Mutual respect is also felt, according to Vaught, between the battalion members from WSU and UI, creating a unified support system that is both comfortable and motivating. The camaraderie between NROTC members and their devotion to the unit is a tangible bond that makes celebrating one another’s success enjoyable and meaningful, Phinney said.
“The relationship between the two student groups has been excellent,” he said. “We are all volunteering our time and, potentially, our lives in the same service, and that idea immediately bonds us together.”
Cara Pantone can be reached at [email protected]