Three ROTC students receive the Distinguished Military Graduates award
By Ame Phitwong
Three UP students earned recognition as Army ROTC Distinguished Military Graduates (DMG) on Oct. 29. Seniors Michael Baldi, Danielle Malosh and Alex Leonard were ranked in the top 20 percent along with 750 cadets out of 4,000 ROTC graduates nationwide who received the award.
"They essentially are the elite across the 4,000 in the nation," Lt. Peter Rooks said. "For a graduating class of 14, three is pretty good."
The DMG is based on overall grade point average, physical fitness score and leadership performance at Warrior Forge where the 4,000 cadets were trained. Physical training is a portion of ROTC where cadets complete rigorous physical tasks that prepare them for the army.
ROTC also has leadership courses to help cadets develop the skills they need to command and work as a team.
"Theory can be taught in class, but the type of leader the army needs not only understands theory, but the practical application of it," Rooks said.
The leadership portion is graded on campus through exercises assigned to each student every semester and at Warrior Forge. After the scores are calculated, the cadets were ranked from 1 to 4,000.
"Those three, without a doubt, are top performers," Rooks said. "Each one is a leader, they can do it all. They are able to balance their personal life, academic life and cadet life exceptionally well while maintaining a 3.5 GPA or better."
For Baldi, the hardest part of the DMG was maintaining a high GPA by balancing academics with his personal life. He said the easiest portion was the physical fitness because he already enjoyed working out.
"I didn't really understand what the DMG was until the second semester of my sophomore year. After I learned about it, I was really motivated to try and achieve it. I enjoy striving to be the best," Baldi said.
After graduation, Baldi plans to go to activated commission and work to be a medivac pilot.
Leonard had been hoping to get the award, but overall felt indifferent when he received it. Rooks described Leonard as the "informal leader of the group."
"It's a nice thing to get, but in reality, it doesn't carry with you too far," he said.
Leonard, a graduate student and business major, hopes to continue onto law school. Prior to coming to UP, he completed his undergraduate degree at Portland State University and spent three years deployed to the Middle East in the military.
Because he is older than the other students, he believes his life experiences made him more prepared for when higher demands were placed on him.
"When you're digging holes in the Middle East, doing homework doesn't seem like a bad idea," Leonard said.
Rooks said that the most important factor in receiving the award is maintaining a good GPA. Forty percent of the score is based on GPA. The second most-important factor is physical fitness, followed by leadership skills.
"Danielle (Malosh) is very focused and will always get the job done to a standard higher than expected," Rooks said.
Malosh said she was surprised to receive the award. She didn't think she would get it because of her grades.
"I had no idea," Malosh said. "I was just doing as well as I could. I didn't want to put pressure on myself."
She said the DMG may influence her promotion potential. She explained that the cadets at West Point get looked at first, followed by the DMG recipients. She said that a lot of awards are given in ROTC, but she believed this was the most beneficial.
After graduating, Malosh plans to work as a platoon leader for the Army Air Defense Artillery.
For cadets who are striving to earn the DMG recognition, Malosh said they need to do well in school.
"Stop thinking about trying to get awards or evaluations, work on taking good care of your unit, and you'll be fine," she said.
In the last three years, 10 UP students have been recognized as an Army ROTC Distinguished Military Graduates.
According to Rooks, there are 75 ROTC cadets at UP with about 15 to 20 per class. The goal is to increase to more than 100 cadets by November 2008.
