Between classes, extracurriculars and all that active citizenship, most Tufts students have enough on their plates to fill 18−hour days and produce the manic, out−of−Tisch−Library−at−4−a.m. glazed look we all know so well. Seniors Brittany Trimble and Patrick Cassidy know it as well, and as students on the Hill, they make the trek uphill and downhill just like your average Jumbo.
Approximately 70 Reserve Army Training Corps (ROTC) cadets at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) branch of the corps, however, know them both as their leaders and superiors.
Trimble and Cassidy make for a truly dynamic duo this year as leaders of two Boston−area ROTC units, each managing everything from buttons to training exercises for upwards of 30 MIT−based Naval and Air Force cadets.
As part of their ROTC training, Tufts cadets take supplementary classes at MIT in leadership, physical training and subjects specific to their service branches. As Tufts does not have its own ROTC program, Cassidy and Trimble, along with all the other Jumbo ROTC cadets, commute to MIT for their classes. There they meet with — and lead — students from MIT, Harvard University and, in the case of the Air Force ROTC, Wellesley College, Gordon College, Salem State University and Endicott College.
As her unit's wing commander, Trimble is in charge of all Air Force cadets who are part of the MIT Air Force ROTC program — a group of around 30, according to U.S. Air Force Captain Daniel Sawicki, one of the officers at MIT who was involved with choosing Trimble for the position.
Trimble's responsibilities in this capacity are many and varied. She juggles tasks that range from monitoring cadets during drills to ensuring that each cadet's uniform is picture−perfect as they train. In addition to interacting with their fellow cadets, the seniors are getting an education of their own — in leadership.
"We are training everyone, but we are also receiving training by being in this leadership position," Cassidy said.
That the two leaders are acting as role models for their peers, though, adds to the weight of their respective positions.
"The cadet wing is cadet−run," Trimble said. Part of the wing−commander package includes organizing and ensuring that her cadets organize lectures, simulations and classes.
"Where and when they will be, the vision — all of that planning comes back up [to] me. I delegate out, then it comes back to me, then we bring it to the officers," she said.
A position of power has its benefits, she added. "A lot of the role as wing commander is planning, and less execution," Trimble said.
Cassidy's position, as battalion commander of the Naval ROTC division, entails similar duties.
"[There are] 40 midshipmen, and I am basically the number−one guy," he said. "I oversee all of our training at MIT of Tufts, Harvard and MIT students, which includes planning and executing a number of different events that occur on a weekly basis, as well as semester events. I have a staff who all play their own role in training the other midshipmen."
Officers who oversee the MIT Naval and Air Force ROTC branches noted that having a leadership position, like those held by Trimble and Cassidy, is a privilege and a unique learning experience. It's a way to prepare the students to lead during their military service following graduation, Sawicki said.
"The whole core of ROTC is to develop leaders, so we look for someone who has potential to be a leader so they can get some experience in leading a large group of people," Sawicki said.
Sawicki and Naval ROTC chapter Captain Curtis Stevens said that Trimble and Cassidy were chosen for their motivation, critical thinking and leadership potential.
"We're obviously looking for someone who is a good leader. The students run it themselves with the staff as the advisers. We give them some guidance, but we try to let them run things and plan. We want someone that can take charge," Stevens said.
These student leaders' Tufts roots are not a coincidence. Cassidy said that his Tufts education, particularly as a mechanical engineering major, has influenced his approach to ROTC training.
"As far as my engineering curriculum is concerned, my critical thinking has been pushed," he said. "In a leadership role you need to think critically, as well as just being around a whole bunch of different kinds of people."
Cassidy continued, "Being at Tufts has prepared me for this position and is part of the reason that I was put in that position."
ROTC, though it has been a defining part of his Tufts career, did not factor into his college decision as heavily as the School of Engineering's reputation and a position on the Tufts football team.
"I originally looked at the [U.S.] Naval Academy, but I knew that football was something I wanted to do at college. I wanted engineering, football and ROTC." While Tufts lacked the ROTC aspect, "We do have an affiliation, so that's how I came upon MIT," Cassidy said.
Cassidy also praised Trimble's abilities, claiming that unlike him, she could have excelled to a leadership position regardless of where she went to school.
"I know Brittany pretty well and she's a pretty impressive girl," he said.
Trimble agreed that her Tufts education did not necessarily influence her performance in ROTC.
"I started so early in ROTC that I didn't go the Tufts track," Trimble said. She added, however, that balancing ROTC with her work demands at Tufts has been a lesson in time management that has been useful after adding her new responsibilities.
Both Trimble and Cassidy will enter their respective branches of the U.S. Military services soon after graduation. Trimble has been guaranteed a slot with the U.S. Air Force's flight school and plans to serve as a pilot for at least 10 years after college, while Cassidy will deploy as a submarine officer and Naval reactors engineer.
