Air Force News 

The BYU Air Force ROTC, hosted by the BYU Marriott aerospace studies program, was recently recognized with two awards from the U.S. Air Force ROTC. The awards highlight the hard work, dedication, and achievements of the program's staff members in 2021.

On November 11, 2021, the BYU Air Force and Army ROTC at the BYU Marriott School of Business commemorated Veterans Day through a wreath-laying ceremony and presidential review.

Staff Sergeant Jheran Carter is an example of an inspiring leader who may not always stand under the spotlight. As a faculty member for the Air Force ROTC (AFROTC) Detachment 855, or BYU Air Force, Carter enjoys getting to know the BYU Marriott community while making her mark behind the scenes as she manages the administrative details of the detachment.

A group of BYU Army ROTC students finished tenth out of forty-four teams in the April 2021 Sandhurst Challenge at West Point, New York. Competing against leading ROTC programs from around the country, BYU Army ROTC cadets pushed past their limits and used their military skills to complete an extreme competition, testing both their physical and mental capacities.

Erin Ricks, BYU Marriott’s Department of Aerospace Studies program manager at the BYU Marriott School of Business, recently received three Air Force and BYU awards recognizing her for her efforts and dedication to leadership in helping to improve and uplift the BYU US Air Force and Army ROTC programs. Since joining the program, Ricks has accomplished several firsts for the BYU ROTC programs as a nonmilitary program director.

Kray Jubeck’s parents encouraged him to live a service-oriented life almost every day of his childhood. Now a junior in the BYU Air Force ROTC program, Jubeck serves as a leader to his peers and exemplar of service, inspired by the program and his father’s example.

After a fulfilling career in the United States Air Force, Major Dan McCombs is finishing his last few years in the military as an ROTC instructor for the Air Force ROTC at the BYU Marriott School of Business. He hopes to pass on to the cadets whom he teaches a legacy of finding the good in each situation while sacrificing for their country.

In remembrance of the tragic events of September 11th, members from the BYU Army and Air Force ROTC joined together to reflect and honor the fallen.

On 23 April 2020, five BYU Marriott Army ROTC cadets commissioned into the US Army in person at BYU during individual small ceremonies broadcast over Facebook Live while ten additional cadets commissioned in a group commissioning ceremony via virtual conference call. In addition to these fifteen Army ROTC cadets, Air Force ROTC cadets will commission into the Air Force on 15 May through virtual conference calls or in-person with audiences of less than ten people.

BYU Marriott School of Business dean Brigitte C. Madrian has announced the appointment of Bonnie Anderson as the school’s newest associate dean. Anderson takes over for previous associate dean Keith Vorkink on 18 May.

Capt. Jordan Woods, an assistant professor in BYU Marriott’s Department of Aerospace Studies, enjoys building things through carpentry or woodwork, but he also enjoys the chance to build positive relationships with his fellow officers in the U.S. Air Force and the cadets in the aerospace studies department.

For BYU students Cathryn Guzzwell and Sydney Clark, hard work and determination put them in a class above as cadet commanders of the Air Force and Army ROTC programs.

Cadets and faculty in BYU’s Air Force ROTC and Army ROTC programs commemorated Veterans Day last month with activities that focused on both honoring the 212 fallen soldiers on the Memorial Wall in BYU’s Wilkinson Student Center and preparing cadets for their own future military service.

For Colonel Frederick Thaden, his selection as the department chair of BYU Marriott’s Department of Aerospace Studies, also known as BYU Air Force ROTC Detachment 855, is a dream come true.

The past, present, and future don’t often collide, but they certainly did during the BYU Air Force ROTC’s senior capstone event: a six-day staff ride to Washington, DC; Gettysburg, Pennsylvania; and other historic sites that allowed senior cadets to connect with and learn from the United States’ leaders of the past and the present. 

The Brigham Young University Marriott School of Business welcomes seven new professors to the Tanner Building this fall.

This past summer, cadets from BYU and UVU in Air Force ROTC Detachment 855 gave the city of Orem a little taste of what flying an F-16 military jet is like.

For over three decades, Air Force Detachment 855 has held an annual military parade, featuring an impressive assembly of cadets marching in strict military formation. BYU Marriott's Detachment 855 is comprised of BYU and UVU cadets and is a satellite of the Air Force itself. The long-standing tradition continued this spring as one hundred sixty cadets drilled across the Richards Building Fields at BYU.

For what feels like the hundredth time that day, BYU Marriott AFROTC cadet Jason Draper, dressed in full uniform and carrying a fifty-pound pack, runs in dirt, mud, gravel, and snow. He doesn't know how far he's going or when he'll stop. All he knows is to keep going—as fast as he can. This training is known as selection—a week of intense, nonstop training necessary to become a combat rescue officer—and Draper of Palm Bay, Florida, has been determined to attend selection since his first day in the ROTC program.

Air Force ROTC cadets typically take on additional responsibility compared to traditional college students, and cadets in BYU Marriott’s Air Force ROTC program are no different. From getting up early for training to attending extra classes, cadets don’t have much free time on their hands. However, every semester approximately forty BYU Marriott cadets also elect to join the newly organized honor guard and use what extra time they do have to set a high standard for other students and compete around the country.