AF ROTC program provides community and purpose

Air Force Detachment 750 at Saint Joseph’s University trains students from all over the Philadelphia area to become officers while obtaining their undergraduate degree, learning about leadership and gaining experience since 1954.

Every week involves leadership labs at 6 a.m., classes varying from basic Air Force knowledge to preparation for Active Duty, and an hour of physical training twice a week. All of these activities are finished before 9:30 a.m.

“If you love the program, you are willing to make time for it,” said Sydney Taggart, ’20. “I look forward to getting up on a Tuesday morning at 4:30 a.m., which is something not a lot of people can say.”

Class years are primarily divided into two groups: General Military Course (GMC) and Professional Officer Course (POC).

The freshman and sophomore cadets are randomly organized into “flights.” Together, they work as a team with delegated positions that change weekly. Each cadet in their flight has a chance to learn how to become a stronger leader and follower.

Once GMCs complete a four-week-long field training session at Maxwell Air Force Base in Alabama, they become POCs. Upon returning, they assist the detachment and help run all the activities in which cadets participate.

“We’re very close with the cadets,” Mathew Englehardt, ’17, said. “We’re very big about building a family at the detachment. It’s always easier to get through something if you have people that you care about.”

Spending last semester as a flight commander and training the cadets left an impact on Englehardt.

“Having cadets depend on me, I had the ability to help somebody through something,” said Englehardt. “It was humbling to have people come to me if they had issues because they believed I was responsible or had good ideas.”

The bonds formed between the students also played a part in Taggart’s growing excitement towards the program. “If we have one person struggling in a run, at least three cadets will hang back and run with them and encourage them,” Taggart said.

Villanova student Tim Kokotajlo, ’17, also shares the same sense of camaraderie in the detachment, despite coming from a crossover school.

“You have to work closely with other people,” Kokotajlo said. “While it can take a while, bonds inevitably form even though we meet only twice a week and live on separate campuses. Teamwork, ‘wingmanship,’ and looking out for one another are virtues that we stress.”

Community building supersedes any school rivalry. Although they are often the subjects of jokes or ribbing, no one takes the jabs too seriously, according to Kokotajlo.

The cadre officers in charge of the detachment also offer their support to students.

“They ask how you are doing and what our feelings are of the program,” said Taggart. “I like that they are our teachers too. There is so much to learn from them. They’re commissioned officers, so you can ask questions about the Air Force, about their careers and assignments.”

Englehardt appreciates his cadre’s lesson of doing things the right way.

“It might not mean life and death every time, it may some time,” said Englehardt. “If you are willing to compromise with small things, it’s going to make compromising with big things a lot easier. It’s about sticking to your integrity.”

As the only Air Force detachment in the greater Philadelphia area, Detachment 750 offers its program to 24 universities from all over the city with different interests and personalities that come together under the common goal of being commissioned into the Air Force as officers and serve the country.

“It’s given me a goal in college and something to work towards, to be proud of,” said Englehardt. “I’ve become a better student because of it. I’m more engaged with people outside of my friend group because of what it means to me.”

Graduates are then commissioned as second lieutenant rank and then head off to Active Duty, which is a four-year commitment for participants who do not want to fly airplanes. Pilots commit for 10 years. After graduation, Englehardt will journey to San Antonio, Texas for remote pilot training.

“It’s awesome that I am able to do something that matters in the end. It’s a route to becoming an officer in the world’s greatest air force. It taught me a lot. I’m definitely happy to be a part of it,” Englehardt said.