AFROTC cadets go to Mob School Published July 25, 2008 By Amanda Creel 78 ABW/PA Robins Air force Base, GA -- For many college sophomores surviving college is a challenge, but for 20 Air Force ROTC students college classes seem like a cakewalk after spending three days in Mob School. The students braved a mud pit and even ate worms as part of their training with the 5th Combat Communication Group's Mobility School. Some of the courses the students endured in Mob School included survival skills, self-aid and buddy care and a land navigation or compass course. In the survival course the students were taught to build shelters and different types of fire and how to catch and scrounge for food. "We were taught what to do if you run out of water," said Cadet Kimberley Hartman. Though for some of the cadets the most memorable part of the survival training was the chance to eat a live worm or cricket. "I ate a worm," Cadet Hartman said. "I was the cadet out of all the cadets who actually chewed it, no one told me you weren't supposed to." Combat readiness instructor Staff Sgt. Juan Sanchez said he was impressed with the group because there wasn't one cadet who didn't eat one or the other. He said during the land navigation course the students learned how to use their compass and terrain features to find their way to their desired destination. After the students were given a crash course in navigation, they were broken into teams before the instructors tested their skills finding various destinations before they were guided back to Mob School. "It taught me how to build off my team members' strengths. (For example), if you have an engineer in your group let him do the Pythagorean Theorem, not me the political science major," said Cadet Preston Corrigan from Wright-State University, Ohio. Cadet Hartman said the climate difference from here to the University of Washington, where she attends college, has made her stint in Mob School even more challenging. "The heat is difficult. The bugs and this heat, oh my gosh," said Cadet Hartman, adding she thought the cadets had bought the Robins BX out of sun block and bug spray since they arrived. The school's final of sorts was Gator Gully, where the students endured the threat of hostile forces, including ambushes and a sniper. During Gator Gully, the students used the Multiple Integrated Laser Engagement System, which simulates real battle scenarios using lasers and blank cartridges. The event tests the cadets' ability to communicate during direct fire and to complete tactical drills and movements. "If you get hit by the laser it emits a large steady beep," said Staff Sgt. Till Schanz, a combat readiness instructor. Cadet Hartman said she wasn't thrilled about the mud pit or the possibility of an actual alligator appearing. The cadets were here as part of Operations Air Force, which is part of the Professional Development Training program for Air Force ROTC cadets on scholarship. The three-week program is designed to foster relationships between the enlisted force and the Air Force's future officers.