In addition to the training provided by the Corps of Cadets, Air Force ROTC has its own activities that allow cadets to expand their leadership experience.
Cadet Activities
Weekend Warriors
Cadets spend a few weekends each semester:
- Running races, sometimes for charity
- Visiting Air Force bases
- Flying in (or just flying!) airplanes
- White-water rafting
- Canoeing down the New River
- Survival Weekend--planned and executed entirely by cadets in AFSOPT
Summer Training
Professional Development Training, or PDT, is a fancy way to say "Have an awesome summer", doing things like:
- Free-fall training at the Air Force Academy
- Shadowing a lieutenant
- Strategic Language instruction
- "Jump school" with the US Army
Travel, lodging, & meals provided!
Cadets and Canoes
Base Visits
Det 875 sponsors visits to Air Force bases each semester, and all cadets are welcome to go. Spring semester changes yearly--09 featured Seymour-Johnson AFB, NC. Every fall, cadets visit Wright-Patterson AFB in Dayton, Ohio, where they can:
- Run in the USAF marathon
- Tour the Air Force Museum
- See first-hand how bases operate
Posing in the USAF Museum
Orientation Flights
Every three semesters, cadets have the chance to fly in an Air Force cargo plane. In Fall 07, it was a C-17; in Spring 09, a C-130J. Come see what we do in Fall 10!
- Touring the cockpit
- Looking out through the open cargo bay
- Learning about navigators and pilots
Cadets After Their Flight
AEF Warrior Day
Each fall, cadets spend a Saturday in the woods "downrange", developing skills in:
- Individual Movement Techniques
- Tactial squad movement
- Self-Aid Buddy Care
- Perimeter defense procedures
Warrior Day Typical Locations
- Virginia Tech campus
- Radford Army Ammunition Plant
AEF Survival Weekend
Each spring, cadets spend a weekend learning things like:
- Land navigation--it takes more than a compass
- The rules of triage and how to use them
- Proper procedure for assaulting a bunker
- The Buddy System--scuba style
- How to turn a BDU into a floatation device
- How long they can tread water
Survival Weekend includes:
- Land-based navigation and combat training
- Water-based diving, swimming, and survival procedures
Cadets in the Wet