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Dear Alumni and Friends and Cadets
of Detachment 475, Scream like the Eagles
you aspire to be, and take solace in the fact
that those around you will do the same. Hu-
mility is important in character, but there is
no shame deserved in the pride felt when we
see what we can do. Read on and see just a
fraction of what we have done!
Detachment 475!
Physical Training!
With over a 90% on the
mock PFA, we are look-
ing fit and ready for the
upcoming test. Improve-
ment is always a must but
it is great to see the De-
tachement doing so well!
March Issue 2014
The Eagle Monthly
Special points of
interest:
Struggles
Triumphs
Learning for every-
one
New Competition! For those of you who do not
know, a competition is taking
place for cadets who have submit-
ted articles for the Eagle Monthly!
They need your vote to win. Go
to: https://www.facebook.com/
theeaglesnest475 to vote for the
best article this month. The win-
ner will receive a $20 gift certifi-
cate of his or her choice or defer it
to another cadet. Get out there and
vote!
Leadership Laboratories
Warrior Challenge: A Day of glor ious
physical training and transiting mayhem.
This semester’s Warrior Challenge was a
strong reminder that a sit up is never more
than a few commands away, and that motiva-
tion can quite easily make a difference in
how much harder you can push yourself.
Morale Lab: Cadet Fyfe’s transition to
spring break was a surprise to all. Food,
drinks, games and
learning found
their way into a fun
end to the first half
of spring semester.
What a way to go!
{SR-71}(1)
Left: {Cadet Har t might
be motivated}
Right: {Cadet Enos dis-
agrees with that}
The other day on my drive home from
work I heard a very interesting story in which
a man discusses his experiences and
knowledge on some unusual medical situa-
tions. I found this story to be related to the Air
Force my fellow cadets and I will enter into. I
also think it’s important to learn something
new every day. So I am hoping those who get
a chance to read this article will gain some
new interesting thoughts. Kevin Fong is an
anesthesiologist and the founder for the Center
of Altitude Space and Extreme Environment
Medicine. He is also the author of a new book
called Extreme Medicine. In this book he dis-
cusses what scientists have learned about sur-
vival within extreme heat and cold, trauma,
deep sea, and space. During the radio segment
he lists a few problems facing those found in
the above conditions and some of his personal
accounts.
Fong begins by talking about the issues facing
those in space. It can be said that we take ele-
ments of medicine for granted. Almost all of
the ordinary medical routines are made diffi-
cult by the environment of space. For exam-
Extreme Medicine by C/Col Anderson (Cadet Wing Commander 2013)
-ple, observing a patient generally takes place at the
side of the patient’s bed. However, in space both
you and the patient are floating around and need to
be strapped down. A lot of medical tools are able to
function with the help of gravity. With the lack of
gravity, processes like drips can become a problem.
Just holding on to the tools themselves can prove
difficult. Usually they are able to be placed neatly
on a tray, but in space this is just not possible. Fong
paints an image in your mid of the happy, healthy
heroes up in space that we commonly see smiling
and waving on TV while gliding and spinning
Page 2
The Eagle Monthly
{Astronaut performing zero-g exercise} (2)
{International Space Station in orbit} (3)
around their ship in zero
gravity. The truth is
health problems are
quite common for those
in space. As Fong points
out, “We can exist there,
but not forever”. We are
well developed for the
environment on our
planet and the environ-
ment in space has a
whole different set of
pressures that our body
is not used to. Interest-
ingly, most astronauts
will actually become
sick within the first 24
hours of their flight.
Generally, astronauts
experience wasting of
the bones and muscles
and deconditioning of
the heart due to the lack
of gravitational forces
on the body. A develop-
ment of poor hand-eye
coordination is relatively
common. Zero gravity
affects an apparatus in
the inner-ear. This appa-
ratus has a hand in de-
tecting accelerations and
when that is disrupted
two. As a crosstown ca-
det, however, I make the
choice to spend six, pre-
cious hours each
week driving to Durham
and back for
ROTC. There both ad-
vantages and challenges
Six hours a
week. There's a lot you
could do with six hours.
You could hit the
gym (multiple times),
watch a few movies, get
a whole lot of studying
in, or even take a nap or
to being a Cross-
towner, but we make up
such a small portion of
the detachment that not
many cadets know or
even think about what
it's like. Here's a short
Extreme Medicine Continued...
Struggles of a Cross-town Cadet
Tales of a Colonel
the Air Force Academy,
The former commander
of a B-1 bomber wing,
and an f-15 pilot while
he was in the Air Force.
He retired as a Lieuten-
ant Colonel with many
decorations and even
more amazing stories.
During the sum-
mer after my junior year
of high school I flew out
to Colorado to partici-
pate in the summer pro-
gram at the Air Force
Academy. During this
time I stayed at my un-
cle’s house, whose
neighbor was this Lieu-
tenant Colonel (which is
how I ultimately ended
up getting connected
with him). We finally
got to meet face-to-face,
ate dinner together at my
uncle’s house, and we
Before coming to
UNH ROTC, I had gone
through the process of
applying to the Air
Force Academy. This
process is a very long,
involved process with
the advantage of having
as many contacts at the
Air Force Academy as
possible. My main con-
tact was a graduate of
Page 3
March Issue 2014
See page 4
See page 5
See page 4
all listened to the amaz-
ing stories that the
Colonel had to tell. The
best story he saved for
the next day when he
gave us a tour of his
house.
My father, the
Colonel, and I were
walking around his
house that he had set
back in the mountains
of Colorado. He pro-
ceeded to show us his
“Shrine” – a room of all
{Dr. Kevin Fong}(4)
{Cadet Van Curen gets recognition}
the eye has difficulty
tracking movement.
Fong next dis-
cusses the issues facing
deep sea divers. Divers
experience pressure on
their bodies and these
pressures effect the air
they breathe. At 30 me-
ters below the surface
divers can get drunk off
the nitrogen in the oxy-
gen they are breathing
from, essentially affect-
ing the brain at a depth
where the surface is still
visible. As people dive
gasses are dissolved into
the blood stream chang-
ing the physiology of the
diver to adapt to the en-
vironment. If a diver is
to head back up to the
surface too quickly for
the process to reverse,
Extreme Medicine Continued...
Tales of a Colonel Continued...
a hard right turn to begin
the other way, as he did
the same thing (looking
over his shoulder into
the turn) a Canadian air-
man who was looking
behind him in the hopes
of spotting his wingman
collided with the Colo-
nel’s plane and literally
cut it in half at 700 mph.
The Colonel was able to
punch out, but when he
did he punched out up-
side-down and lost con-
sciousness due to the
impact of the collision.
When he regained con-
sciousness, he was hang-
ing in a tree with his
parachute tangled in the
branches above. At this
point he took a deep
breath and was thankful
to be alive. However,
the relief was short-lived
because he realized that
he was being shot at. He
looked up to find the
nose of his aircraft posi-
tioned facing him, with
the heat from the flames
on the front half of the
aircraft lighting off the
rounds of ammunition
that were stored in the
gun of the plane. He
quickly cut himself out
of the tree, got to an area
of safety, and lit a
smoke signal for the res-
cue crew
(who were
already on
their way).
As if
his day was-
n’t going
poorly
enough, he
informed me
that after the
of the awards and deco-
rations he had received
during his time in the
Air Force. The room
contained medals, certif-
icates, letters from supe-
riors… really amazing
things. But the one thing
he was most proud of
and most emotional
about was the single
ejection handle he had
hanging from a nail on
his wall with a picture of
his f-15 next to it.
He explained to
my father and I that he
had salvaged the ejec-
tion handle from an
emergency ejection that
he had lived through
while practicing with the
Canadian Air Force…
His wingman
peeled away from him in
Page 4
March Issue 2014
those gasses can fizzle
out into a solution and
that causes a set of issues.
Kevin Fong reflects upon
his time training with the
Royal Navy to escape
from submerged helicop-
ters. When a person has
dove to a depth of 7 or 8
meters, the water around
the diver causes their
muscles to compress and
this makes the diver dens-
er. At this point you are
no longer buoyant and are
more likely to sink than
float. In other words, you
become “negatively buoy-
ant”. This means if you end
up in a vehicle underwater
and there is no light you
will have no inkling as to
which direction you should
swim to reach the surface.
I’m sure you are wondering
by now how to escape a
submerged helicopter. It’s
always good to be prepared,
right? Well, you will need
to fight off your first in-
stinct which will be to un-
strap. Water is rapidly fill-
ing into the helicopter from
all directions. If you were to
rescue helicopter had land-
ed to pick him up, he was
caught in quick-sand while
moving to the helicopter.
One heck of a day – cheat-
ing death three times.
Naturally, my father
and I reacted as if it wasn’t
real, but he assured us that
he had taken the ejection
handle as physical proof of
the story. He also informed
See Page 6
{Cadet Richards loves PT}
glimpse into the life of a
crosstown cadet.
Let's start out
with the positive. The
main one is the fact that
I can attend a university
I love while still getting
the opportunity to
achieve my dream. Not
to say that UNH
Durham isn't great, but
it's not my cup of
tea. By taking advantage
of the opportunity to be
a Cross-towner, I get to
attend a college that's
more my style with the
academic programs and
living options I'm look-
ing for and I still get to
train to become an Air
Force officer. In addi-
tion, I get to interact
with a huge variety of
people with many differ-
ent experiences, thus
allowing me to bring
a unique perspective to
both tables.
Of course,
choosing to take the
road less traveled al-
ways has its challenges.
We can start with the
statistics of crosstown
cadets in our detach-
ment. Simply speaking,
the odds of me commis-
sioning are not in my
favor. There has never
been a Cross-towner
in det. 475 to make it all
the way through to com-
missioning. To illustrate
a little more, let's take a
look just at this year's
new IMTs. Starting out
the year IMTs had six
Struggles of a Cross-town Cadet Continued...
Extreme Medicine Continued...
to unstrap because your drive
to get out of the vehicle is so
strong. The next question
asked of Fong is, how do you
determine which way to
swim? At this point you may
not be buoyant and you may
not be able to see the surface.
To compensate for these dis-
advantages look for bubbles
and follow their direction.
Fong mentions a story from
his book which represents an
extraordinary chance of sur-
vival after facing extreme
cold. The mitochondria are
often described as the power
houses of cells within the
body. Essentially they are the
batteries the body runs off of.
When a body becomes
much colder the mitochon-
dria begin to shut down.
The body tries a number of
last minute survival strate-
gies to prevent this from
happening. Before freezing
to death the blood vessels
will constrict in order to
keep the blood from flow-
ing out to the extremities
and instead to keep it all
within the core to promote
function of the vital organs.
Hairs will stand up in order
to trap layers of heat in the
air. Shivers are another
way the body attempts to
keep the core warm. Unfor-
tunately in extreme colds
these attempts just aren’t
unstrap at this point you
will be thrown around by
the force of the water and
become completely disori-
ented. Counterintuitively
you must remain strapped
into your seat. Place one
hand onto the harness and
one on the exit. Wait until
you are fully submerged
and all violent motion has
ceased. At that point you
can eject the window, grab
hold of the window frame
while unstrapping, and get
out. Fong mentions how it
is a big struggle between
the body and the mind not
Page 5
The Eagle Monthly
enough. In 1999 a
woman and her
friends were skiing
when she caught an
edge and fell through
ice over a stream. She
became trapped in the
freezing water. It
took about eighty
minutes for her to be
rescued. At that point
her heart was
stopped, her body
was blue, she was
unable to breathe, and
her core body temper-
ature was about 87°F.
They began resusci-
tating her immediate-
ly after pulling her
See page 9
out of the water. The helicopter
had finally arrived an hour after
to carry her to the nearest hospi-
tal. They continued to resuscitate
her the entire way there, which
took another hour. After three
hours they were able to resusci-
tate her. Because her body was
freezing the batteries of her body
were shutting down and she was
dying, but the extreme drop in
body temperature was also pro-
tecting her. Dying is a process
and when the body freezes, it
slows down that process. The
team working on resuscitating the
woman back to life needed to fig-
ure out a way to heat her body
quickly. Blankets and fluids
would be inefficient. Instead they
removed the blood from her body
using a bypass machine. That
blood was then heated up very
quickly and sent back into her
body in hopes of resuscitating
her. It was a success and after a
few years of recovery she is ski-
ing once again.
When questioned if
Fong’s long experience in the
extreme medical field has
caused him to view the body as
fragile or as resilient, he says
both. He states, “Over time I
have come to marvel the body”.
We are still exploring what the
body and medicine can do. I
hope that in the time it took you
to read this article you may
have learned something that you
didn’t know before. I hope it
has provided you not only with
entertainment, but with an in-
creased awareness about the
limits of our bodies and how
those limits continue to stretch
as we gain more understanding
of the body and medicine. I find
this article relevant to our lives
as soon to be officers because of
the many applications of this
type of medicine. We may find
ourselves traveling over open
water in a helicopter and there
will be a well thought out pro-
cedure we need to follow in or-
der to efficiently escape
should it crash. This is a
situation that may seem ir-
relevant to some of us, but
even more relevant are the
capabilities of the Air Force
to deploy us anywhere at
any time we are needed.
This is to include the harsh-
est and less understood en-
vironments. Medicines like
those studied and practiced
by Kevin Fong are current-
ly being applied to Air
Force personnel placed in
these conditions. As our
capabilities continue to ex-
pand, so do the medical
needs of the personnel they
may affect.
{C/Col Keshia Anderson}
us that his wingman got the whole
thing on a video camera that was in
the cockpit, but he watched it once
and that was enough for him to re-
live the whole experience… An
amazing man and an even more
amazing day.
-C/3C Duncan Richards
Extreme Medicine Cont...
Page 6
March Issue 2014
Tales of a Colonel Continued...
{Cadet Richard is
loving the blue}
Known for breaking records for speed
and altitude, The SR-71 is a perfect example of
how science can be taken to
the limit, and then pushed far-
ther.
Having its first official
flight on December 22, 1964,
the blackbird was an achieve-
ment of both the military and
science industries. Nearly
every aspect involved in its
construction, from titanium
alloy to low cross-section air-
frame, utilized heavily modi-
fied or completely new proce-
dures to allow this aircraft to
outrun and out-climb any oth-
er aircraft. A Mach-3 aircraft,
this plane has achieved an
absolute speed of 2193 mph,
and a maximum altitude of
over 90,000 feet. For refer-
ence, rifle rounds traveled at
around 2600 mph up until the
introduction of advanced
ballistics cartridges,
making the Blackbird,
comparably fast to a ri-
fle!
Originally de-
signed as an interceptor,
it was later repurposed
for reconnaissance. This
plane was responsible
for the most powerful
weapon a commander
could hope to have–
knowledge.
Still considered
advanced by modern
standards, the SR-71 has
paved the way for fu-
ture aircraft on the backs
of two Pratt & Whitney
Ramjets.
-C/4C Bradbury Hart
Plane of the Month
Resolve
possibly serve our great
nation as part of the
world’s greatest Air
Force. You hold yourself
to a higher standard and
should rightfully be proud
of your accomplishments
so far.
This program is not easy,
it will challenge you more
than you have probably
ever been challenged be-
fore. This is on top of
probably the other largest
challenge of your life to
date- College. This chal-
lenge doesn’t ever go
away though, it only gets
more challenging. You
will continue to be chal-
lenged throughout your
entire career as an Air
Force officer. Which
honestly, is a good
thing. When you get the
privilege to talk to our
fine men and women of
the Air Force, they gen-
erally have a very simi-
lar thing to say about
their careers. Some key
things that most of them
say are: this job is never
easy, you are constantly
challenged, you make
I would like to
start this off by first con-
gratulating all of the
GMC cadets on being a
part of AFROTC. The
fact that you are dedicat-
ing your time and effort
to this program truly
puts you on a higher lev-
el compared to the rest
of campus. You are a
strong group of select
individuals who have
chosen to take on this
extra responsibility on
top of your college work
and life. You sacrifice
your time and some of
the “college experience”
for the opportunity to
Page 7
The Eagle Monthly
{SR-71 Blackbird} (5)
{Cadet Shaheen is plenty happy,
but his back could be straighter}
sacrifices to be here, it is ex-
tremely fulfilling, you have the
coolest things that you would
have never had the opportunity to
do in the civilian world happen to
you, and it is absolutely worth it.
These are very common themes
that I
have
heard.
Some of
you come
from mil-
itary fam-
ilies,
some of
you have friends who are in the
military, and some of you joined
to see if it is right for you. No
matter your reason, you have to
make sure you have a resolve.
For me, I had some particularly
tough times where my resolve
wasn’t strong. I was worried
about a life of constant change
and challenge, about leaving the
area my family has lived in for
generations, if the military life
was even right for me compared
to my lifelong plan of climbing
the corporate ladder or starting
my own business. All of that on
top of struggling with my studies,
I questioned if the effort was
worth it. I was in a rough place
and I didn’t handle it very well. I
eventually saw myself as a bur-
den and I didn’t want my prob-
lems to be a burden on others, so
I tried to deal with it all on my
own and internalized all of the
stress, sadness, self-loathing,
anxiety, and worry. Needless to
say it didn’t go
well. Eventually,
with the help of
some caring indi-
viduals, I was able
to get myself
strait. I finally got
past all the ques-
tions and doubts in
my head and believed that this is
what I want to do with my life. I
found my resolve.
After that it has been a wonder-
ful uphill journey. The stress and
challenges of balancing ROTC
and college are all still there and
I know there will always be
challenges throughout my ca-
reer, but I know without a doubt
in my mind that I want to be part
of the world’s greatest air force
and serve my country. Believing
that motivates me through the
hard times and pushes me to
constantly strive to improve. So
if any of you are having a chal-
lenging time finding your re-
solve, don’t forget that you have
an entire wing of support ready
and eager to help! You have
your flight mates, fellow
GMC, POC who have gone
through what you are going
through and an outstanding set of
Cadre who know what Air Force is
like and have a wealth of
knowledge. So no matter what
struggles you may go through. Al-
ways remember you have all of us
behind you ready and willing to
help. You are truly doing an amaz-
ing thing by dedicating yourself to
this program and are doing awe-
some. Keep up the great work Det
475!
-C/Capt Ryan Fyfe
Resolve Continued...
Page 8
March Issue 2014
{Cadet Fyfe is Cadet Fyfe
is Cadet Fyfe}
Top: {Everyone loves arm
circles!}
Cross-towner in our flight. Today
I'm the last one standing. That's
an 83% dropout rate compared
to 22% for UNH cadets.
We really have to ask ourselves
why this discrepancy is so great.
A huge factor is the num-
ber of events you miss as a Cross-
towner-- including PT, drill
events, volunteering, GMC exer-
cise, and more. Not only are
we missing out on the experience
and knowledge that one
would gain from these
events (thus forcing us to work
twice as hard to develop this
knowledge on our own), but we're
missing out on
the camaraderie being developed.
It has often been said that your
flight becomes your family,
which has proven to be true.
However in many cases I have
found that Cross-towners
are treated more like your 3rd
cousin. Very few UNH cadets
make the effort to draw the Cross
-towners into the group and a
very damaging misconception
even seems to develop that the
lack of participation is due to la-
ziness or a lack of motivation,
which, when one is spending six
hours a week (not to mention
what one's spending on gas) driv-
ing to ROTC events, can create
an extremely frustrating and
discouraging situation.
It's just not physically possible
to drive to Durham every single
day, and despite wanting to be
part of every event, it just can't
be that way.
Some good does come
from these struggles, however.
A “Cross-towner” has to be-
come extremely independent
and go above and beyond just
to stay a part of the detach-
ment. You can't just meet up in
the dining hall or walk over to a
classmate's dorm to discuss
flight goals or other require-
ments. You have to really make
an effort to stay involved and
keep lines of communication
open. You also have to take
responsibility for your own PT
schedule-- getting to the gym
on your own time and keep-
ing yourself motivated without
the energy and spirit that comes
from being surrounded and en-
couraged by your fellow ca-
dets. Your motivation and ac-
countability must come com-
pletely from within with no
one's shoulders to lean on. And
yet, fellow cadets are under-
standably only able to take
what they see into considera-
tion, leaving you more often
than not viewed as the bottom of
the pack despite your efforts.
Now I don't claim
to speak for all Cross-towners
for anyone’s experience will be
unique. This article is based off
of my personal thoughts and al-
so the thoughts of some former
Cross-towners that I have spo-
ken to. Hopefully the look into
the life of a crosstown cadet will
add something to your own
ROTC experience and maybe
even motivate you to reach out
to a crosstown cadet and help
turn some of the previously
mentioned statistics
around. Although being a Cross-
towner has its fair share of chal-
lenges, once you learn how to
overcome and take strength
from those challenges, it is a
rewarding and worthwhile expe-
rience.
-C/4C Kyli Van Curen
Struggles of a Cross-town Cadet Continued...
Page 9
The Eagle Monthly
{Van Curen the Guidon-
bearer}
The Eagle Monthly
It was a November
day in 2010 and Marine Cor-
poral Kyle Carpenter (then a
Lance Corporal) found him-
self in the Marjah district of
Afghanistan’s Helmand prov-
ince. Carpenter and his com-
rade, Lance Corporal Nicho-
las Eufrazio, were standing
guard on a rooftop when an
enemy grenade was tossed up
at them. As the grenade lay
on the rooftop waiting to det-
onate, Carpenter courageously
and without regard for his
own life, dove and smothered
it.
The decisiveness and
speed in which Carpenter re-
acted to save his comrade
epitomize bravery and the es-
sence of a warrior. As a result
of the blast, Carpenter lost his
right eye and most of his
teeth. His jaw was also shat-
tered, and his right arm was
broken in dozens of places.
The Marine he was trying to
save, Nicholas Eufrazio, sus-
tained severe brain trauma
due to shrapnel wounds from
the blast. Although it has not
yet been officially announced,
word is spreading through all
media outlets that Carpenter
is to receive the Medal of
Honor.
Carpenter has refused
to comment about whether or
not he will receive the award
and the White House has giv-
en only vague answers when
asked about when the cere-
mony will take place. This is
not odd, however, because
Medal of Honor ceremonies
are typically only announced
a month in advance. The last
Marine to receive the Medal
of Honor, Corporal Jason
Dunham, received it for
smothering a grenade in
2004. No matter when the
ceremony takes place,
Kyle Carpenter is a true
American hero and exem-
plifies everything that the
Military stands for.
-C/4C James Rick
The Marine Carpenter
{The recovering Corporal, Kyle Carpenter}
The Eagle Monthly
If you are interested in sharing your
article or submitting pictures for next
month’s edition of the Eagle Monthly
please contact one of the cadet
listed below!
Cadet Bradbury Hart
Sources:
1- http://theaviationist.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/SR-71-
2.jpg
2- http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/91/
Frank_De_Winne_on_treadmill_cropped.jpg
3- http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/04/
International_Space_Station_after_undocking_of_STS-132.jpg
4- http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/Pictures/web/o/s/e/
kevin_fong_autho_150.jpg
5- http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/90/
Sr71_1.jpg
Other– http://www.unh.edu/afrotc/gallery.php
