This past October, several ambitious Midshipmen of our unit were given the opportunity
to hone in on their critical thinking skills and learn from some of our nation’s finest men
and women at George Washington University’s “Capital Leadership Conference”,
hosted by GWU NROTC’s Capital Battalion in Washington, D.C. MIDN 1/C Song, 2/C
Price, 2/C Czajkowski, 3/C McKay, 3/C O’Donnell, and 3/C Vaughters were
accompanied by Ensign Benieowski, and heard briefs on topics such as international
security assistance, interventionism, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, and leadership
ethics as part of the conference’s focus on “Military Ethics: Past, Present, and Future”.
Throughout the event, our Midshipmen met with others from around the country, spoke
with senior-ranking military servicemen and women, and even managed to schedule PT
and exploration of the city into their liberty time. The conference concluded with a
strategic crisis simulation — a war game in which Midshipmen were divided into two
teams and were tasked with navigating a hypothetical, although highly topical, conflict
between the United States and China in the South China Sea, where China, or “Red
Country”, as it was called, escalated the tensions caused by the continued militarization
of their artificially-constructed islands. Here, teamwork and decisiveness played vital
roles in the success or failure of each of the teams, and our Midshipmen were allowed
unique opportunities to test their battle strategies, to prioritize their country’s policies,
and to develop their diplomatic skills in a hyper-realistic situation. All in all, these
Midshipmen gained important advice and new thoughts on age-old principles and ethics
of leadership, all of which contributed greatly to their personal and professional
development as rising Junior Officers in our Navy and Marine Corps. They would highly
recommend this conference and any others which provide similar experiences for any
future MIDN who wishes to grow more deeply in their own leadership development.

By MIDN 3/C Zachary McKay

Penn State Midshipmen attend the George Washington University’s Fall Leadership Conference in Washington D.C. from October 13-15th

A handful of lucky midshipmen from our unit were selected to go to Washington D.C. from October 13-15th to attend the George Washington University’s Fall Leadership Conference.

These MIDN include: MIDN 2/C Bonner, MIDN 2/C Nagy, MIDN 2/C McDonough, MIDN 3/C Klo, MIDN 3/C Yancoski, and MIDN 3/C Freschi.   The MIDN were gratefully accompanied by ENS Kwasnik.

All these MIDN would be more than happy to share their own personal experience of the conference if you were to run into them on 3rd Deck.

The theme for the speakers at this year’s conference was “Lessons Learned.” Our MIDN fell nothing short of enlightened as our experienced sailors and marines before us shared their tales and sea stories that they feel were ‘defining moments’ to their Naval and Marine Corps careers.

Speakers at the conference included:  an Ambassador to four seperate presidents, Dennis Ross, with the topic ‘Lessons from the Middle East’, the CO of USMC OCS’s remarks by Col. A.T. Williamson, Dr. Peter L. Hays with ‘US Space Corps’, Col. Don Christenssen (ret.) with ‘Protect our Defenders’, and many more notable figures with inspiring topics to be heard.  The conference included a chance for the MIDN to interact with a Junior Officer Panel, and many of the high ranking speakers stuck around to talk to the MIDN that would one day fill their shoes.

A notable organization also made an appearence at the conference known as ‘No One Left Behind’.  With an inspiring story of the foundation of this non-profit, many of the MIDN’s eyes were opened to the risks and dangers in the life of an Afghan or Iraqi translator. To learn more about the organization and it’s mission, the link to their website can be found here: http://nooneleft.org

By MIDN 1/C Andrew Erbs

The Penn State men’s lacrosse team held a military appreciation game on March 19th for the NROTC battalion. The Midshipmen were included in halftime events, including shoot-around. Penn State fell to U Mass 9-11, dropping their season record to 5-3.