Fresno State ROTC student tops in nation

By Danielle MacMurchy

The Army Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) released the national order of merit list Friday, and Fresno State senior Adam Van Dusen ranked as the top cadet out of 4,682 officer candidates nationwide.

Other Fresno State cadets in the top 20 percent include seniors Forest Ryan, Kurtis Douglas, Christopher Olsen, Richard Wukmir and April Knepper.

Col. Barrett Larwin of the Fresno State ROTC said this is the first time in the 23-year history of Fresno State’s program that any student has been in the top 50.

“ The competition is tough,” Larwin said. “We’re targeting scholars, athletes and leaders.”

That is what these men and women have strived to be. Each student works for three years, both academically and physically, with their hopes set on ranking high among their peers.

Before their senior year, cadets attend a National Advance Leadership Course in Fort Louis, Wash. Acting as a 32-day final exam, the course determines each cadet’s eligibility.

Van Dusen attributes much of his success to his fellow cadets. “We have such a good class,” Van Dusen said. “You see everyone improving all the time and it pushes you to improve.”

After pushing themselves to the limits and beyond, the cadets are rewarded for their hard work. If ranked within the top 20 percent nationwide, the cadets are free to choose their commission from a range of nearly unlimited options.

Cadet Kurtis Douglas, a history major, will be attending aviation school in Fort Rucker, Ala. in June. He said he will take with him different skills he learned from each cadet, then made his own.

Larwin is excited about the students’ accomplishments.

“ These people are going to be the future military leaders of the nation,” Larwin said.

The success of these cadets reflects on the entire Fresno State corps. In December the United States Army’s ROTC department will rank every unit in the nation. Larwin is anticipating Fresno State will be in the top 25 out of the more than 270 programs nationwide.

“ [The department] looks at the attributes and the character of our students, and they’ve done very well against their peers in the nation,” Larwin said.

While the entire ROTC program at Fresno State is reaching new heights, the individual students are taking their experiences with them as they push toward future success.