An Iowa State Army ROTC cadet and LAS student has been selected to attend a prestigious conference April 23-24 at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y.
Zachary Graham, ISU’s Army ROTC Cadet Battalion Commander, was one of 10 cadets in the 3rd Brigade selected to attend the West Point Mission Commander Conference. The 3rd Brigade consists of 41 senior Army ROTC units in the Midwest.
Graham, from Cedar Falls, is a double major in anthropology and international studies.
The conference is an annual event organized by the Simon Center for the Professional Military Ethic as a capstone experience in a cadet’s military ethic education, and focuses on modern mission command, Lt. Col. Rick Smith, chair of military science at ISU, said.
"It is pretty selective," Smith said. "Zachary is one of only 10 cadets selected from our entire brigade. The selection criteria was pretty tough, too.
Graham’s accomplishments are many and include his performance last year in the Bataan Memorial Death March marathon race at White Sands, N.M. Graham finished the 26-plus-mile run in a military uniform with a 35-pound rucksack on his back on a rugged desert trail of sand, gravel and pavement.
How’d he do? Graham won the ROTC Heavy division, beating 93 other runners.
– Steve Jones