The Rattler Battalion has
been extremely busy
within the last few
months, and have an even
busier schedule leading up
to the Leadership Devel-
opment and Assessment
Course (LDAC), along
with new changes to the
course curriculum as di-
rected by the new Profes-
sor of Military Science
(PMS).
The Outgoing PMS, LTC
Jeffrey Williams and his
Family will be heading to
the DC Metro area. LTC
Williams, wife Melissa
and their three sons will
be greatly missed by the
Rattler battalion, FAMU
alumni, faculty and
friends.
Florida A&M University President James Ammons
passes the Army ROTC Rattler Battalion Colors to the
new Commander, MAJ Joseph Kelly on 21 April
2011. The Change of Command Ceremony took place
at the Eternal Flame just outside of Lee Hall.
Rattler Battalion Change of Command
Inside this issue:
Standout Cadets 2
Running Rattlers 3
Joint Awards Ceremony 4
Commissioning and Ball 5
Farewell MSG Myers 6
Grades and PT Studs 7
Pre-LDAC 8
Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University Army Reserved Officer’s Training Corps
Committed to Excellence!
Special points of
interest:
PMS Welcome
Cadet Activities &
Events
Spring 2011 Commis-
sioning Ceremony
Cadet Summer Activities
Camp Special
Cadet Orientation Week
Outstanding Grade Re-
port
Calendar
JUNE 2011 VOLUME 1, ISSUE 1
Commanding General of Cadet Command Visit
MG McDonald, Commanding General of Cadet Com-
mand, presents LTC Williams with his PCS award.
On May 5, 2011, the
Commanding General of
Cadet Command, MG
Mark McDonald, visited
Florida A&M Univer-
sity. His first stop was
Howard Hall, where he
presented LTC Williams
with the Meritorious
Service Medal.
Cadets James Seay, Pier
Jea Lyon and Marcus
Jackson gave an excel-
lent briefing on the status
of the Rattler Battalion,
and all of the upcoming
initiatives in mentorship
and improving training.
Hello and welcome to our first quarterly
newsletter! It is my honor and privilege to
serve you as your Professor of Military Sci-
ence! My Family and I are very excited to
be here at Florida A&M University. We are
very proud to be Rattlers!
To our new Cadets, we would like to wel-
come you into the Rattler Battalion. We are
very excited about our upcoming school
year. We look forward to seeing you all
during our Cadet Orientation Week (COW).
It is here where we will train you on the basics of college life and the ROTC
program. We will conduct physical training and community service projects.
We will also discuss upcoming changes to the course syllabus to include the
addition of writing courses designed to assist you with your college career, and
introduce our participation in Toastmasters.
For our returning Cadets, welcome back! We look
forward to seeing you at Cadet Orientation Week!
I hope you have been doing Physical Training in
your off time along with eating somewhat prop-
erly. We have hard work to do and loads to lift!
There are some syllabus changes to the MS II and
MSIV curriculums as well. We will incorporate
Toastmasters at both levels. Toastmasters is a
speaking organization designed to improve speak-
ing and leadership skills. MS IVs will have to
participate in professional blogs, submit an article
for publication along with conducting a media in-
terview.
Again, I truly look forward to serving you as your
PMS. Leaders are only successful when the people
they are leading become successful.
Cadet Kashayla Unis was selected to attend the
2011 Battle Command Conference which took
place at the United States Military Academy in
West Point, New York. The Battle Command
Conference serves as the capstone experience
in United States Military Academy‟s
(USMA‟s) professional military ethic educa-
tion and focuses on battle command in the
contemporary environment.
COMMANDER’S CORNER
Cadet Kashayla Unis Attends the Cadet Battle Command Conference
2011. Cadet Bellamy participated in three
days of thought provoking seminars with dis-
tinguished panelists, and she also had the op-
portunity to interact with our nation‟s top mili-
tary and government leaders. She was not
only able to gain insight from being a part of
these unique educational activities, but she was
able to reunite and establish relationships with
her fellow Cadets.
Cadet Salita Bellamy Represents FAMU ROTC at Leadership Conference
Cadet Salita Bellamy was the recipient of the
prestigious 2011 George C. Marshall Award.
The George C. Marshall Award is awarded to
the top ROTC Cadet of a college or university
based on excellence in the pursuit of military
and academic studies, leadership potential and
professional development. She had the privi-
lege to attend the 2011 Army Cadet Command
George C. Marshall Awards and Leadership
Seminar which was held in Lexington, Vir-
ginia. The conference was from 14 - 17 April
Page 2 COMMITTED TO EXCELLENCE!
“Leaders are
only successful
when the people
they are leading
become
successful”
- rick pitino
Cadet Kashayla Unis
Cadet Salita Bellamy
On 23 April 2011, FAMU
ROTC Cadets—led by Cadet
Shaurice Keys—celebrated
Easter weekend by hosting its
First “Easter with the Rattler
Battalion” located at Howard
Hall. This was a fun filled
community service event held
for children of all ages within
the local community. Over
30 children and their families
participated in the event—
consisting of various activi-
ties such as face and egg
painting, egg and spoon rac-
ing, and balloon hop racing.
They also had the pleasure of
enjoying great music by
Ghost Entertainment Produc-
tions and complimentary food
provided by M&M Barbeque.
Cadet Keys did an out-
standing job of coordinating
this event and both Cadets
and participants had a won-
derful time. Children were
awarded various prizes like
Easter baskets, games and
puzzles.
At the conclusion of the
event, FAMU ROTC and
M&M Barbeque donated over
50 hamburgers to a local
homeless shelter called, “The
Shelter,” located in downtown Tallahassee. All Cadets who vol-
unteered represented FAMU and the ROTC program in a superb
manor.
On April 16, 2011, FAMU
Army ROTC Cadets partici-
pated in the 37th running of
the Palace Saloon 5K. The
2011 event featured 1,064
finishers completing the 3.1
miles which started from Tal-
lahassee Community College
for the first time. This was a
much more competitive race.
The Rattlers finished 5th in
the team categories.
FAMU ROTC Hosts Easter Event
Rattlers Participate in the Palace Saloon 5K Race
lahassee on a USA Track &
Field certified course. The
course began with a 3/4 mile
downhill stretch, covering
rolling hills through the beau-
tiful Meyers Park neighbor-
hood and finished with a flat
and fast 1/2 mile from the
start area. Rattler Battalion
Cadets finished strong to re-
ceive the winning title, as
well as two Cadets, Cadets
Jerome Maples and Roland
Pitts, receiving individual
awards.
One Rattler, Cadet Jason
Tarin, participated in the 10K
portion of the race.
Rattlers Win Springtime Tallahassee 5K Race
April 2, 2011, FAMU Army
ROTC took first place as the
corporate team in the 43rd
Annual 2011 Springtime Tal-
lahassee Festival. This festi-
val is an annual event held to
celebrate Tallahassee‟s his-
tory and culture. The race
took place in Downtown Tal-
Page 3 VOLUME 1, ISSUE 1
Cadet Shaurice Keys leads children on the Easter Egg Hunt por-
tion of the “Easter with the Rattler Battalion”
Springtime 5K Participants:
Jerome Maples - 19:51
Roland Pitts - 20:37
MAJ Kelly - 23:42
Jonathan Londono - 23:57
LTC Williams - 24:11
Tarolyn Granthum - 25:15
Salita Bellamy - 25:24
Amanda Uwaibi - 26:01
Alexandria McCloud - 26:31
Carlos Pitts - 28:18
Palace Saloon 5K Runners:
Ronald Penn - 18:55
Jerome Maples - 20:18
Peter Falcone - 21:19
Ketrick English - 21:37
LTC Williams - 23:23
Heather Moore - 25:08
Salita Bellamy - 25:24
Amanda Uwaibi - 26:45
Desiree Day - 34:36
Cadets (l-r) Ronald Penn, Ketrick English, Amanda Uwaibi and Peter
Falcone coming down the home stretch of the Palace Saloon 5K Race
Cadet Brione Lewis face painting
units. This year‟s guest
speaker was LTC Williams.
The Joint Awards ceremony
concluded with the presenta-
tion of the General Ferguson
Most Outstanding Cadet
Award to Cadet Kashayla
Unis. The recipient of this
award gets their name on a
plaque in Howard Hall.
Other award winners:
On Thursday, April 14, 2011,
The Rattler Battalions of
Army ROTC and Navy
ROTC held their Annual Joint
Awards Ceremony on the
campus of Florida A&M Uni-
versity in the Pharmacy Audi-
torium. This ceremony is held
every year to honor those
Cadets and midshipmen who
have gone above and beyond
their duties in their respective
FAMU ROTC Cadre and Faculty take First Place!
Army/Navy Joint Awards Ceremony
Angels introduced 7 new An-
gels to the Rattler Battalion
and the campus of Florida
A&M University. Congratula-
tions Ladies. New inductees
are: Kimberly Alexis, Alicia
Milton, Tina Burroughs, Sili-
enne Saint-Fluery, Mareshah
Owusu-Yaw; and two Naval
ROTC Cadets—Krystal May
and Erica Ware
Pershing Angel Conference and Probate
On April 2, 2011, The Na-
tional Society of Pershing
Angels and Pershing Rifles:
Company C-16, attended the
Annual Royal Blue & White
Conference held at Morgan
State University for the 2010-
2011 school year.
On April 6, 2011, The Na-
tional Society of Pershing
On 6 May 2011, The FAMU
ROTC Cadre and Staff par-
ticipated in the FAMU De-
partment of Public Safety
Spring 2011 Physical Readi-
ness Challenge. This is a
physical fitness event geared
toward uniting the community
and promoting fitness aware-
ness and healthy lifestyle.
The event is comprised of a
stadium bleacher run, 200
yard shuttle run and 25 yard
dummy drag along with a few
other team events.
Ms. McGhee (HRA), MSG
Pitt and SFC Haskins took 1st
place in several categories as
Team FAMU ROTC won the
overall first place.
The event was a huge success
and much credit should be
given to the FAMU Depart-
ment of Public Safety for put-
ting together such a class act
event. Several organizations
participated in the event along
with children from nearby
schools.
Professor of Military Science Major Joe Kelly holds the champion ship trophy
with (l-r) SFC Charles Haskins, FAMU Department of Public Safety Chief Ross,
MSG David Pitt and Ms. Elizabeth McGhee (HRA)
Page 4 COMMITTED TO EXCELLENCE!
MSG Pitt and SFC Haskins pre-
pare for the 200m shuttle run
American Legion Scholars: Salita Bellamy, Richard Johnson,
Silienne Saint-Fleury, David Singleton
American Legion Military Excellence Award: Alexandria
McCloud, Roland Pitts, Meghan Jones, Fionia Washington
Reserve Officer’s Association Award: Heather Moore, Maurice
Arnold, Tavarris Andrews, Emily Ferrucci
Military Order of World Wars: Ryan Warren, Shaurice Keys,
Peter Falcone, Dale Landry II
Daughters of the American Revolution Award: Amanda
Uwaibi, Kashayla Unis
Sons of the American Revolution: Rafael Watts
Military Officer’s Association of America Award: Domanique
Hyman
AUSA Member Award: Ronald Penn, Jr
More awards continued on page 7 (see Ceremony page 7)
On Friday, April 29, 2011,
eight Cadets were commis-
sioned as Second Lieutenants
into the United States Army.
The ceremony took place at
11:30am at the Florida Capi-
tol Courtyard. This year‟s
guest speaker was FAMU
ROTC Alumnus and former
Ms. Army ROTC, LTC Eury-
dice (Stephens)Stanley, Ph.D.
She delivered an outstanding
address to the new lieutenants
as she stressed the importance
of continuing education, and
the importance of having a
mentor.
Former PMS, LTC Jeffrey Wil-
liams gave the LTs their Oath
of Office. Notable attendees
were: Dean Turner, COL
Ronald Joe, and Ms. Lynn
Bannister. Newly commis-
sioned officers are:
- 2LT Salita Bellamy, Signal
Corps, Active Duty
- 2LT Amanda Uwaibi, Adju-
tant General Corps, Education
Delay
- 2LT Celeb Weldon, Finance
Corps, Georgia Guard
- 2LT Jamar Littlejohn, Corps
of Engineers, Georgia Guard
- 2LT Xavier Smith, Transpor-
tation Corps, Florida Reserve
- 2LT Kashayla Unis, Ordnance
Corps, Active Duty
- 2LT Keontra Campbell, Field
Artillery, Florida Guard
- 2LT Anthony Dowling, Adju-
tant General Corps, Florida
Reserve
were Cadets Jerome Maples,
Silenne Saint-Fluery, Ronald
Penn and Salita Bellamy (all
pictured above l-r). The night
concluded with dancing.
On Friday, April 15, 2011, the
Rattler Battalion held the an-
nual Military Ball at the Na-
tional Guard Armory in Talla-
hassee, Florida. This year‟s
guest speaker was FAMU
ROTC Alumnus COL Jeffrey
Fletcher, Fort Benning Garri-
son Commander. Event in-
cluded skits by each Military
Science Class, a traditional
military punch bowl cere-
mony, and presentation of
Cadet awards. The recipients
Spring 2011 FAMU ROTC Commissioning Ceremony
Spring 2011 Military Ball
Page 5 VOLUME 1, ISSUE 1
“When they ask
you what school
you went to, you
look them in the
eyes and tell
them, Florida
A&M University!”
LTC Stanley giving address at commis-
sioning ceremony
The Rattler Battalion is sending several Cadets to attend the prestig-
ious U.S. Army Airborne School and U.S. Army Air Assault
School. The United States Army Airborne School - widely known
as Jump School - conducts the basic paratrooper (military parachut-
ist) training for the United States armed forces. The course is three
weeks long and consists of "Ground Week", "Tower Week" and
"Jump Week". Rigorous physical training (PT) is emphasized
throughout the entire course. Cadets attending Airborne school this
Summer are: Ciara Cooper-Thomas, Peter Falcone, David Gilles-
pie, Jerome Maples, Stefan Sabur, Marcus Jackson, and Shaurice
Keys. Our first Airborne School graduate this summer is Cadet
Cooper-Thomas who will graduate on 26 May 2011.
The Air Assault School deals with making soldiers qualified to con-
duct airmobile and air assault helicopter operations. Aircraft orien-
tation, slingload operations, proper rappelling techniques and fast-
rope techniques. The school itself is 10 training days and requires a
12-mile (19 km) march with rucksack in order to graduate.
The school is located at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, (home of the
101st Airborne Division). There are also schools at Schofield Bar-
racks, Hawaii, Fort Hood Texas, Camp Blanding, Florida, Fort
Bliss, Texas and Fort Drum, NY. We have one Cadet attending Air
Assault School this Summer, Cadet Ryan Jackson. He is currently
scheduled to graduate on 25 May 2011.
Farewell to MSG Myers and wife Rebecca
Airborne and Air Assault Schools
their mission, travel to their
assigned country and work
together on a project. The
Army pays for the entire pro-
gram and even provides a
modest wage for the month.
Our Rattler Battalion Cadets
who are participating this sum-
mer are:
Alexandria McCloud - Benin
Silienne Saint-Fleury - Togo
Shaurice Keys - Thailand
Vieanna Smith - Ghana
Rattlers on the Move
We have several Cadets par-
ticipating in our Cultural Lan-
guage Program (CULP). This
program allows Cadets to
apply for a month-long sum-
mer program to work with a
foreign military organization,
take a language course or
participate in an humanitarian
project in a developing coun-
try. The program's objective is
to create army officers who
are more experienced in deal-
ing with foreign cultures.
Selected Cadets go to destina-
tions in the Philippines, Af-
rica, E. Europe, Asia and
Central America. Teams are
organized into groups of
around 30 Cadets who plan
The Rattler Battalion said
farewell to one of its Cadre
members. MSG Thomas
Myers has finalized his
permanent change of duty
station to Fort Carson,
Colorado. He came to the
Rattler Battalion in March
2008 and has done an out-
standing job training our
Cadets as he prepared
them for not only the
Leadership Development
A s s e s s me n t C o u r s e
(LDAC), but for subse-
quent life as adults and as
second lieutenants. MSG
Meyers and wife Rebecca
recently finalized the pa-
perwork on their beautiful
newly adopted daughter, Audrey.
We are sad to see the Myers fam-
ily leave, however he will con-
tinue to serve our Army in within
the Special Forces branch. His
last day at
the Rattler
B a t t a l i o n
was Friday,
6 May 2011.
We wish you
and your
family safe
travels and
r e m e m b e r
once a Rat-
tler, always
a Rattler!
Page 6 COMMITTED TO EXCELLENCE!
Wreath Laying Ceremony
Directly after the Commissioning Ceremony on 29 April
2011; LTC Eurydice (Stephens) Stanley and MSG David
Pitt participate in the FAMU Alumni Association Wreath
Laying Ceremony located in the Grand Ballroom.
The overall grades in the Rat-
tler Battalion were not good
this past Spring 2011 Semes-
ter. We have to get the grades
up! This is urgent and re-
quires action. While some
Cadets are doing what they
are supposed to, others must
act now to improve their
GPA!
We have a policy in place at
the Rattler Battalion that any
Cadet with a Cumulative
GPA below a 2.5 must attend
study hall. Study hall is every
Monday, Tuesday and
Wednesday at a designated
location within Howard Hall
(ROTC building).
With that being said, we have
several Rattler Battalion Ca-
dets who are making the
grade and excelling in the
area of academics. We are
excited to publish our Com-
mander‟s Academic List Ca-
dets for Spring 2011!
(Criteria for these grades is a
full-time student at FAMU
earning a minimum of 12
credit hours.)
Diamond Award (Perfect Score - 4.0): Brione Lewis, Salita
Bellamy, Heather Moore, Kashayla Unis, Kevin Quick, Keon-
tra Campbell
Platinum Club (3.70 - 3.99): Ciara Cooper-Thomas, Richard
Johnson, Roland Pitts, Celeb Weldon
Bold Golds (3.4 - 3.69): Brittany Blackmore, Alexander Man-
dakunis, Ashley Edwards, James Rolling, Ryan Warren, Rofael
Watts, Shedrick Jones, Pier Jea Lyon, Amanda Uwaibi
Silver Award (3.0 - 3.39): Desiree Day, Peter Falcone, Emily
Ferucci, Diamond Ivey, Jerome Maples, Tavarris Andrews,
David Gillespie, Romonia Johnson, Meghan Jones, Shaurice
Keys, Silienne Saint-Fleury, Terrance Burch, Tameka Carter,
Rebecca Fanfan, Courtney Goner, Ryan Jackson, Condarrio
Murdaugh, Ronald Penn, Johnathon Strickert, Jason Tarin
Congratulations on an outstanding performance!
Making the Grade
look it up on the web.) The
core muscles are the key to
everything we do. There are
excellent programs to assist
with your personal training
goals and personal training
improvement. The most fa-
miliar are programs like
Crossfit, P90X, Insanity and
many other fitness programs.
Whichever program you
choose, do so wisely and
safely. Running on roads can
be dangerous. Remember to
preferably run in daylight
areas, wear reflective gear,
run against oncoming traffic
so you can react to oncoming
vehicles, beware of running
with headphones (can be very
dangerous), and do not add
mileage to your runs prema-
turely.
Staying fit can be fun and
exciting if you make it so.
Now get out there and train!
We have several Cadets who have excelled at the Army Physical
Fitness Test (APFT) in physical fitness. They are as follows:
Physical Training (PT) Studs (Score 300+): Marcus Jackson,
Ronald Penn Jr., Ronald Pitts, Kashayla Unis
Brave and the Bold (Score 290 - 299): Salita Bellamy, Ashley
Edwards, David Gillespie, Mason Marshall, Heather Moore,
Amanda Uwaibi, Ryan Warren, LTC Williams, MAJ Kelly
Honorable Mention (Score 280 - 289): Tavarris Andrews,
Maurice Arnold, Domanique Hyman, Pier Jea Lyon, Alexandria
McCloud, Stefan Sabur, Silienne Saint-Fleury
Physical Fitness
Physical fitness is a very im-
portant part of what we do
here at the Rattler Battalion.
It is absolutely imperative that
Cadets do everything in their
means in order to remain and
excel in physical fitness over
the course of this summer.
Physical fitness helps us feel
better, be better and look bet-
ter. It is a way of life that we
must learn to enjoy and live
with. Our main issue with
physical fitness is that Cadets
go home after school and do
not continue to train. There-
fore when they return to
school, they are often in
worse shape than before they
started the ROTC program!
Continue to do physical train-
ing. Do not only just focus on
push ups, sit ups and the 2
mile run, but focus on core
training. (If you do not know
what core training is, then
Page 7 VOLUME 1, ISSUE 1
Ceremony (continued from page 4)
Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Award: Shedrick Jones
Military Order of the Purple Heart: Ashley Edwards
National Sojourners: David Gillespie, Courtney Goner
National Defense Transportation Association Award: Taro-
lyn Granthum
USAA Spirits Award: Theresa Rollins
Superior Cadet Decoration Award: Anthony Scavella,
Vieanna Smith, Salita Bellamy, Stefan Sabur
Scottish Rite of Freemasonry Award: Brione Lewis
Congratulations to all or our award recipients! The Army/Navy
Joint Awards Ceremony was narrated by Cadet Amanda Uwaibi.
Lewis, Washington.
We hold a voluntary Pre-
LDAC here at the FAMU Rat-
tler Battalion in order to pre-
pare our Cadets for the actual
LDAC. This „mini-camp‟ is
comprised of several events
such as an Army Physical Fit-
ness Test (APFT), 4.5 mile
Road March, extensive classes
on map reading, land naviga-
tion (day and night), patrol
base operations, call for fire,
nine line medical evacuation,
zodiac operations and squad
The Rattler Battalion is gear-
ing up for another exciting
summer at the Leadership De-
velopment Assessment Course
(LDAC). Every Army ROTC
Cadet who enters into the Ad-
vanced Course attends the
Leader Development and As-
sessment Course. It's a five-
week summer course to evalu-
ate and train all Army ROTC
Cadets. This course normally
takes place between your jun-
ior and senior years of college,
and is conducted at Fort
tactical exercises.
The event was highly success-
ful due to some dedicated peo-
ple to include all staff and
cadre, Ms. Amy Schwartz and
Bell Bella Restaurant, Golden
Corral, and last but definitely
not least, the staff at 6th Bri-
gade Headquarters located in
Savannah, GA. The 6th Bde
Staff played a huge role in
supporting our efforts to train
our Cadets. This includes Ms.
Ferguson and the entire Bde
S4 Shop.
Pre-LDAC (Leadership
Development Assessment Course)
Phone: 850-599-3515 Fax: 850-561-2430 E-mail: [email protected]
Committed To Excellence, Second to None!
We’re on the
web!
Www.famu.edu
1750 Wahnish Way (Howard Hall) Tallahassee, Florida 32307
A little more about our battalion….
Basic Military Instruction - This component prepares a student for the advanced course. The basic
course consists of freshman (MS I) and sophomore (MS II) level courses designed to develop basic
military skills and fundamentals of leadership.
For students not taking military science during their freshman year, both MS I and MS II courses
may be attended simultaneously as designated compression students. Upon completion, these stu-
dents will qualify for the advanced course in one academic year. Students must maintain academic
alignment (i.e., all ROTC MS III third year Cadets should have junior class status).
Advanced Course and Leaders Development Assessment Course (LDAC)-The advanced course
is designed to prepare students for commissioning as Army officers. The third year course (MS III)
consists of individual skills development in preparation for the 32 days Leadership Development
Assessment Course (LDAC). The final year (MS IV) consists of professional leadership and man-
agement development and completes pre-commissioning preparation. All advanced course partici-
pants are eligible to receive a minimum of $450 per month stipend and are paid for their 32 days
LDAC. Successful LDAC completion, combined with the bachelor‟s degree, qualifies the student
for commissioning as second lieutenants in the U. S. Army. Army Reserve, or Army National
Guard.
At left, Cadet Burch lays out a sand table; (above) Cadet Goner on break; CPT Blake and Cadet
Occeus on the chalkboard; (upper right) CPT Middleton in class and presenting Golden Corral
with a Certificate of Appreciation; (right) Cadet Warren on break enjoying an MRE.