Harman to leave Capitol ROTC program By Jo Griffiths One of the things ROTC cadets here at Capitol Campus study thoroughly is military secrecy r but some haven’t mastered the skill. When the cadets here presented departing instructor Lt. Col. Robert J. Harman with some tokens of their appreciation two weeks ago, he knew something was up. He just didn’t know ex actly what. “It leaked out the day before the ceremony that they were plan ning something,” Harman said. “I just had no idea what they were up to.” Harman received a letter of ap preciation and a photo of the cadets at Capitol in addition to a small statue of the Penn State Nittany Lion with a plaque reading, “to Lt. Col. Robert J. Harman, with our utmost respect and appreciation.” Those words express a deep ad miration held by Harman’s students for their instructor. Not only does he get out there and work with the cadets, but, in the words of ROTC cadet Jim Dem yanovich, “he really motivates people, he really does care.” Harman accepted a 3-year tour of duty with the ROTC program after 16 years of active duty ser vice in Army infantry and avia tion units which took him and his family all over the world. “I enjoy being with young peo ple,” said Harman. “I enjoy teaching and it’s exciting to train Capitol cadet attends national ROTC conference By Jo Griffiths The past, the present, and the future met each other last month in Lexington, Virginia, and one Capitol Campus student was there to see it happen. Darrell Curtis, a Capital Cam pus senior and cadet in the ROTC program here, was one of the 300 cadets nationwide who attended the sixth annual George C. Mar shall Awards Conference in Lex ington, an event designed to bring together future Army leaders and top present day and past Army officers. Only the top senior cadet from each collegiate program is chosen to attended, said Curstis, who is the number one cadet of all those in the tri-school program at Capitol, HACC, and host school Dickenson College. Said Lt. Col. Robert J. Harman, professor of military science at Dickenson and instructor at Capitol, “Darrell is definitely an asset to this pro- with the cadets. ROTC provided me with a real challenge.” A challenge is right. Harman teaches five classes each week at three different campuses— Dickinson, HACC, and Capitol—as well as conducting drills four times a week and train ing on the weekends. In between, there’s mounds of paperwork to tackle, and then there’s his fami ly, too. Harman admits he won’t miss the paperwork all that much when he leaves the program after the ROTC summer camp at Fort Bragg, N.C. in July. What he will miss, however, are the students, and they will miss him, too. “We at Capitol owe Col. Har man a great deal,” said John LeGrande, a senior ROTC cadet here. “He was instrumental in getting the program established here. Before this past September, we had to drive to Dickinson, our host school, for classes every Wednesday.” Harmon’s next assignment will be at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, but he’s unsure about his job assignment there. His position as professor of military science at Dickinson will be filled by Lt. Col. David Ungerer, a native Pennsylvanian, presently serving in military intelligence in Berlin. His students think Ft. Leaven worth is getting a first-rate man. Said senior cadet Darrell Curtis, “In my opinion, Col. Harman is the finest role model of an officer you could find. I have the highest regard for him.” gram. He’s a true leader and he leads by example. He’ll go far.” For Curtis, it was “quite an honor and interesting to attend the conference, I met many in telligent, well-rounded people and IWiiBMMI got a chance to see those who will lead us in the future.” This year’s conference centered around national security, he noted. Each cadet was able to select an area of specialty and at tend discussions and seminars on their chosen topic. “Most of the choices were geographical in nature, such as Europe, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia,” said Curtis, who chose Northeast Asia. Other sub jects discussed included the military and the media and muclear arms limitations. Speakers included the Secretary of the Army John O. Marsh, and General John Wickam Jr., who is replacing General Edward C. Meyer as the United States Army Chief of Staff. Also attending were Major General Richard D. Lawrence, Commandant of the Army War College, and Julius D. Battle, Chairman of the John Hopkins Foreign Policy Institute and former ambassador. Photos by Joe Hart
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