Over 600 ROTC midshipmen and cadets from 26 schools, including the Naval Academy and West Point, arrived at Cornell on Nov. 14 to compete in the 26th Annual Cornell University Intercollegiate Drill Competition (CUIDC), held at Barton Hall. CUIDC is made up of drill contests, a military excellence competition and basketball games.
“This competition is known and respected nationally amongst ROTC circles. Every year attendance rises and CUIDC grows in recognition,” said Cornell midshipman Brian Aquadro ’06, who staffed the event.
The drill contests consisted of squad rifle manual, platoon rifle manual, color guard, trick drill and platoon inspection. United States Marine Corps Drill Instructors were brought up to Cornell to grade drill and conduct inspection.
Penn State Air Force ROTC cadet Ryan Harris was “impressed by the intensity and dedication of the Marine Corps Drill Instructors. The nature of the Marine Corps is much different than the Air Force.”
The military excellence competition emphasized physical fitness and excellence. Events ranged from an 8k run around Beebe Lake to an Iron Man competition, a conglomeration of sit-ups, pull-ups, push-ups, running and swimming. This race took place at Helen Newman pool, alumni fields and Barton Hall. There was also a swim competition and a truly Roman coliseum like relay race — minus the death and lions — around the track in Barton, with all 600 midshipmen and cadets screaming for their runners.
University of Pennsylvania Midshipmen Joseph Payne VI said, “Cornell ROTC did a great job with this CUIDC, this is my first year here and I am duly impressed by the professionalism and efficiency of the unit. Hopefully, I’ll be back next year and will probably do better because I ran really, really slow this year.”
CUIDC is planned and executed by the undergraduates in Cornell’s [Naval] ROTC program which, “comes with huge responsibility and is great experience for the future naval officers NROTC,” Aquadro said.
The basketball competition was played into the night on Saturday and continued Sunday morning before all schools departed for home to begin a fresh week of classes and military education. “ROTC is a serious commitment and leads to an officer commission in the Navy, Air Force or Army. Competitions like CUIDC helps to bring about inter-service understanding,” Harris said.
While all schools contended valiantly, the majority of awards went to the United States Merchant Marine Academy and Penn State. Cornell placed well in the military excellence competition — awarded the top three slots in nearly all of the events.
Archived article by Kris Reichardt