ITHACA, N. Y. – Future military officers made the trip to Cornell University to participate in the Cornell University Invitational Drill Competition (CUIDC), Oct. 21.

The Cornell Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps (NROTC) unit-hosted competition was attended by teams from nine universities in the greater north-east coastal area and all four service academies.

“This was an opportunity to bring NROTC units together for camaraderie while creating new memories of friendship and it was great to see it unfold here today,” said U. S. Navy Capt. Scott Hardy, Professor of Naval Science and Cornell’s commanding officer.

The competition began with an opening ceremony and main drill competition which consisted of squad basic, platoon basic, platoon trick, color guard, and two-man trick exhibitions. During and following the drill competition, fitness events for both attendees and staff were held including push-ups, sit ups, 5k run, a 4×400 meter sprint relay, a staff fitness challenge, and fitness medley. The day wrapped up with an individual drill event where attendees could compete to see who was the most proficient at executing drill commands quickly and properly for an individual award.

“It’s been challenging to plan the CUDIC this year because everyone is still getting over COVID and because we have a small unit (30 midshipmen), said Midshipman 2nd Class Olivia Niewiadomski, 20, a junior from Aqueboque, New York.

“We were able to assign different events and tasks to all of our (Cornell) midshipmen giving them a chance to work on their leadership and time management skills. It’s been very tiring but fantastic to see everything come together for a successful event.”

“Having all four of the academies here enhanced the event even more,” added Capt. Hardy.

It was the first time that all the U. S. academies (Air Force, Army, Navy and Coast Guard) competed in Cornell’s drill invitational. The CUIDC also included nine NROTC units from the Northeast. Cornell’s NROTC unit usually invites the Navy (Annapolis, Maryland) Army (West Point, N. Y.) and Coast Guard (New London, Connecticut) academies because of their close vicinity to Cornell University and Ithaca, New York.

It was also the first time the United States Air Force Academy traveled more than 1,700 miles from Colorado Springs, Colorado, to Cornell and finish first in the competition.

“I think we put in a lot of work to win this,” said U. S. Air Force Academy Cadet Capt. Christian Pittman, 21, the battalion commander and a senior at the academy. “It was difficult but we showed a lot of teamwork to come all the way here and pull out this win as we try to be the premier academy.”

The NROTC program is supported by U. S. Navy Capt. Craig Mattingly and his Naval Service Training Command (NSTC) staff headquartered at Naval Station Great Lakes, Illinois. NROTC was established to develop midshipmen mentally, morally and physically. The program also imbues in them the highest ideals of duty, loyalty and Navy core values in order to commission college graduates as Naval officers who possess a basic professional background, are motivated toward careers in the Naval service and have potential for future development in mind and character so as to assume the highest responsibilities of command, citizenship and government.

NSTC supports 98 percent of initial officer and enlisted accessions training for the Navy, as well as the Navy’s Citizenship Development program. NSTC’s support also includes RTC at Naval Station Great Lakes, Illinois, the NROTC program at more than 160 colleges and universities, Officer Training Command (OTC) at Newport, Rhode Island and Navy Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps (NJROTC) and Navy National Defense Cadet Corps (NDCC) citizenship development programs at more than 600 high schools worldwide.

For more information on NROTC visit: www.nrotc.navy.mil/.