In the Military

MAXWELL AFB, Ala. - For most college students taking the summer off between their sophomore and junior years, life is usually filled with a summer job, time at the beach or a little extra time in front of their favorite video game.

For the son of a Green Valley man, this summer is quite a bit more strenuous. Justin A. Allston, son of Larry Allston of Green Valley, is an Air Force ROTC cadet going through a boot camp of sorts, during a more than three-week physical and mental challenge designed to prepare more than 2,300 cadets nationwide for eventual commissioning as a second lieutenant. This is the first year that cadets have converged to one single location for their training, with the most sweeping changes to the program in more than 60 years.

For Allston, it’s the toughest challenge he’ll face during his ROTstint. “We are getting up every day at 4 a.m. to go running and do physical training,” said Allston, who is a 2004 graduate of Crandall High School, Texas. “Combat training is the toughest part.”

The ROTC field training course is divided into three phases: The first 11 days of the training is primarily devoted to classroom work, focusing on leadership, marching and problem-solving scenarios.

Each group of about 350 cadets then moves into a more intense, six-day training at the “Blue Thunder” camp, a tent city set up at Maxwell. There, the cadets learn hand-to-hand combat, land navigation, tactical communication, face leadership reaction obstacles and qualify at the small arms range on the 9 mm pistol.