ROTC cadet receives George C. Marshall Award

Senior political science major Sarah Ostrowski will attend a national conference with military leaders, the Department of Defense and fellow cadets as a recipient of the George C. Marshall Award.

Senior political science major Sarah Ostrowski was selected to receive the George C. Marshall Award, which honors the best cadets from ROTC programs around the country. Ostrowski intends to go into military intelligence after her branch detail in field artillery. Photo courtesy of Ostrowski

Ostrowski, a member of ROTC, said she is “extremely grateful” to receive the award, which “reflects leadership [and] integrity,” and will attend the Leadership Seminar on National Security of the United States in Lexington, Va. next month.

Top cadets throughout the ROTC program will discuss issues of war and national security, according to Ostrowski.

“I am [going to be] able to interact with these top leaders and it’s kind of a big deal because I really am starting from the bottom,” Ostrowski said, “and the fact that I get to talk with all these higher up people – It’s intimidating, but at the same time it’s really exciting and it’s a great opportunity.”

Ostrowski said the conference will benefit her because of her focus on the Middle East, international relations and foreign policy.

“So this [is] national security stuff [that will be discussed], and it talks a lot about foreign policy for the Middle East so this is like right up my alley and it’s exciting,” Ostrowski said.

Lt. Col. David Motes, also military science professor, nominated Ostrowski for the award. Ostrowski, according to Motes, is “extremely involved in the program” and was most recently president of the ROTC cadet club.

All cadets train at the Leadership Development Advanced Camp (LDAC) during their junior year. Ostrowski said the camp is “an assessment of your previous years.”

“All the cadets form all over the nation come and they compete, I guess, against one another for a letter grade and then they come back to their battalions or their home schools and what is called assessing,” Ostrowski said, “and from there the army kind of determines where they want you to go and in the big picture once you graduate college where they want you.”

While at LDAC, Ostrowski received an “E” for “excellence,” as well as the Recondo badge, and placed third in her platoon.

The assessment Ostrowski received indicated that she will go into military intelligence after spending time in branch detail for field artillery.

“I’m going to spend my first three to four years in field artillery and then I’ll slip into the military intelligence aspect,” Ostrowski said.

She has also participated in almost all of ROTC’s extracurricular activities, which include color guard and the rifle team.

Ostrowski said she has always had an interest in the military because of the values it reflects, such as loyalty, leadership, duty and responsibility. She joined ROTC as a sophomore.

Motes has known Ostrowski for nearly two years and said she has improved “in just about all ways” since joining ROTC. She is, according to Motes, the “best cadet we have in the program right now.”

“She’s a super cadet. I wish we had more cadets that were really hard chargers…,” Motes said.

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