KU ROTC cadets catch ride on Black Hawk helicopters

Kansas University Army ROTC cadets got a lift to Fort Riley on Thursday on a squadron of UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters.

Six of the helicopters flew in formation over campus at 11:30 a.m. and landed at Shenk Recreational Sports Complex, where cadets — who marched to the fields from the Military Science Building on KU’s main campus — boarded and flew to Fort Riley for training.

Huey helicopters landed next to Robinson Center for an exercise in the 1980s, but Thursday was the first time Black Hawk helicopters have landed on campus, said Lt. Col. Davis McElwain, KU Army ROTC Professor of Military Science.

KU Army ROTC cadets get oriented with a Black Hawk helicopter Thursday, March 5, 2015, at KU's Shenk Recreational Sports Complex. Six Black Hawks landed on campus to transport cadets to Fort Riley for a training exercise.

McElwain said the exercise benefited cadets in two ways.

“It’s transportation out there (to Fort Riley), but also it’s getting used to what goes on with helicopter operations,” he said.

He said about half of the roughly 100 participating cadets had never ridden in helicopters before.

Cadet and KU student Nathan Law, who plans for a career in the military and is on track to graduate as an officer, said he’d flown on helicopters twice before but looked forward to Thursday’s flight.

For one, Law said, such experiences would help give him credibility and knowledge when he’s eventually leading others.

The KU Army ROTC program also includes cadets from Washburn University, the University of Saint Mary, MidAmerica Nazarene University, Baker University, Haskell Indian Nations University, Johnson County Community College and Kansas City, Kansas Community College.

McElwain said landing the helicopters at Shenk not only was convenient to KU but also enabled the public — including some of the cadets’ families — to catch a glimpse of the cadets and the choppers in action.