From 35 ft. up, Col. Mark Caruso steps forward onto the Army ROTC’s new rappel wall and creates a right angle between himself and the wall.
“This is called Australian,” Caruso shouts to the cadets and spectators watching below. “It’s been a long time since I’ve done this.”
Seconds later, Caruso — suspended by taut ropes — jolts his body forward, running down the steep vertical wall face first. He jumps upright just before he hits the ground, and the crowd bursts into applause.
Caruso’s rappel, which he said he has been performing for about 25 years, was the last rappel of the ceremony that celebrated the re-opening of the ROTC’s rappel wall. Facility Services, with assistance from two private companies, donated the $50,000 wall to the ROTC to teach personal courage to training cadets.
In 2001, lightning struck the old rappel wall, and ROTC officials said they were unable to repair it.
Caruso said he approached Joe Kelley, associate vice-chancellor of Facility Services, and explained ROTC’s needed a new wall.
Sam Territo, assistant director of Facility Services, said Shaw Fabricators and B&G Crane Services donated money and materials to put the wall together.
Confidently standing on the edge of the platform at the top of the wall, Capt. Michael Moran, an ROTC instructor, told The Daily Reveille the wall is an important tool that teaches the cadets to face and overcome their fears in stressful situations.
Moran has been teaching in the ROTC program for four years and will leave the University to go into active duty overseas at the end of the semester. Moran said he thinks he will go to either Kuwait or South Korea.
“We want these cadets to be able to perform under stress,” he said. “This wall is teaching that personal courage.”
Caruso, expressing his gratitude to Facility Services and the private donors, said by supplying the cadets with the wall, they are helping prepare the soldiers who shortly will be on the front lines fighting for the United States.
Caruso said several former ROTC cadets are serving overseas now, and the classes currently training will be the next to go after they graduate.