The Army ROTC program at UCCS continues to deliver and perform, earning the 2025 General Douglas MacArthur Award as one of eight brigades that receive it, and with four of its thirty-one cadets landing in the top hundred on the Army ROTC National Order of Merit List.
“Additionally, eleven of thirty-one will be Distinguished Military Graduates, or placed within the top 20% of students nationally,” shared Lieutenant Colonel Dave Campbell, Professor of Military Science at UCCS. “And the five students who requested to commission into the National Guard and one student who volunteered for the Army Reserve all received their first choice of components.”
Cadets are ranked on the National Order of Merit List based on several factors, including GPA, performance at Advanced Camp and physical fitness assessment. The National Order of Merit List, in turn, informs how cadets begin their post-college career and which Army branch they’re paired with.
The list is also one of the metrics assessed for the MacArthur Award, along with cadet performance and retention rate achievements. Presented by Cadet Command and the Gen. Douglas MacArthur Foundation since 1989, the prestigious award recognizes the ideals of “duty, honor and country” as advocated by MacArthur and is awarded to eight schools out of 274 ROTC units across the country. This is the fourth time UCCS Army ROTC has earned the distinction.
In another accomplishment, the UCCS ROTC unit won their regional 2025 Ranger Challenge, the military skills endurance and fitness competition between local ROTC programs, last October. They competed against fellow Colorado units and units from Wyoming and Utah, with the winner going on to complete in the next stage of the Ranger Challenge with other winning units within the 5th Brigade. The Ranger Challenge tests mental and physical skills through tasks like land navigation, a rucksack march, obstacle courses and more.
“ROTC is a great opportunity, from tuition aid to the skills and camaraderie,” said former UCCS Army ROTC cadet Scott Moul, who now is a Second Lieutenant after graduating last May, and was Ranger Challenge Captain at the time of their regional win. “The competition itself, you find out what you can go through – it’s no Navy Seal training, but pushing through those physical events and the terrain, you really learn to lean on each other and see what you can actually do, which is so satisfying.”