New midshipmen from the University of Wisconsin Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps (NROTC) program participated in a New Student Orientation (NSO) at Fort McCoy in Sparta, Wisconsin, Aug. 24-28.

The 74 midshipmen spent the week learning the basic military skills and discipline needed to succeed in the four-year commissioning program.

The command's active duty staff of Navy and Marine Corps officers and non-commissioned officers led the orientation.

"I didn't know what to expect going into orientation week," said Midshipman Forth Class Maxwell Renk, from Sun Prairie, an incoming freshman. "I ended up learning so much about myself and about what life is like in the military. It made me even more excited about what my future with this program holds."

The curriculum for orientation week included physical training, uniform inspections, close order drill, and classroom academics, including Navy and Marine Corps history, and the use of Fort McCoy's training facilities such as the obstacle course and leadership reaction course.

"My favorite part of the week was definitely the leadership reaction course," said Midshipman Forth Class Jackson Lanigan, from San Francisco, also an incoming freshman. "I really enjoyed getting to know my peers, and by working together to complete the obstacles we learned a lot about our strengths and weaknesses as individuals and as a team."

NSO week concluded with a ceremony in which the new midshipmen were sworn into service by Capt. Christopher Murdoch, commanding officer, University of Wisconsin NROTC.

He congratulated the new midshipmen for their commitment and dedication in joining the NROTC program.

In the coming years, the midshipmen will participate in multiple military activities along with completing a rigorous course of study at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Upcoming events include Naval Science classes, drill meets, formal military balls, and extensive summer training opportunities across the globe.

Upon graduation and completion of the NROTC program, the midshipmen will be commissioned as active duty officers in the Navy and Marine Corps.

The NROTC program, overseen by Rear Adm. Steven C. Evans, commander, Naval Service Training Command (NSTC) at Naval Station Great Lakes, Illinois, was established to develop midshipmen mentally, morally and physically and to imbue them with the highest ideals of duty, loyalty and Navy core values in order to commission college graduates as Naval officers who possess a basic professional background, are motivated toward careers in the Naval service and have a potential for future development in mind and character so as to assume the highest responsibilities of command, citizenship and government.

NSTC oversees 98 percent of initial officer and enlisted accessions training for the Navy, as well as the Navy's Citizenship Development program. NSTC includes Recruit Training Command (RTC), NROTC units at more than 160 colleges and universities, Officer Training Command (OTC) at Naval Station Newport, Rhode Island, and Navy Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps (NJROTC) and Navy National Defense Cadet Corps (NNDCC) citizenship development programs at more than 600 high schools worldwide.

For more information about NROTC, visit https://www.nrotc.navy.mil/. For more information about NSTC, visit http://www.netc.navy.mil/nstc/ or visit the NSTC Facebook pages at https://www.facebook.com/NavalServiceTraining/.

For more news from Naval Service Training Command, visit www.navy.mil/.