During a campus tour at Boise State when she was a senior in high school, Kasey Thomas found a welcoming community in the Reserve Officer’s Training Corps (ROTC)/ Military Science program. Her first experience running a 5k with the group opened her eyes to the possibilities that would be available to her as a cadet. “When freshman year started, I began going to ROTC and immediately fell in love with it. I don’t even think I needed the first full year to decide if I wanted to do it…the people and the program were so awesome.” Thomas said.
Throughout her time in the program, Thomas committed to getting involved with everything she could, and one of her favorite experiences was being part of the Ranger Challenge. This program involves teams from different schools across the country competing in basic soldier skills such as combat medicine, land navigation, weapon repair, marching and more. “I think this program is super important for cadets because you’re going above and beyond what you might normally be doing in ROTC.” Thomas spent her four years at Boise State competing in the Ranger Challenge, becoming team captain her senior year.
The support and motivation Thomas received from faculty in the Military Science/ ROTC program was highly influential in helping her springboard her career. “Going into the program my freshman year, I didn’t entirely know what I was capable of, what the human body is capable of,” she said, describing a particular faculty member who motivated her, “ I remember that every time I did a PT test, every time I did an event, I was always thinking ‘I hope Master Sergeant Chandler is proud of me.’ He was always in my corner but always pushed me to do better.”
In May 2020, Thomas graduated with a bachelor’s degree in psychology and a minor in military science. She was first commissioned as an Engineer Officer for the United States Army, where she attended the Engineer Basic Officer Leadership Course in Missouri. Following her completion of the course, she took an alternate route and tried out for the engineer dive team, becoming a Joint Dive Officer through her training in Panama City Beach, Florida. Thomas was then stationed in Hawaii at Pearl Harbor in 2021, where she worked as Executive Officer for the 7th engineer dive detachment. Currently, she works for the A249th EN BN in the Prime Power Schofield Barracks, where her job includes natural disaster response and power generation. In just four years since graduation, Thomas’ list of accomplishments is long – and she’s just getting started. Her next adventure will be attending school to become a Physician Assistant. She shared that she’s ready for a new challenge, saying, “I’ve always been interested in the medical community…my whole family’s in the medical field, and I’ve just always been attracted to it. I think it’s a career with a lot of longevity.”
Adequate funding is critically important to support ROTC/ Military Science and the programs within it like the Ranger Challenge. “When the program has funding and has opportunities for students to participate in extracurriculars, it really makes a difference in how well prepared they will be for their future in the army,” Thomas explained, “Even things as simple as funding for travel, using rappel towers around Boise, just funding for students to go have other experiences and learn vital soldier skills.”
Learn more about how you can support Military Science/ ROTC at Boise State
By Lainey Rehkemper