Senior Spotlight: Gonzaga Cadet Addison McClusky's Path to Battalion Commander

This piece is part of our Senior Stories series, in which we highlight GU students throughout the year.

Name: Addison McClusky
Major: Kinesiology
Hometown: Mountain Home, Idaho

Balancing academics, work, and ROTC commitments is no small feat, but Addison McClusky makes it look effortless. As a Gonzaga senior and ROTC battalion commander, McClusky shares her journey, the challenges, and the rewards of pursuing a future in the military.

Why did you choose GU?

Growing up, my grandparents were in the military, and my parents kind of pushed me to look at those options because I was going to pay for college. I just ended up getting the best scholarship here. And I liked the aspect of this being a D1 school, but smaller. I knew that was going to be the environment I excelled in. So it just ended up being an easy pick at that point.

What is your involvement in the GU community outside of ROTC?

Well, ROTC takes up a lot of time, so I don't get to do as much as I would like to do. I work a few jobs. I work at the Rudolf Fitness Center as an intramural official. I also work for the youth Hoop Town league for Spokane as an official as well.

What interested you about the Gonzaga ROTC program?

So not all ROTC programs cover room and board, but if you have ROTC and a scholarship, Gonzaga, as a school, covers your room and board [even] when you're not living on campus, so that is a really big plus. [It’s] taking $15,000 out each year. Half the colleges do it. Half the colleges don't. [With] Gonzaga and ROTC, you are almost guaranteed to have a scholarship by the time you hit junior year, so almost everybody in the program ends up getting a scholarship.

What has been the most rewarding aspect of the ROTC program?

I was a little hesitant at first. I wasn't sure how much I was going to like ROTC. I didn't grow up in that environment. I didn't do JROTC, but I will be candid [in] saying, like, I was surprised at how much of a community it brings you. We constantly say every year that we become a family, and as cliché as it is, we do. Like, we're all there for each other. You're spending so much time with them in a week. And that was something I wasn't anticipating going in, and that's been, honestly, my favorite part and has made it the most worthwhile.

What are some key skills or values you’ve gained through ROTC that will benefit your future career?

Community and team bonding. The biggest thing with ROTC is they teach you leadership, so you get put into leadership positions. Right now, I am the battalion commander, so I'm in charge of the program. They put me in positions where I have to critically think and sometimes the decisions are not correct. But it's fun to be in that position where you are inevitably going to fail in certain things, but you can't grow without failure and I think that's a big thing that ROTC pushes.

What’s a memorable experience or achievement you’ve had during your time in ROTC?

We all have to go through camp during our summer after our junior year. It's called advanced camp, and so just doing that, getting through it, I did fairly well. I was proud of myself. You go through so much there, and it's just a lot of challenges. And I think it reminded me that I am still, like, mentally tough and resilient in those situations.

Can you tell me about your ROTC scholarship and the application process?

So there’s two types of scholarships. Mine is a school-granted ROTC scholarship through Gonzaga, so it’s still an ROTC scholarship, but it comes from the school. There are also national ROTC scholarships, where, if you get one, you’re getting it from the Army, and you can choose whichever school to use it at. We have some people here with those, too. I applied for the national scholarship but didn’t get it, but it put me on the radar for schools. The process is long—you have to do a background check and a medical check before you can get a scholarship—and it’s definitely tedious. Alan Westfield used to run the scholarship program here. He’s retired now, but he was great at recruiting and reaching out.

What are your post-graduation goals, and how has the ROTC program helped prepare you?

With the scholarship I have, you are required to serve, whether it be active duty, the Reserve, or the National Guard. So I applied for active duty, which means I would only have four years of service after this, but my plan and goal is, I'm going to do one year of active duty, then apply to this Army PT school for physical therapy. I want to get my degree, become a physical therapist, and then I'll go back in and finish my service. After that, I’ll decide if I want to continue as a PT in the Army or transition into civilian.

I know everybody's plans change in that timeframe, so I kind of just left things a little vague. In December, I will figure out which branch within the Army I’ll join, which is another application process. You get to put your preferences down, but the Army also puts their preferences down, and then you get put into a branch. Following that, we figure out where our bullock is, which is training for the branch we’re in, and however long that is depends on the branch. Then you also find out where you'll be stationed, if you’re active duty.

Are you stressed or nervous?

I'm at the point where whatever happens is bound to happen, and I know I'll learn from it, and it’ll be a life lesson. But yeah, it is nerve-wracking!