Story by David Livingstone

Team ROTC tries to stay dry at the tug of war across the duck pond. (Photo by David Livingstone)

With an ROTC program on campus, White Sands Missile Range nearby and Holloman Air Force base just across the state border, New Mexico State University has strong connections to the military.

For a week in April, students, staff , family and service men and women came together to honor and celebrate this tradition during Project Hero.

Project Hero is a week-long event in its second year. It is put on jointly between Housing and Residential Life and the The Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) at NMSU to bring awareness to the ROTC program and troops at White Sands Missile Range, Holloman Air Force Base, Fort Bliss and men and women in the National Guard.

“The idea for Project Hero came up to highlight the ROTC program at NMSU,” Mike Ruybal, resident director at NMSU, said.

A week of celebration

This year’s Project Hero started on Monday, April 26, with a dinner in Toas Restaurant, which was decorated in red, white and blue for the occasion. Several families of service men and women attended the dinner, Jennie Toter, resident director at NMSU, said.

A tug of war competition between members of the ROTC and the Air Force across the duck pond took place Tuesday. The teams competed for several rounds, most of which ended with members in the water. In the evening, more than 80 people showed up for a capture the flag water balloon war.

Wednesday, as a tribute to the Navy, students and staff competed in a Battleship tournament that climaxed in a three-way final round.

Battle of the bands was held on Thursday night, with six bands competing for a prize. A free movie was scheduled for Friday, but was cancelled because of high winds.

Classic cars, Humvees, guns and robots were on display during a car and military equipment show and the event took place just outside the spring football game Saturday.

A show of support

The Casual Fridays play at the battle of the bands outside Corbett Center. (Photo by David Livingstone)

During the activities, attendees had the opportunity to write letters to troops overseas. There were also collections for care packages for soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“We have had a lot of participants in every event,” Toter said.

Organizers hope Project Hero will become a long-standing tradition at NMSU regardless of whether or not troops are deployed abroad.

“The program is not about the war—it’s about the warriors,” Ruybal said.