ROTC cadet earns high honor

By: Kate Monohan

Posted: 10/29/08

Between changing diapers, doing push-ups, and studying for hours on end, Cadet Samuel Sistare has earned the respect of his peers and established himself as a leader in the ROTC program.

Cadet Sistare, a 7th-semester general studies major with a concentration on corporate and organizational studies, has been nominated as October's "Cadet of the Month," a new award in UConn's Army ROTC program.

Sistare received an Associate's Degree in 2000 from Mitchell College. Then, in 2003, he enlisted in the Army "on a whim" - an unexpected decision for a manager of a Champs Sports store, Sistare recalled.

He was enlisted as a Tanker, served a tour in South Korea and then spent all of 2005 in Iraq. After six years of duty, he decided that he wanted to be an officer to obtain more benefits for his family, so he came to UConn, the main headquarters for Army ROTC in Connecticut.

Sistare was chosen for October's Cadet of the Month by Cadet Jonathan Flores, a 7th-semester mathematics major at Eastern Connecticut State University. He decided to start this award because he wanted the ROTC students to gain recognition for their hard work and to give the ROTC program some campus visibility.

Flores explained that he nominated Sistare for this award based on his excellent balance of family life with the demands of the ROTC program. Flores explained that Sistare also was recognized based on the Army ROTC's annual "Order of Merit List," ranking cadets on their leadership, academics, and performance on physical tests performed between their junior and senior years.

He noted that Sistare was ranked in the top 5 percent in the nation out of over 4,000 cadets, which was a large part of the reason he was nominated for this award.

Flores admitted, there's no real "reward" for being Cadet of the Month, and even if there were, Sistare probably wouldn't accept it. If granted a day off of physical training (PT), Sistare would probably come anyway, Flores said. Sistare agreed, saying it would throw off his daily routine.

Typically, Sistare wakes up in Norwich at 4:30 a.m. and drives to UConn to arrive by 6 a.m. for PT. Then after that workout, he heads to the gym at around 7 a.m. for another workout until around 8 a.m.

After that, he heads to his business classes, to learn about management.

Once his classes are over, he heads to the library to study so that once he is home he can spend time with his wife and seven-month-old son. He admits he doesn't go out and party like many UConn students because he tries to be in bed by 9:30 to get up and repeat his routine all over again. Sistare hopes that other UConn students can empathize with the Army ROTC cadets, and see them as regular people.

Sistare is also busy on his weekends, he participated in the Army Ten-Miler in Washington, D.C., this month. UConn's team of eight runners placed in the top 10 out of 49 ROTC teams that participated, Lieutenant Colonel (LTC) Christine Harvey stated in an email. Overall, 26,000 runners took part in the event, making this the largest ten mile run in the United States and second largest in the world, Harvey said. Training for this race would take a lot of time and effort for anyone, but what if you weren't on the "official" team? Sistare trained, even though his time wouldn't count towards the teams score, because "that's just the kind of guy he is," Flores said.

Though his days are busy, Sistare still has normal hobbies that every college student can relate to. He's a fan of UConn women's basketball coach Geno Auriemma and enjoys playing basketball himself, despite a previous ACL injury, he said. He likes to play golf and go bowling, and though he doesn't listen to music much, he likes mostly country and older rap.

Sistare likes to watch the Japanese game show, Wipeout, and laughingly says his role model is business tycoon Donald Trump.