Tennessee Tech Army ROTC Cadets used Thursday morning’s physical training session to remember the 9/11 attacks.
Professor of Military Sciences Lt. Colonel Ben Sweeney organized this year’s memorial stair climb. Sweeney said the climb is done to remember the sacrifices of first responders after the 9/11 attacks.
“We do it in OCPs with an army rucksack, 35 to 40 pounds, and then we climb the equivalent of 110 flights of stairs, which was the number of floors in the Twin Towers.”
Sweeney said this year, the community turnout was better than in years past, as around 30 people joined the cadets. Sweeney said the community members went through the event alongside the cadets.
Sweeney said the stair climb at Tucker Stadium is a normal piece of army physical training. He said the ways the Army trains have changed over the years, but some things have remained the same.
“We do additional things that maybe when I first joined the Army I we didn’t incorporate into PT like deadlifting,” Sweeney said. “But things like stair climbs, interval running and stuff like that. Some of that stuff we did this morning. It may be part of PT but just not on a daily basis.”
Sweeney said he was in college when the attacks happened. They would ultimately motivate Sweeney to join the military. Sweeney said 9/11 fundamentally changed both civilian society and the military.
“We’ve got a lot of cadets, and at this point, a lot of them weren’t even alive when it happened,” Sweeney said. “It’s important for them to remember the branch of service they are about to go into, how it’s changed and how it will continue to change based on the events of 9/11.”
Sweeney said participants from the community listened to a brief talk about 9/11 and finished the event with a group photo.
