WPI Recognized for Top Army ROTC Program in the Northeast

WPI’s Army ROTC program has earned the prestigious 2021 MacArthur Leadership Award for the Top Army ROTC program in the Northeast, one of eight Army ROTC programs from across the country that will receive this award at Fort Knox this spring.

Lt. Col. Adam Heppe, department head and professor of military science, says he is pleased and humbled at the program’s being recognized as the best of 41 others in the region. Heppe has mixed emotions as he embarks on his last semester at WPI: excitement over the achievement of the battalion, and sadness over leaving what he describes as his most fulfilling assignment in 20 years as an Army officer. He will retire upon completion of his WPI assignment.

“It is humbling to be recognized among such a stellar group of universities in our region,” he says. “The program is strong, and I am confident that it will continue to thrive for the foreseeable future.”

The MacArthur awards, presented by Army Cadet Command and the General Douglas MacArthur Foundation, recognize the ideals of “Duty, Honor, Country” as advocated by the late Gen. MacArthur.

The award is based on a combination of the achievement of the university’s commissioning mission, its cadets’ performance and standing on the command’s National Order of Merit list, and its cadet retention rate.

Heppe says the recognition is largely the result of the battalion’s performance at this past Cadet Summer Training at Fort Knox in Kentucky, in which WPI’s senior class of cadets outperformed every school in the nation—No. 1 out of 274. WPI senior Cadet Ian Weston ranked No. 11 out of all cadets in the nation pursing an active-duty commission. WPI has produced one of the top 12 cadets in the nation three of the last four years.

The battalion’s high level of achievement follows a three-year initiative to improve the cadet experience, instill discipline and standards, and develop exceptional leaders, Heppe adds. In particular, he credits the impact of Master Sgt. Alan Sutton, who last year was lead tactics instructor for the junior class. “He’s without a doubt the most phenomenal non-commissioned officer I’ve had the pleasure of working with over the last 20 years.”