Forging a warrior

Congrats, Cadet Benny Tran ’10!

Forging A Warrior Winter 2009
Top cadet Benny Tran ’10

Every summer thousands of Army ROTC cadets descend on Fort Lewis, Wash., for the grueling 29-day Leader Development and Assessment Course. Known as Operation Warrior Forge, it’s the capstone training program for future Army lieutenants. They learn how to identify and defeat improvised explosive devices. They jump 30 feet from a rope bridge into water, and they take on the slide for life. This summer the cadet who earned the top spot among the 400-strong 1st Regiment was SCU student Benny Tran ’10.

The recognition marks Tran as one of the top cadets in the nation. He’s a Honolulu native studying biology with a biomedical emphasis, and last summer he volunteered for Airborne School and jumped from a C-130 at 1,250 feet. He was also part of the “heavy team” in the Bataan Memorial Death March marathon at White Sands, N.M., completing the marathon with army combat uniform, boots, 35-pound rucksack and water. This year he was captain of the “light team,” which took third place./p>

Tran was joined by a dozen other SCU cadets in Warrior Forge. Their creed says they are scholars and apprentice soldiers enhancing skills in the science of warfare and the art of leadership. They ask, “May God give me the compassion and judgment to lead and the gallantry in battle to win.”

From Scratch

The new leader of SCU’s adolescent mental health concentration wants to design better mental healthcare delivery systems to help more kids, now.

Green Is the New Black

Leaders in sustainable fashion shared career advice with student designers at SCU’s popular EcoFashion Show.

Hop 2 It

How do you get from hops to beer? Sustainability interns found out by turning hops grown at SCU’s Forge Garden into “Forge Ahead,” an English-style pale ale.

Racking Up

Tess Heal ’26 is nabbing awards left and right thanks to a stellar freshman year with Santa Clara women’s basketball.