North Georgia College & State University - "The Boar's Head Brigade"

"The Boar's Head Brigade"

The Boar's Head Brigade is the official designation of the ROTC unit at North Georgia. It is formed along standard military units at a smaller scale. There are two battalions, and each battalion has three companies. There is one detached Headquarters Company. Headquarters and Headquarters Company consists of the Brigade Staff, the Golden Eagle Band, the Blue Ridge Rifles, the Nurse Detachment, and Color Guard. Cadets live in recently constructed and renovated suite-style residence halls - Liberty Hall, Patriot Hall and Gaillard Hall - that comprise a military village on campus. The residence halls center on the COL Ben Purcell Formation Plaza and overlook the GEN William J. "Lipp" Livsey Drill Field.

Military life on campus is full-time during the week. A typical week on campus begins with a full brigade drill on Monday. Military drill starts the academic year with brigade drills in the fall, company drills in the winter, and squad drills in the spring. Companies submit to a "white collar" inspection of quarters each academic term. Quarters are meticulously cleaned, and bunks must meet specific inspection requirements with a "white collar" turn down.

Daily life begins with First Call at 6:45 a.m. and Reveille at 7:00 a.m. Retreat is sounded each day at 5:00 p.m. Tattoo is played at 11:30pm and Taps is played at 12:00 a.m. For Retreat, everyone on campus stops what they are doing, just like on a military post, and pays respect while the flag is lowered.

Cadet uniform requirements vary by weekday: Monday, Wednesday, and Friday is Army Combat Uniform (ACU), and Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday is Class "B"s. On some Fridays, under the guidance of the Brigade Commander, cadets are authorized to wear "Campus Casual" attire that consists of a blue North Georgia polo shirt, khaki slacks, dress shoes, and a belt. Campus casual was created by Col. Palmer.

Members of the Corps may dress down to "civvies" at 5:00 p.m., given academic minimums are met, otherwise cadets must report for "quarters" (required study hall lasting Sunday through Thursday each week) at 8:00 p.m. There is a quarters break at 10:30 pm and quarters taps at 11:00 p.m. NCOs within each company alternate as CQ (Charge of Quarters) monitoring each company hall who stay on duty from 8:00 p.m. until official taps at 12:00 a.m.

Inspections and physical fitness are alternated during the week beginning with First Call. Monday, Wednesday, and Friday are designated as "PRT" days, while Tuesday and Thursday are the "inspection" days. On inspection days, the Corps also has Cadet Professional Development classes (CPD). These classes consist of policies, traditions, and techniques that can be used to foster a successful future at North Georgia, let alone the Corps. Cadets are additionally required to pass the Army Physical Fitness Test each academic quarter. See www.northgeorgia.edu/cadetadmissions/ for more information.