UNG Cadet Christopher Bisset of Cumming selected as guidon bearer for spring 2016

2016 Feb 4

University of North Georgia (UNG) cadet Christopher Bisset distinguished himself from among his peers during the January 2016 FROG (Freshman Orientation Group) week training for the Boar's Head Brigade. Consequently, he was selected by his student leadership to serve as his company guidon bearer for the spring 2016 semester. The guidon is a military standard (flag) used to signify the unit's designation or affiliation. It represents the unit and its commanding officer. Six of the eight guidon bearers this semester are also soldiers in the Georgia Army National Guard.

Traditionally held the week prior to the start of spring and fall semesters, FROG Week helps the new cadets transition from civilian life to military-student life. This is what makes UNG so unique; it is a mixed campus with both civilian students and cadets who wear an Army uniform to class daily as members of the Boar's Head Brigade.

A large number of the freshman cadets who choose to start their college career at UNG in spring semesters - instead of the traditional fall semester start - are doing so after attending Army Basic Combat Training and/or Advanced Individual Training (AIT). In short, these cadets are also soldiers in the U.S. Army Reserve or Georgia National Guard.

FROG Week also serves as a training exercise for current cadets, UNG cadet non-commissioned officers (NCOs) and officers plan then execute FROG Week, with oversight from Commandant of Cadets professional staff and Department of Military Science instructors.

"The cadets get leadership experience," said Maj. Richard Neikirk, Assitant Commandant of Cadets. "They plan and execute this event with coaching and mentoring from staff, but they run the whole show. That's why I think we graduate such great cadets - they 'do' leadership 24 hours a day."

This year, 52 new cadet recruits joined the ranks of the UNG Corps of Cadets after completing FROG week. New cadets began with in-processing on Jan. 5 in the suggested sweat shirt and jeans, but quickly transitioned into their Army uniforms. Throughout the week, FROGs completed a variety of tasks in a challenging schedule which included: basic drill and ceremony, ruck march, rappelling off a sixty-foot rock face at Camp Frank D. Merrill, combat water survival test, marksmanship, as well as one and three rope bridges.

FROG week ended on Jan. 10 with the traditional Crown Mountain Run and graduation ceremony. The 3.1-mile trek to the highest point in Dahlonega was the final test; after completing the run, the 52 recruits recited the Boar's Head Brigade creed and were FROGs no more. They now hold the rank of cadet recruit, the first of many attainable ranks rising up through the "Legacy of Gold" at North Georgia.

Cadet Bisset is from Cumming. His academic major at UNG is International Affairs (Latin America).