Former IUSA leaders share plans, reminisce

As the Big Red IU Student Association executives leave their titles behind and graduate from IU, they are excited for the experiences that lie ahead and reminiscing on what they are leaving behind.

Senior and Vice President Dan Sloat will enter the Air Force immediately after his graduation on May 9. Sloat will then be commissioned into the Air Force as an officer on May 10.

“It is pretty exciting because appointing goes through the president of the U.S.,” Sloat said. “He will sign off that we will carry out his orders as commander-in -chief.”

Sloat will enter active duty May 11 but will not begin the Air in Space Basic Course until May 18. The Air Force in Space Base will be at a base near Montgomery, Ala.
Air in Space Basic Course is a “standardization course” in “which everyone learns how to conduct themselves as an officer,” Sloat said. The course is six weeks long, and Sloat will graduate on June 26.

On June 27 he will go to Tyndall Air Force Base outside of Panama, Fla. At this location, Sloat will begin undergraduate Air Battle Management Training.

Sloat is one of only 60 official candidates from the Air Force ROTC for Air Battle Management Training.

Sloat will be at the Tyndall Air Force Base for about a year, during which he will attend Survival Evasion Resistance Escapes School.

Sloat said he can go to one of five places for his new duty station: Japan, Alaska, Oklahoma, Georgia or Germany.

“I’m excited to see different parts of the world,” Sloat said.

As for the future, he hopes to make being an officer in the army his long-term career plan.

Before attending IU, Sloat thought about attending the Air Force Academy, but “didn’t want to miss out on a traditional college experience, and the ROTC is the best of both worlds.”

Sloat was in the ROTC for all four years of college and remembers his experiences favorably.

“The ROTC was easily one of the best leadership developmental programs I’ve ever been a part of,” Sloat said.

When asked if Sloat would miss IU, his face and stature appeared solemn.

“IU has definitely opened its arms to me,” Sloat said. “I didn’t know anyone when I first got here. IU quickly became my second home where I felt that I belonged.”

Former IUSA President Luke Fields said he plans to attend IU’s Maurer School of Law in the fall.

IU’s law school is the best fit for what Fields is looking for, Fields said, adding he is glad to spend more time in Bloomington.

“The end of our term has been a tremendous experience and one that I wouldn’t trade for anything,” Fields said. “And also one that I am very happy to give to somebody else because I know how much growth goes on in the year. ... It’s an experience you can’t get anywhere else.”