Montana State ROTC alumnus wins elite military competition

BOZEMAN — Jumping out of a helicopter into water, navigating through the woods at night without a flashlight and completing a 20-mile road march carrying a 60-pound pack and rifle were a few of the challenges that Montana State University graduate Luke Ebeling completed on his way to recently winning what many call the "Olympics of the military."

Ebeling, graduate of MSU's ROTC program and a captain in the 3rd Ranger Battalion of the U.S. Army's 75th Ranger Regiment, took first place with his partner, Spc. Justin Rein, in the 2023 Army Best Ranger Competition in Georgia in April, winning a plethora of prizes and equipment from the event’s sponsors. A total of 56 teams competed in the nearly non-stop three-day event in which participants cover more than 100 miles during 30 events that test the limits of their physical and mental endurance.

"‘Olympics of the military’ is a pretty apt description. There's nothing else that really compares to it," said Ebeling, who earned his bachelor's in English writing from MSU in 2018 before entering the military to join one of the special operations infantry units called the Rangers. "I couldn't have done it without my partner. That definitely made the experience."

By the time Ebeling and Rein started the 20-mile road march that stretched into the first night of the competition, they had already put in almost 40 miles of drills that day, Ebeling recalled. Then, with scarcely a break, they had to jump into several hours of cognitively demanding tasks, such as taking apart and putting together weapons, nighttime reconnaissance and medical interventions on a simulated casualty. The second night featured the night navigation course, which they completed carrying 50-pound packs.

“It’s definitely super challenging fitness wise, but also mentally,” Ebeling said.

Ebeling, who spent months training for the competition after going through the Army’s elite Ranger School, also chalked up his success in part to the grit he learned while doing training drills in Montana winters while at MSU. As a cadet in MSU’s Army ROTC program, the ROTC leadership, or cadre, arranged an opportunity for him to shadow an active-duty special operations leader in Washington state, which was a formative experience, he said.

"Due to the ROTC cadre helping me out and making that connection, it was kind of always my goal to go on to a Ranger unit," Ebeling said. "That gave me the opportunity to go to Ranger School and ultimately to do this competition.”

“I've stayed in contact with a lot of mentors at MSU, who have been super helpful," he added.

Ebeling, who grew up in the Denver area, said he knew he wanted to go into the military and saw MSU's ROTC program as a good way to have his education paid for while knowing he would have a military career waiting for him.

ROTC is an educational program designed to provide the opportunity to become an officer in the U.S. armed forces while completing a bachelor’s degree. MSU students can enroll in ROTC as freshmen without any commitment to serve in the military. Cadets take ROTC classes and participate in weekly physical training in addition to their MSU courses. The majority of cadets earn some level of scholarship while in the program, and, upon graduation from MSU, most start active duty military careers.

"It offered me a lot of opportunities," Ebeling said of his MSU ROTC experience. "I got to go around world, do cool stuff and meet awesome people along the way.”

"Luke was the complete scholar, athlete, leader package that we are continually looking for," said Brent Reinhardt, scholarship and enrollment officer for MSU's Army ROTC. "He was, and obviously still is, an outstanding athlete, dedicated student and natural leader. I am super proud of him and his accomplishments thus far."

Although MSU's ROTC programs are housed in the Norm Asbjornson College of Engineering and many ROTC cadets major in engineering or other STEM fields, cadets can choose any major at MSU. Ebeling started as a business major but quickly changed after discovering his passion in an English writing course. He served as a student instructor at MSU's Writing Center for two years and benefitted from MSU's curriculum, which emphasized being able to communicate across different disciplines, he said. "That's what I do now every day, writing emails and memos, working with infantry, engineers, logisticians."

When he started ROTC he wasn't fully aware of the range of opportunities it would open, he said. In addition to shadowing the special operations leader, he attended the Army's airborne school, where he learned how to parachute out of planes, and ROTC paid for a study abroad experience in Brussels, Belgium, during which he traveled Europe.

What he ended up valuing the most in his ROTC experience was the camaraderie, he said. "I was with a lot of people who were motivated to do well, whether in classes, leadership or physical fitness. To be around like-minded individuals was really helpful. The staff was also focused on helping us succeed."

"ROTC is what you make of it," Ebeling said. "The opportunities are endless."