“Army of Number One”—McNutt ’03 Is the Country’s Top ROTC Cadet

Among more than 4,200 college students across the U.S. who will enter the military this year as graduates of Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) programs, Richard McNutt, a senior at Rensselaer, is ranked No. 1 by the U.S. Army.

Luanne Ferris

As the Army’s top cadet in academics, fitness, and leadership, McNutt is entitled to his choice of coveted positions. He has decided to plunge into military life as a paratrooper in one of the Army’s prestigious airborne units.

“Maybe I just want to see what I’m made of,” says McNutt. “I want to challenge myself.”

Challenge is nothing new to the Cape Vincent, N.Y., native. Throughout his Rensselaer career, McNutt has maintained a 4.0 grade point average as a dual major in biophysics and biochemistry. He oversaw a ROTC company of 20 cadets, routinely clocked 12 minutes on two-mile runs, never achieved less than a perfect score on the Army’s physical fitness test, and is currently working toward his black belt in karate.

Challenge is nothing new to the Cape Vincent, N.Y., native. Throughout his Rensselaer career, McNutt has maintained a 4.0 grade point average as a dual major in biophysics and biochemistry. He oversaw a ROTC company of 20 cadets, routinely clocked 12 minutes on two-mile runs, never achieved less than a perfect score on the Army’s physical fitness test, and is currently working toward his black belt in karate.

This past April, McNutt earned a prestigious George C. Marshall ROTC Award and an invitation to the Marshall Seminar on the National Security of the United States, a gathering of the country’s top ROTC students and top U.S. Army leaders.

McNutt intends to stay focused on the task at hand — graduating and obtaining a spot with either the 82nd Airborne Division based in Fort Bragg, N.C., or, his top pick, the 173rd Airborne Brigade, the unit that recently made headlines for parachuting into Northern Iraq.