ROTC officers removed after Brockport students hospitalized

The two top Army ROTC officers at The College at Brockport have been removed from their positions on campus following a training session last month that sent 12 students in the program to local hospitals.

Lt. Col. Christopher D. Bringer, who oversaw the program, and Master Sgt. Mark E. Breyak are no longer running the Army Reserve Officer Training Corps program at Brockport, said college spokesman David Mihalyov.

"We shared our concerns initially with the lieutenant colonel's supervisor and eventually with the Inspector General's Office. We asked that those two gentlemen be removed from their roles on our campus," Mihalyov noted.

Mihalyov added: "We are doing our own investigation."

Maj. Rodney Clark is now the interim head of ROTC program at Brockport.

The training that resulted in 12 students going to Strong Memorial and Highland hospitals as well as to the United Memorial Medical Center in Batavia happened during the week of Veterans Day. They were in the hospital from several hours to several days, said Mihalyov.

The college declined to explain what the students were suffering from at the time. Mihalyov said the college does not disclose medical conditions of students because of privacy concerns.

Lt. Col. Christopher Belcher, spokesman for the U.S. Army Cadet Command at Fort Knox, Kentucky, said that Bringer and Breyer have been temporarily removed from the Brockport campus pending the outcome of the command's investigation and reassigned for now to administrative duties.

"Until the investigation is completed, it wouldn't be appropriate for me to comment further," Belcher said.

The college's student newspaper, The Stylus, reported the circumstances surrounding the removal.

"One incident concerns the 'The Murph' workout, a sequence of exercises in the order of: a 1-mile run, 100 pull-ups, 200 push-ups, 300 squats, finishing with another mile run," reported The Stylus.

This led to hospitalizations and the cancellation of a physical training session for the week following the incident.

The Stylus reported that, while ROTC members claim to have workouts similar in difficulty to "The Murph,"' members said that the ill effects resulted from "the constant intensity of the workout throughout its entirety."

Since the training in question took place over several days, it wasn't all related to "The Murph," Mihalyov said.

"To the best of our knowledge, this was the first time this training was used at Brockport. It is not currently being used," Mihalyov said.

Other ROTC members received calls from the college's Hazen Center for Integrated Care encouraging a visit to the center if they exhibited symptoms similar to those hospitalized, according to The Stylus. Center Director Elizabeth Caruso said the symptoms included the darkening of urine and a "condition of muscle breakdown," which can indicate additional medical problems.

Mihalyov said that the college is not aware of any previous complaints about the ROTC training program being too demanding.

While Belcher didn't know how common "The Murph" is, he said: "While any training physical regimen can be rigorous, our programs typically follow the U.S. Army's Physical Fitness program as outlined in Field Manual 7-22 Army Physical Readiness Training."

He also said that he was not aware of any complaints about ROTC training programs being too rigorous.

Fifty-five students are in the Army ROTC program at Brockport. The vast majority of students are from The College at Brockport, but the program also includes students from Roberts Wesleyan College.

The College at Brockport serves as host for this ROTC program, providing its physical facilities. All ROTC personnel are assigned and supervised by the Army. And while they are not employed by the college, they are given volunteer appointments that allow them access to some campus services, said Mihalyov.

ROTC personnel also teach several military science courses that are required for the program.

JGOODMAN@Gannett.com