Air Force ROTC Detachment 720 at Penn State recently received a rating of "outstanding" from the Air Education and Training Command Inspector General.

"What's incredible about this is that 'outstanding' is given very, very rarely," said Col. Steven Paladini, commander of the detachment and professor of aerospace studies. The rating of outstanding is so rare that only one other Air Force ROTC detachment in the nation has received the honor from the Inspector General in the past three years, he said.

"Each detachment is inspected every two-and-a-half years," Paladini explained, adding there are 143 detachments in the nation, including Puerto Rico.

Trained Inspector Generals from AETC out of Randolph Air Force Base in Texas visit the detachments, inspecting every minute detail of the unit. Penn State's inspection, which took place a few weeks ago, lasted about two days.

"We call them black-hatters. They come around and tell us what's wrong with our program," Paladini said. "You can't imagine how compliance-oriented they are."

The leader of Penn State's Air Force ROTC, Cadet Wing Commander John Powers (senior-computer engineering), accompanied the inspector during the check-up.

"It was extremely stressful," Powers said. "We spent the entire summer and the first part of this semester preparing for the I.G., and we knew we deserved 'outstanding.' "

The ranking, although flattering, was not completely unexpected by the cadets.

"It was not a surprise for me," said Cadet Colonel Bryan Walter (senior-meteorology). "It made us very proud, and it confirmed something we knew for awhile — that we do have an outstanding program at Penn State."

In rating a detachment, an Inspector General will scrutinize three main aspects of the unit, Paladini said.

"They look at how effectively, efficiently and safely our operation is," he said. In addition, they make sure the detachment is "in compliance with all laws, instructions and regulations," and is successfully detecting its own fraud, waste and abuse, he added.

Out of the 181 cadets in Det. 720, there are "127 cadets, or 70 percent, that we call on-contract, which basically means they're getting money," Paladini said. The money given to the cadets totals about $740,000 per year. With so much money, any waste of funds is frowned upon by the Inspector General, he said.

"The Inspector General was very, very high speed. He knew exactly what he was looking for," Powers said. "What he looked for was that (we) went above and beyond the call of duty." He added the inspector searched for documented proof that every particular directive was followed by Det. 720.

Both Paladini and Powers were very enthusiastic over the rating, crediting the entire corps for their hard work.

"Because of our size, the cadets bring a lot of great ideas and lot of energy to the program," Paladini said. The Air Force ROTC at Penn State is the largest detachment in the Big Ten. It also commissions the most 2nd Lieutenants in the Air Force than other Big Ten detachment, he added.

"Our cadets earned this," Powers said. "(They) are streaming with pride and their motivation is unstoppable."

But the work for Det. 720 is not over yet, Powers said. "The next step is to get the High Flight Award. It's given to the best detachment in the region," he said, referring to the 37 detachments in the northeast quadrant of the U.S. After that,

Powers wants the cadets to be recognized as the best detachment in the nation, achieving the Right-of-Line Award.

"We don't have the best books, we don't have the best computers, we don't have the best facilities, but we have the best cadets," he said.