Aim High: Detachment 485 Is Named Air Force ROTC Team of the Year
Among 145 detachments nationwide, the Ravens of Rutgers-New Brunswick have emerged as a nationally recognized top-tier program
The Ravens of Rutgers University-New Brunswick are soaring – and top brass have taken notice.
Detachment 485 has been named the 2025 Air Force Reserve Officers' Training Corps Team of the Year. The designation comes from the Jeanne M. Holm Center for Officer Accessions and Citizen Development at Maxwell Air Force Base in Alabama, where the Department of the Air Force’s top accessions officers oversee Headquarters Air Force ROTC, Officer Training School and Junior ROTC programs worldwide.
It is the first time the detachment, known as the Ravens, has been awarded the honor, which unit leaders described as “the highest echelon of recognition” within the Air Force ROTC organization.
Ahead of the Holm Center distinction, Detachment 485 was named the 2025 Air Force ROTC Northeast Region Team of the Year. It is the second time the unit has earned the award – which recognizes the combined excellence of cadre, staff and cadets in leadership, education and service – following its first win in 2020.
Lt. Col. Kristine Poblete, who commands Detachment 485, said the unit represents “the very best of Rutgers – students excelling academically, professionally and ethically, supported by faculty and staff committed to developing leaders of character.”
Under Poblete’s leadership, the unit implemented training initiatives and revitalized evaluation and mentorship practices that drove gains in performance. She noted that within a year, the detachment's average ranking in academics and fitness went from mid-tier to the top 20% of 145 Air Force ROTC units nationwide.
Poblete said “Detachment 485 has had record-breaking recruitment and retention this past year, including more than $1.17 million in scholarships awarded, nearly 10 times previous totals. Our rise in national rankings is a clear result of our detachment’s remarkable transformation.”
“To be ranked as a top-tier detachment and recognized as the top team is a really big deal,” said Poblete, who since assuming command in 2024 has led the Ravens to three national-level awards and 10 regional-level awards, including 2025 Recruiting Officer of the Year and 2024 Enlisted Instructor of the Year. “I think earning these honors reflect really well on my cadre, who work really hard to make sure these students are prepared to serve and empowered to lead.”
Poblete, a professor of aerospace studies at Rutgers, added, “ROTC is not just an extracurricular. It's not just a club. It is a career pathway.”
She said 100% of Detachment 485’s Class of 2026 earned selection into one of their top three Air Force or Space Force career fields. Upon graduating in May, they will commission as second lieutenants and report to their respective duty stations.
Based on Rutgers-New Brunswick’s College Avenue campus and established in 1951, Detachment 485 trains prospective officer candidates throughout New Jersey. In addition to Rutgers, the program draws cadets from 11 colleges and universities, including Princeton, Monmouth and The College of New Jersey.
“While I cannot speak to how hard everyone else is working out there at the other units,” said Capt. Samuel Kim, an assistant professor of aerospace studies and a recruiting officer for Detachment 485. “I'm sure they are also working very hard, but we have something special here.”
Kim, who was awarded 2025 Northeast Region Recruiting Officer of the Year, said the “something special” is the camaraderie forged between cadets, who participate in aerospace studies classes, leadership labs and weekly physical training.
“The first thing that stood out to me when I came to Rutgers to teach was how much the students like being together,” said Kim, who is a sophomore-level instructor for the cadets. “They enjoy the training, they enjoy the company of each other and they're here as a team.”
This Student Joined ROTC on a Whim. Now He’s Heading to Pilot Training.
Ryker D. Chauhan, a cadet with Detachment 485 who serves as the unit’s wing commander, said the latest recognition “speaks to the amount of care we put into each other in and outside of Air Force ROTC. We're extremely grateful for the recognition and I'm just humbled to be a part of this team.”
Chauhan, a senior from Lebanon, N.J., who attends the Rutgers School of Arts and Sciences, where he is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in political science with minors in critical intelligence studies and aerospace science, said he joined the detachment “on a whim” as a freshman.
“I stayed for the people here,” said Chauhan, a 22-year-old who begins pilot training at Laughlin Air Force Base near Del Rio, Texas, after he graduates from Rutgers in May.
Chauhan, who attended Raritan Valley Community College before transferring to Rutgers-New Brunswick for his junior year, said opportunities abound for Air Force ROTC cadets.
In addition to earning a Commander’s In-College Scholarship following his freshman year, Chauhan completed basic parachutist training at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo. During his first year, he traveled to the academy for flight simulator training and later shadowed Air Force officers at Vandenberg Space Force Base near Lompoc, Calif.
Chauhan also received the Rutgers–Eagleton Washington Internship Award through the Eagleton Institute of Politics, which supports students pursuing public service experience in Washington, D.C.
Most recently, through his involvement with Arnold Air Society – a national honorary service organization of Air Force ROTC cadets dedicated to leadership, service and professional development – Chauhan earned a competitive internship at the Pentagon in Arlington, Va. There, he served under the Secretary of the Air Force’s International Affairs, Weapons Division, gaining firsthand experience in defense policy and international security cooperation.
“Air Force ROTC has taught me so many things – humility, approachability and credibility, to name a few,” Chauhan said. “It's just a fantastic program to join if you're looking to take a step forward into not only becoming an officer of the military, which within itself is an honor, but to better yourself as a person as well.”
Fly-Fight-Win
Unit leaders said the detachment, known as the Ravens, has received “the highest echelon of recognition” within the Air Force ROTC organization.
