“My heart is racing, but in a good way,” said Vivek Sarin, Executive Officer of Kentucky Cabinet of Economic Development, after his tandem sky dive jump. “Beautiful. Just incredible! It’s so peaceful up there.”

Assisted by the U.S. Army Golden Knights, one of the Centers of Influence get a taste of the thrill that comes from skydiving June 14 at Fort Knox, Ky.
Photo by Lindsey Crown

Sarin jumped in honor of a taskforce called Work Matters that was recently launched by the governor of Kentucky. It assists disabled veterans, foster children, disabled people and anyone with a criminal record.

“It’s an initiative to help those folks get jobs,” Sarin said.

Sarin is part of a group called Centers of Influence that is on Ft. Knox to witness the training of ROTC Cadets in the Cadet Summer Training program.

Assisted by the U.S. Army Golden Knights, one of the Centers of Influence get a taste of the thrill that comes from skydiving June 14 at Fort Knox, Ky.
Photo by Lindsey Crown

They had the opportunity to go rappelling, experience the FLRC obstacle course, attend a workshop on emotional intelligence and a lecture that explained The Pipeline, which is the entire transformation of ROTC pupil from Cadet to General, said Craig Cobane, Executive Director of the Honors College and Associate Professor of Political Science at Western Kentucky University.

The group also attended a panel discussion of Cadets who shared their experience in the program as well as a panel of different officers who have been in the program for various amounts of time, from 1 month to 25 years, he said.

“It’s been fantastic,” Cobane said. “This experience will help me better recruit ROTC students and better explain to parents what to expect.”