FORT KNOX, Ky.—6th Regiment, Basic Camp took on their obstacle course with high morale, loud chants, and multiple sets of squats.
6th Regiment, Basic Camp took on the obstacle course to help build confidence in each other and to motivate each other. Fort Knox, Ky. July 16, 2018. (Photo by Amber Vincent)
At this point during their training, 6th Regiment, Basic Camp is 16 days into their 31 days of training here at Fort Knox. During this time, morale can sometimes run low and motivation has the tendency to drop even lower. However, this wasn’t the case for 6th Regiment as they took on the obstacle course in the pouring rain.
“I’m from an island in the Pacific and back home we do a chant and it pumps up our people and gets their mind off the pain,” commented Cadet Jade-etelagi Pan, New Mexico Military Institute, who was leading her platoon in Samoan chants during the whole course. “If your morale is low, your performance will be low. If they’re hyped up, I’m hyped up, we’re one team.”
The Beaudion Obstacle Course is comprised of various obstacles, such as a pit and tunnels that Cadets have to crawl through, high walls they have to scale, and cargo nets they have to climb up and over. The course is designed to test Cadets physically and mentally.
6th Regiment, Basic Camp took on the obstacle course to help build confidence in each other and to motivate each other. Fort Knox, Ky. July 16, 2018. (Photo by Amber Vincent)
6th Regiment made the course more entertaining and helped boost morale by adding ten squats before they had to do each obstacle. During these squats, Cadets would loudly and aggressively keep count or sound off with their platoon motto.
“I think our motivation came from each other, we didn’t want to let each other down and we wanted to help each other no matter the cost,” said Cadet Connor Whitney, South Dakota State University.
Motivation is an important factor in the course and at this point in their training. Many platoons start to fizz out and loose motivation but 6th Regiment wasn’t going to let that happen.
“This type of motivation and course got our morale up really high and we just wanted to push each other to get through as fast as we could,” remarked Whitney.
