“Electric. I felt no muscle fatigue, nothing,” said Cadet Trevor Corso, from George Mason University.
This invigorating feeling stemmed from the encouragement he received as he raced against his peers of 3rd Regiment, Basic Camp, toward the final challenge of the Beaudoin Obstacle Course.
The course consisted of 13 events designed to test physical capability and boost morale.
“I was up there motivating everybody. I loved the energy coming back to me too,” Corso said. “Giving everybody high-fives on both sides coming through, because they knew I was the last one.”
Corso was the final member of his squad to attempt each event, serving as the anchor, and securing the win for his team as he completed the final obstacle.
Although proud of his squad’s success, the course emphasized a much more important goal than winning for Corso.
“Keep the morale as high as it is right now. Let that be the standard, and then keep building off of it. Keep the team building going,” Corso said.
According to 2nd Lt. Joshua Williams, commissioned officer from Auburn University, that is exactly what the course was created to do.
“Building up your teammates and everything, like it’s really a large part of why I love the Army, and as well as a large part of what draws people into into this family,” Williams said. “That’s what we like to instill in them you know, that positive attitude is contagious either here, in a nice fun obstacle course, or maybe like out in the field.”
After the Cadets had completed their run through the course, the Cadre took on the challenge themselves.
“One of the big things that we stress here in Basic Camp is that team cohesion that we have, and that family that we have in the Army,” Williams said. “So just something to reiterate that is seeing not only your teammates go through the course, but also your leadership.”
This is a concept that Cadet Noah Smith, from Penn State University, agreed with and stressed the importance of as well.
“When we talk about the Army, we talk about the Army team, right? We have battle buddies, but every single one of these people in uniform is our battle buddy,” Smith said. “I feel like everyone, even if they, you know, appear outwardly calm and confident, they want a teammate cheering them on, and that’s what the Army is all about.”
With this in mind, Smith reflected on his platoon’s difficulties at Cadet Summer Training (CST) thus far, but his pride in their ability to overcome these trials as high morale culminated at the course.
“It’s amazing for us as a platoon and as a company, really, we’ve kind of come from the back… but, you know, this has shown us what we’re capable of and how we can pull together,” Smith said.
With CST far from over, the Beaudoin Obstacle Course has laid the foundation and set the standards for morale high as the Cadets prepare for what is still in store.
“Seeing this kind of motivation to be honest, this is something we haven’t seen the entire time we’ve been here,” Smith said. “I’ve never seen a company all together, at once, just pulling together for each other, so that was really something spectacular.”
