FORT KNOX, Ky. – After a thunderstorm rolled through Fort Knox, Ky., June 25, 2023, 3rd Regiment, Advanced Camp Cadets braced themselves for chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear training. During CBRN training, Cadets are required to take off their protective gas masks in the confidence chamber.
Since completing Advanced Camp last summer, 2nd Lt. Ethan Miles, a recent graduate from the Virginia Military Institute, is now in charge of masking accountability and distribution during CBRN training for the entirety of Cadet Summer Training. Miles has witnessed Advanced Camp Cadets from every regiment make their way through the confidence chamber since the start of CST.
Miles described what it feels like to be exposed to tear gas in the confidence chamber.
“Your eyes start to burn, and you start coughing up mucus, [and] then, your nose starts to run. Once you’re out of the chamber, it takes about two minutes for you to fully recover, and it’s not that bad.”
After experiencing the CBRN chamber himself last summer, Miles said that going through the chamber was an experience worth having. The biggest piece of advice he has for incoming Advanced Camp Cadets is to ‘be ready to embrace’ training.
Miles said, “Try to have fun with Advanced Camp. Who knows when the next time you get to go through a gas chamber is going to be, so just live it up. Try to enjoy most of it.”
Another person on the same page as Miles is Cadet Spencer Brooks from Virginia Tech. Brooks encouraged his fellow Cadets to break out into their ‘happy dance’ after recovering from the confidence chamber. ‘Happy dancing’ is just one of the tactics that Brooks uses to keep his squad in a good mood during training.
Brooks explained, “I got my squad to get into the happy dance. I did it in front of our master sergeant when we first met him. He looked at me like I was crazy, but then, it ended up sticking with the rest of the group.”
Two of Brooks’ fellow teammates, Cadet Dina Wen from Tulane University and Cadet Lila Denning from Michigan State University, believe that the positive energy of the people around them has made getting through Advanced Camp easier. They said that ‘the secret’ to completing Advanced Camp is ‘rolling together,’ and lifting each other up.
Brooks said, “A big thing is communicating and keeping people positive. Trying to get everyone through the hardships, and having fun doing so has been the hardest part. The biggest thing is trying to get them all to come together. Do something positive so everyone’s upbeat.”
Brooks has used his creativity to bring his squad closer together during Advanced Camp. His squad has been using the phrase, ‘kind of, kind of mostly,’ as their motto to move beyond the hardships of camp.
Whether it be adapting to training during a storm or having to take off a protective mask inside a gas chamber, Brooks plans on continuing to ‘kind of, kind of mostly’ advance his way through the rest of CST.
