FORT KNOX, Ky. — Cadets from 2nd Regiment, Basic Camp, worked together in teams to complete multiple obstacles during the Team Development Course at Fort Knox, Ky., July 24, 2023.

TDC builds Cadets’ leadership, teamwork and communication skills through the six obstacles they must strategically traverse.

Cadet David Lucidore from Slippery Rock University, felt like his group did well.

“I think we did pretty well,” Lucidore said. “We completed two of the six that we did and got close on a few of the other ones.”

Lucidore’s team utilized strong communication skills to traverse the obstacles effectively.

“We had good communication the whole time,” Lucidore said. “We just ran out of time on most of them.”

Despite strong communication among their group, there were challenges they ran into along the way.

“For some of the obstacles, it was just trying to figure out how to do it,” Lucidore said. “A lot of them aren’t obvious on how to complete the task.”

Working through these challenges can be difficult but taking the time to listen to your teammates and allow others to lead is important.

“Listening whenever I’m not in charge or don’t have an idea is important,” Lucidore said. “I’m listening to what other people are saying, because not everyone needs to be a leader all the time.”

Cadet Charles Liu from the University of Virginia, listened to his teammates and let others lead.

“I definitely tried to be a personal support by helping people get up on the cables,” Liu said. “For the last obstacle we did, I was trying to just make sure that the planks didn’t fall down.”

Even though Liu listened to his teammates, his team struggled to communicate amongst each other overall.

“There’s a lot of strong attitudes and characters within the squad,” Liu said. “At the first sign of trouble, there’s like 10 different voices trying to say that their solution is the best.”

Despite the challenges Liu has encountered so far throughout his time in Basic Camp, he hopes to continue his journey with the Army.

“I wanted to serve,” Liu said. “I didn’t want to just say that I wanted to serve without acting on it, so I tried out Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) and really like it.”