The final event hosted for Cadet Summer Training 2022 was just getting started when the day was ending.  Cadets of 11th Regiment, Advanced Camp began their final event to check-off for CST: the 12-mile foot march.  “We left Densberger and got ready for step-off around 2030, formed up, and right at 2100 we stepped off for the 12-mile foot march,” said Cadet Leo Ras, Austin Peay State University. Through the thick brush around them and gravel paths, Cadets marched through the darkness of the night. Along the way, some checkpoints provided arm immersion tanks to cool down. Once Cadets arrived back [...]

Special Awards Recipients AUSA Leadership Excellence Award This award is presented to the top Cadet in each Regiment, as determined by Regimental cadre board. Cadet William Richie, University of Arizona First Command Financial Services Award This award is presented to the Cadet who best demonstrates the leadership traits necessary to encourage teamwork, improve unit cohesion, and reinforce mission accomplishment. Cadet Abigail Donohue, Old Dominion University USAA Warrior Ethos Award This award is presented to the Cadet who best demonstrates the Army Profession, Ethics, and Officership while best exemplifying the warrior spirit. Cadet Harrison Snell, Grand Canyon University Armed Forces Bank Award [...]

By: Julia Galli and Cristina Betz “Everything’s faster. Everything’s quicker,” Cadet Nathaniel Stone from North Carolina State University, said. “The biggest difference really, is planning for unpredictability, which is a really hard thing to do.” After completing Field Training Exercise (FTX) I: Panther, 11th Regiment, Advanced Camp, Cadets moved on to FTX II: Grizzly, where their newly developed skills were put to the test. Having just executed a successful attack, Stone discussed the most significant difference between Panther and Grizzly.  “When doing Panther…they really just kind of see if you have the fundamentals down,” Stone said. “Whereas Grizzly, it’s more of [...]

A freshly tabbed Ranger enters the final regiment of Cadet Summer Training 2022. From April 1st to now, Cadet Daniel Walters, University of South Carolina, has had less than a week of rest due to back-to-back training including RTAC (Ranger Training Assessment Course), Ranger School, Airborne School, and now Cadet Summer Training.  Walters enlisted into the South Carolina National Guard in 2018 as a 88M, Motor Transport Operator. Early into this career he started seeing success as he graduated with a leadership award from Advanced Individual Training (AIT). Eager for more leadership experience, Walters found ROTC to be a solid path [...]

Special Awards Recipients AUSA Leadership Excellence Award This award is presented to the top Cadet in each Regiment, as determined by Regimental cadre board. Cadet Brandon Rainville, University of Oregon First Command Financial Services Award This award is presented to the Cadet who best demonstrates the leadership traits necessary to encourage teamwork, improve unit cohesion, and reinforce mission accomplishment. Cadet Annabella Mowry, University of Alabama USAA Warrior Ethos Award This award is presented to the Cadet who best demonstrates the Army Profession, Ethics, and Officership while best exemplifying the warrior spirit. Cadet Jordan Coffey, University of Nebraska- Lincoln Armed Forces Bank [...]

One Cadet started the mission, another Cadet had to finish it. 10th Regiment, Advanced Camp Cadets began their movement to contact mission with the vision of 3-4 opposing forces near their objective. Minutes after contact with the opposing forces (OPFOR), the platoon scrambled – only to find themselves being surrounded from behind by more opfor.  Opfor were multiplying and appearing in all directions, but platoon leader Erika Zachary, St. Mary’s University – San Antonio, rallied everyone to gather in one area… but the forces were too strong as Zachary was taken down before it happened. Michael Numa, Virginia Military Institute, realized [...]

As Cadets of 10th Regiment, Advanced Camp, advanced their way through Cadet Summer Training (CST), they quickly realized the importance of teamwork, focus, and utilizing tools around you during the Field Training Exercises (FTX) I: Panther. “At least in Wolverine phase, we had a lot of issues with us not using individual movement techniques, not using face paint or using foliage,” Cadet David Jeffe, from the University of Chicago, noted as the reasoning behind his platoon being spotted by the enemy. “So, it’s important to be camouflaged so that the enemy doesn’t detect you. We have all of our foliage in. [...]

Special Awards Recipients AUSA Leadership Excellence Award This award is presented to the top Cadet in each Regiment, as determined by Regimental cadre board. Cadet Kyla McKim, Drexel University First Command Financial Services Award This award is presented to the Cadet who best demonstrates the leadership traits necessary to encourage teamwork, improve unit cohesion, and reinforce mission accomplishment. Cadet Cole Waskey, Colorado State University USAA Warrior Ethos Award This award is presented to the Cadet who best demonstrates the Army Profession, Ethics, and Officership while best exemplifying the warrior spirit. Cadet Hannah Ehlers, University of New England Armed Forces Bank Award [...]

With the final days of Cadet Summer Training (CST) approaching, the Cadets of 9th Regiment, Advanced Camp, applied the skills they developed during their initial Field Training Exercises (FTX) to brand new tactical scenarios at FTX II: Grizzly.  “It’s similar in a lot of ways to the first FTX, but they’ve just kind of turned up the heat a little bit,” Cadet Carson Collard, from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said. “The movements are longer, the missions are on a tighter timeframe, there’s less help from Cadre, and so it overall puts more strain on the leaders and is, in my opinion, [...]

Tactical Combat Casualty Care (TCCC) at Cadet Summer Training is not a timed event but remains a test for Cadets if they can quickly respond to care under fire.  Cadets are assessed on knowing the different steps of evaluating a casualty and how to utilize the different items in an individual first aid kit (IFAK) during the TCCC lane.  Ssg. Mark Bartruff, a lane NCOIC for TCCC helped to ensure Cadets know how important medical care is to learn as a future army leader. “Not everybody has a medical background,” said Bartruff. “But we give them just some of the basics [...]

Cadet Sage Brooks, North Carolina State University, marched his platoon to the Rappel Tower to take on their next challenge at Cadet Summer Training. As they arrived, a lieutenant mentioned to them that a brigadier general was waiting for them in front of the tower and wanted to give a few words of advice. “The lieutenant mentioned there was a one-star up there, and to be respectful and make sure to salute her,” said Brooks. “I was thinking in my head – alright, all the customs and courtesies. And then I saw my step dad’s truck and was like ‘oh, my [...]

“I told them if they hit the target, I’d be going in there just like they were,” said 2nd Lt. Jeanluc Pos.  After realizing their Platoon Training Officer was in on the muddy action if they hit their target, Cadets of 11th Regiment, Advanced Camp locked down their aim in an attempt to hit the 35 meter target during grenade training. Cadet Virginia Larsen, University of Illinois – Urbana Champaign, cheered as her peers attempted to hit the target so their Cadre would join in on throwing practice grenades.  As a Psychology major that is interested in branching Medical Services, the [...]