FORT KNOX, KY. – “When you run alone you run fast. But when you run together, you run far.” This African proverb was shard with Cadets during their time in Botswana with the Cadet Coalition Warfighter Program (CCWP). Cadets spent 20 days traveling through the country while engaging with the Botswana Defense Forces (BDF), completing humanitarian work, and enhancing their understanding of another culture. During the trip the group had multiple key leader engagements. A key leader engagement is when a United States Army Officer meets with an official of a local village or a village elder. The Cadets enjoyed the [...]

Cadets from colleges across the United States have the opportunity to travel to foreign countries and immerse themselves into the culture while becoming familiar with different military training. The Cadet Coalition Warfighter Program (CCWP), formally known as the Cultural Understanding and Leadership Program (CULP), has been described as a “paid vacation” by some, but these Cadets quickly dispel this notion. Thirty-one Cadets spent twenty-one days in Malawi, while another twenty-one Cadets spent twenty-four days in Romania. Each Cadet left the U.S. with impressions of the foreign land and excitement for cultural day trips; however, they returned with a completely different outlook. [...]

Perspective.  A term that Cadets Teata Gutierrez, Michael Bock, Kendra Curtice and Calvin Dally used often when reflecting on their trip to Latvia through the Cadet Coalition Warfighter Program (CCWP); previously known as the Cultural Understanding and Leadership Program (CULP).  Gutierrez, Bock, Curtice, Dally and thirty-nine other Cadets travelled to Latvia as part of the CCWP. There, they immersed themselves into Latvia’s military infrastructure, European history and culture. Military to Military U.S. Cadets interacted with Latvian military personnel at Camp Adazi and the NCO Academy.  At the academy, U.S. and Latvian Cadets were grouped together and given a mind or strength [...]

When most people think of Peru, they think of the Amazon Rainforest, Machu Picchu or the Andes Mountains.  Cadets who were accepted into the Cadet Coalition Warfighter Program (CCWP) had a different experience on their trip to this South American country. Cadets stayed at the Escuela Militar de Chorrillos, the Peruvian Military Academy, where they spent their weeks training with the Peruvian military and their weekends exploring the diverse city of Lima.  Although Cadet Daniel Perez, from the University of Texas El Paso, found their training similar to that of the United States, he believed that the Peruvian training was more [...]

U.S. Army Cadets spent just over three weeks in Thailand as part of the Cadet Coalition Warfighter Program (formerly the Cultural Understanding and Leadership Program, or CULP). The purpose of this program is to immerse future U.S. Army officers in the lifestyle of another country, while forming positive relationships with that country’s military. The selected Cadets who traveled to Thailand went through the entire military deployment process. They got any necessary immunizations, completed preparatory assignments and did research on the country. Cadet Justin Humphreys, an economics major at the University of Southern Mississippi, said he didn’t know much about the country [...]

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xmo41GLDHdk[/embedyt] The Cultural Understanding and Leadership Program (CULP), a part of Cadet Summer Training for U.S. Army Cadets, was designed to immerse Cadets in the culture of another country to understand the lifestyle of those who live there and work alongside that country’s military. This year, the CULP office is maintaining the same important purpose of the program while changing the name – Cadet Coalition Warfighter Program (CCWP). The name change is a result of a misconception of the program’s ultimate goal. While cultural understanding is a large part of the program, there is much more involved than tourist activities. [...]