DOWNLOAD Program Special Awards Recipients AUSA Leadership Excellence AwardCadet Caleb Scully, Norwich University Military Order of World Wars AwardCadet Nicholas Vaughn, Northeastern University Military Officers Association of America AwardCadet McKenna Brown, Brigham Young University Reserve Organization of America AwardCadet James Barker, Virginia Tech Bold Leader Spirit AwardCadet Michael Beall, Austin Peay State University First Command Financial Services AwardCadet John Shanahan III, Texas Christian University USAA Warrior Spirit AwardCadet Michael Hoffman, Virginia Military Institute Armed Forces Bank AwardCadet Ryan Erk, University of Colorado – Colorado Springs Armed Forces Services Corporation AwardCadet Abraham Poku, Western Kentucky UniversityCadet Bryan Odberg, Baylor University National Guard [...]

“I packed a lot of underwear, but sometimes you don’t have time to change underwear, so I definitely recommend panty liners,” said Portis. “I go through probably like eight or so a day. You can just rip those off, change them and what not.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, “Life is a journey, not a destination.” This quote can be applied to ROTC as well. It’s not always about commissioning and becoming a second lieutenant. in the United States Army. Sometimes what’s more important is the journey you took to get there.  Cadets Juancarlos Simmonds and Kayin Shabazz, both from Florida A&M University, decided to take a unique journey on their path to commissioning by attending Basic Camp this summer.  “My purpose for coming to camp was that I never had any experience with the military before,” Simmonds said. “I knew that whenever I come [...]

“Having our group of four with me really helped out because when one of us was getting down or one of us was getting frustrated we were able to hold each other accountable and keep the mission in mind,” Mendiola said.

corrected some of my forms, especially trigger squeeze,” Juhasz said. “A lot of times I get into a bad habit of trying to pull the trigger with my whole finger instead of just the tip of my finger. So having someone correct me on that even here at camp is a good way to learn and a good way to adapt to the environment.”

“Most people have a fear of heights,” Cadet Michael Cavil, from the University of South Florida, said. “Personally, my biggest fear is loud sounds. So for me my overcoming was range day.” 

“When I first came to the United States, the first people that helped me through were veterans,” Tway said. “My English teacher, my mentor and my coaches were all veterans and I still keep in touch with every single one of them and they’re the reason why I joined [the Army].”

“I think I really do well under pressure, like moving, making sure I’m not frozen in place when I hear gunshots," Roberts said. "I’m trying my best to get to the next cover. I think that’s my biggest strength so far.”

“They have to accomplish something as a team,” said Staff Sgt. Jamie Mrazek. “We assign a team leader or a squad leader. They utilize the equipment that they have to traverse the obstacle, whatever the goal is whether it's to go over a wall or utilize a rope to get from obstacle to obstacle.”

“Back in Puerto Rico, while I was doing a FTX, it was very hot. Unfortunately I wasn’t hydrating enough and after two days in the field, well, I had a heat cat,” Oliver said.

When the Cadets of 8th Regiment, Advanced Camp, arrived to the Warrior Skills training site on Thursday, July 1, the excitement could be felt in the air. Smiling faces bounced around scouting every inch of the green military tents in the distance. For the Cadets, Warrior Skills is the first hands-on training event of their Cadet Summer Training, and the place where they learned to save lives and provide indirect fire support for ground troops. Cadets started the event by receiving a mandatory safety brief from the Cadre staff and later split into platoons to challenge the Call for Fire lane [...]

"Oh my God, I’m so thankful for the rain."

Army ROTC prides itself on finding the best and brightest students in the country, but this mission cannot be accomplished without proper mentorship at the university level. “I think that there is a danger in academia of having a nose buried in the book,” said Kelby Woodard, Headmaster of Saint Thomas Academy. “I think seeing how it actually is done on the ground, in action, is really important, for academia in particular, or else they get out of touch.” Woodard, along with a handful of other faculty members of various schools and universities, was chosen to visit Cadet Summer Training at [...]

5th Regiment Cadets had the opportunity to learn about their rifles and shooting during Preliminary Marksmanship Instruction (PMI) at Cadet Summer Training Advanced Camp in Fort Knox, Ky on June 23, 2021. At PMI, Cadets learned shooting positions, how to care for their rifles, fundamentals of shooting and even how math plays a role in their accuracy. One lesson in particular focused on the fundamentals of shooting, such as breath control and trigger squeeze.  “When you’re shooting, breathing is important because whether you either inhale or exhale, it will affect where the rifle is,” said Cadet Kalley Magel, from University of [...]

Two soldiers are out on patrol in a combat zone walking side by side. A burst of enemy fire erupts and one falls to the ground limp. Yelling to their fallen partner, the other soldier gets no response. With no medics in sight, the soldier overcomes their nerves and gets to work. Thanks to their knowledge and training, their battle-buddy remains stable enough to make it to the nearest medical tent and makes a full recovery. Although no Cadets were actually put in harm’s way, this was the pretend scenario of 6th Regiment Advanced Camp’s Tactical Combat Casualty Care (TC3), part [...]

“Gas! Gas! Gas!” yelled Cadre. Much like a boxer taking a surprise upper-cut, Cadets scrambled to react. They only had nine seconds to let technique take over. “It punches you in the face as soon as you take that mask off,” said Cadet Jakob Jasperson of Pittsburg State University, Kansas. “My face burns, almost instantly you start crying, and your nose, it just runs so fast … you start coughing, and you can’t control your breathing.” Cadets of 3rd Regiment Advanced Camp were trained to be ready for the worst on the morning of June 17th, 2021. CBRN (commonly pronounced “see-burn”) [...]

There is a lot that goes into being a warrior, and it isn’t always what you’d expect. This is what the Cadets of 5th Regiment Advanced Camp made apparent in their ‘Warrior Skills’ training. The two halves of Warrior Skills training are Call for Fire and Tactical Combat Casualty Care (TC3). Although not all Cadets are going into infantry service, these infantry skills are vital to becoming an officer. Call for Fire involves using radio communication to artillery positions. Cadets worked in pairs with their battle buddies to demonstrate their abilities. “What we’re doing here is getting the basics down, so that if we ever find [...]