FORT KNOX, Ky. — Fifth Regiment, Advanced Camp Cadets completed rappel tower training today to push themselves to tackle fears and improve personal courage. Cadets were required to complete three variations of the rappel tower; the slight incline, the wall and the open face rappel. They were meant to not only teach the Cadets but test them as well. “Each one is building up off of what we previously did,” Cadet John Manning, from Overland Park, Kansas, and attending Marquette University, said. “The slant tower is to make sure we know the basic skills. The wall side is so we can […]

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 […]

Seven-hundred Cadets. Each from their own school. Their own hometown. Their own story.  These seven-hundred Cadets make up 7th Regiment Advanced Camp, who began Cadet Summer Training (CST) yesterday at Fort Knox. “It’s an amazing opportunity. After I joined, I think I became a better man.  Discipline, order, cleanliness, patience and just being comfortable with being uncomfortable are all traits I acquired,” said Gilyard, who completed Basic Camp at Fort Knox last year. Something Gilyard struggled with at Basic Camp was completing land navigation and climbing the rope on the confidence course.  Like most Cadets, the fear of not passing an […]

FORT KNOX, Ky. – Nearly three hundred Cadets arrived at Fort Knox yesterday for Basic Camp. Over the course of the next thirty-one days, 1st Regiment Basic Camp Cadets will be tested on various activities such as going off the rappel tower, experiencing Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear defense (CBRN), and getting familiar with weapon systems. Most Cadets were anxious to arrive at training, as they are taking their first steps in becoming an Army Officer. Cadet Taylor Richardson explains, “There are a lot of emotions going through my head. First day of summer, first time on a plane, first day ever […]

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jjK6DVjnfE[/embedyt] FORT KNOX, Ky. – Cadets from 5th Regiment, Advanced Camp woke up bright and early this morning to tackle the six-mile ruck march. The six-mile ruck march is a must pass event. Cadets still in the running for Reconnaissance and Commando badge, RECONDO, had to finish the six-miles within an hour and half. For the others their time must be under two hours. “I finished in an hour and ten minutes but I’m not in the running for RECONDO anymore, land navigation got me,” said Cadet William Norman who attends University of North Georgia. Cadet Grady Gosselin who attends Gonzaga […]

FORT KNOX, Ky. – Cadets from Advanced Camp, 3rd Regiment, worked as a team to complete the confidence course obstacles, June 17, to build certainty in themselves. The course consisted of nine obstacles the Cadets must overcome. The Tough One, the Incline Wall, Low Belly Over, the Confidence Ladder, Six Vault, Swing-Stop-and-Jump, Low Wire, High Stop Over and the Weaver. Between the Tough One and the Weaver, Cadets have the hardest time overcoming these obstacles. During today’s session, the Tough One was out of service due to weather. The Weaver still held up its reputation and challenged the Cadets physically. A University […]

FORT KNOX, Ky. — The humidity was beating down on the Cadets from 3rd Regiment, Advanced Camp on the last day they did buddy team live-fire during Cadet Summer Training. Today, Cadets navigated through the buddy team live-fire lane working on their communication skills and “using individual movement techniques or IMTs to maneuver down to our objective,” said Cadet Carolyn Williams, Missouri Western State University. The 100-meter lane requires the Cadets to move forward seeking cover from wooden barriers and logs. While one moves the other provides covering fire.  Last week’s rain created mud pits, often where a Cadet finished his three-five second […]

FORT KNOX, Ky – There was a break in the rain at Fort Knox when Advanced Camp 3rd Regiment began its Land Navigation testing. Although it was cloudy, muddy and 7 a.m., Cadets wore a smile on their face and were excited to start the day. Just like the 1st and 2nd Regiment, Cadets received a map, points to plot, and then tasked with finding these given points within a four-hour period. Cadets must locate three points to pass the event, but to stay in the running for RECONDO, they must find all four of their points. Within the four hours, […]

Fort Knox, Ky. – Cadre gathered at George Blair Range Wednesday morning to further prepare for the arrival of Cadets later this week for Cadet Summer Training (CST). Their mission was to not only review their basic marksmanship fundamentals, but also understand how to teach and appropriately evaluate the incoming Cadets. Cadre practiced zeroing in on their target at the Location of Miss and Hit, or LOMAH, Range. Groups of two to four Cadre spread out across the range and began to prepare their weapons to shoot at different target meters. Some took position to practice zeroing in their weapons while […]

Fort Knox, Ky. – Early Tuesday morning on May 21, Cadre from different college’s ROTC programs gathered to evaluate other Cadre members as they completed a Threshold to Failure mission. They also learned how to increase or decrease stress for Cadets in these situations. The assigned squad leader was expected to lead the team through the different obstacles with an end goal of retrieving and returning an injured Soldier. Cadre were there to observe this mission and evaluate the leadership skills of the squad leader. Capt. Darren Ekey from the University of Tennessee at Martin explains, “Today’s mission is what we […]

Fort Knox, Ky.– Cadet Summer Training has officially begun as 1st Regiment Advanced Camp Cadets arrived yesterday and inprocessed today. Cadets and Cadre members alike are excited for the coming days ahead. “I am the most excited for the hand grenade range,” said Cadet Jacob Ratton, from Northern Michigan University. “I have never thrown a hand grenade before so it should be a good first experience.” Live hand grenade training is being added to Advanced Camp for the first time ever this summer. The training was added so that Cadets will have the same training as the enlisted Soldiers they will […]

FORT KNOX, Ky. – Cadets wander from tent to tent in Keyes Park hunting for the perfect branch, as graduation and commissioning ceremonies are in the next few days. 10th Regiment, Advanced Camp Cadets spend a cloudy and rainy morning exploring job opportunities, equipment, and military vehicles related to their top branch choices. For some, like Cadet Jacob Van Dyke, Virginia Military Institute, this is a time to learn about branches they have not considered before. “I haven’t really considered the armor branch,” Cadet Van Dyke said. “Just now I had a brief orientation to it, and it seems like something I’d […]

FORT KNOX, Ky. — We ruck through life trying to figure out the lessons along the way, hoping we are becoming a better version of ourselves. Cadets from 9thRegiment, Advanced Camp reflect on why they’re at Cadet Summer Training and what they’ve learned during Field Exercise Training. Today, the Cadets originally planned to conduct a hasty attack. Cadets set up a defensive position and switch over to an offensive position. However, things change. “We did get ambushed,” Cadet Lauren Martinez, University of Kentucky, said. “So…that changes the plan, right? We have to think on our feet.” Field Training Exercises throw curveballs […]

Fort Knox, Ky.- Up before the sun, the Cadets from 8th Regiment, Advanced Camp, prepared for their final graduation task. The long awaited, 12 mile ruck march. Throughout Fort Knox, sights of mile markers and chem lights crowded the roads. As Cadets were stepping it out for the final stretch of the ruck march, a couple of Cadets were in their Company area waiting for their battle buddies. The 12 miler is an event that should be completed in under 4 hours, however there were a handful cadets who finished before the 2 hour and 50 minute mark. Cadet Dylan Gadille, University […]

FORT KNOX, Ky. – Out of all the experiences Cadets have gone through while at Basic Camp, there is always one experience that a Cadet can’t wait to tell their family and friends about when they get the chance. Saturday morning, Cadets from 7thRegiment, Basic Camp got that chance, as they were greeted by the familiar faces of family and friends outside of Waybur Theater for Family Day. For Cadet John Hupka, John Carroll University, the gas chamber portion of his Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear (CBRN) training was the first story he would tell his family. “Just going through it [and] […]

FORT KNOX, Ky. – Cadets from 8th Regiment, Advanced Camp ambushed Opposing Forces, also known as OPFOR, during Field Training Exercises on August 1, at Area of Operation Grizzly. When the Cadets woke up that morning, described Cadet Olan Field, they knew that they were going to be conducting an ambush but weren’t exactly sure where. “We had to … go and find out information and then utilize that information that we received into our next mission,” stated Field. Platoon Sergeant Cadet Perry Patton, a student at Harding University, explained that a leader’s reconnaissance element met up with a defector who […]

By: Madison Thompson FORT KNOX, Ky. – 10th Regiment, Advanced Camp Cadets executed Situational Training Exercises, STXs, August 2 during Cadet Summer Training at Fort Knox, Ky. “Today is the last day of our STX, Situational Training Exercise. Basically, we are in the crawl phase of what we’re going to do. These are all Cadre run. We’re going through the motions and letting them show us how they want the lane set up and how to properly execute the things that we’re trying to do,” explained Cadet Logan Karsteter, Purdue University, (hometown) Milan, Indiana. Each iteration, or repetition, of the exercise […]

FORT KNOX, Ky – As the beginning of their Field Training Exercises, Cadets from 8th Regiment, Basic Camp spent the day of August 1, 2018 split up by squad, running through various tactical operations. The Cadets started the planning phase of the mission after receiving an initial order. This is when the Cadet in charge, the squad leader, gives a detailed brief of who will be going where and how the operation will unfold, making sure everyone is on the same page. “We were given the op ord. [operation order] that we were going to do a deliberate attack,” Cadet Aaliyah […]

Advanced Camp Cadets endure mud for mission FORT KNOX, Ky.– On a rainy, late July morning, Cadets from 9th Regiment, Advanced Camp slide through mud to conduct a platoon attack. During the first day of their field training exercise, the clouds left no mercy on Cadets preparing for their mission. Weighed down by rucks and wet uniforms, Cadets from Alpha Company trudge through the Kentucky woods in an area of operations known as Panther. This sector of the woods gives Cadets their first taste of field training exercises that are not led by Cadre. “We moved tactically to an ORP [objective rally […]

FORT KNOX, Ky. – With only three days left until graduation, Cadets from 7th Regiment, Advanced Camp must begin asking themselves, “What’s next?” Lucky for them, Branch Orientation provides some answers. During Branch Orientation, Cadets rotate through various tents filled with information on each branch available to them. For some Cadets, selecting a branch is a walk in the park, but for others, selecting a branch will be the hardest decision they ever make. Cadet Anna Farmer from the University of Oregon has a decision to make. As of now, she has narrowed down her selections to Field Artillery, Military Intelligence and […]

FORT KNOX, Ky. – Cadets from 8th Regiment, Advanced Camp conducted a raid on July 30, during the third and final phase of Field Training Exercises: the Grizzly phase. During the Grizzly phase, also known as the run phase, the Cadets conduct the missions themselves as opposed to being guided through them by Cadre like in the Wolverine (crawl) and Panther (walk) phases. Cadet Marc Venditti, University of South Florida, the platoon leader for yesterday’s mission, explained that he utilizes the chain of command to communicate with his platoon. He gives information to his squad leaders, who pass it on to their […]

FORT KNOX, Ky – Before moving on to their first field training exercise, Cadets from 9th Regiment, Advanced Camp ran through their final Cadre assisted situational training exercise on July 29, 2018. The Cadets’ assignment was to execute a raid, infiltrating a group of oppositional forces holding a position deep within the forests of Training Area 12. “It was initially a recon,” Cadet Joshua Westerhaus, Coastal Carolina University, stated. “Then we got a frago (a redirected order), once we got here, that we were going to do a raid…So, we went back to the ORP (Objective Rally Point), the platoon leader […]

FORT KNOX, Ky. –  6th Regiment, Basic Camp Cadets explored the different branches of the Army during the Branch Orientation in Keyes Park July 29, 2018. After completing the Advanced Camp in the Army ROTC program , graduated Cadets will be commissioned as Second Lieutenants in the U.S. Army and will embark on specialized training in their first Army branch. At Branch Orientation, Cadets were free to attend any tent that interested them, talk to people and ask questions.  It allowed Cadets to learn about all different branches and makes every opportunity available to everybody. Tents, and military vehicles lined the field of […]

FORT KNOX, Ky. – What started out as a calm morning in the woods turned into a high-speed attack for 8th Regiment, Advanced Camp Cadets. This morning (27 July), the Cadets were given a mission to later conduct an attack on a Linear Danger Area. With only a grid location and a time, the Cadets moved meters from the op-for and set up an objective rally point. Once they got the objective rally point set up, they sent out a leaders recon to scout out a position to get eyes on how many enemy personnel were there and what weapons they had. […]

Fort Knox, KY– A chilly morning for the Cadets of 4th Platoon, Bravo Company, 9th Regiment, Advanced Camp as they learned the basics to conducting a raid. As Cadets took notes and listened attentively, a lane instructor walked through ‘must-do’ events for key leaders such as knowing where heavy weapons, such as the M240 machine gun and M249 squad automatic weapon are at all times, locating target reference points, terrain analysis and knowing sectors of fires for each person. According to the Cadet Hand Book, a resourceful guide issued to each Cadet at the start of their Regiment, raids are surprise […]