Photo By Sgt. Kelvin Johnson | Cadets with the United States Military Academy check in for their Cadet Field Training...... read more read more
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TRAINING FUTURE LEADERS
U.S. Army Story By Spc. Kelvin Johnson Jr., 40th Public Affairs Detachment
WEST POINT, Ny. – The United States Military Academy (USMA) started its Cadet Summer Training (CST) at Camp Buckner and Camp Natural Bridge.
Cadet Summer Training consists of a variety of training events to educate, train and inspire future leaders with the help of Task Force Leader, the 1st Battalion, 187th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team “Rakkasans,” 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), starting in May 2022 and going through August 2022.
Trainings that fall under CST are Cadet Basic Training, Cadet Field Training and Cadet Leader Development Training. Each training has a significant role in the Soldiers “Long Gray Line.”
Cadet Field Training Command Sgt. Maj. Corrigan Railey, a rising Senior at USMA, says that summer trainings are key to creating character for future leaders.
“It all starts with CBT, also known as ‘Beast,’” said Railey.
This training is a high school graduate’s entrance to West Point. From reception day it is a six-week training consisting of academic briefs and rigorous testing to prepare the new cadets on West Point culture.
The new cadets will then develop their basic Soldier tasks. They learn basic marksmanship, land navigation, patrol bases and other additional skills during Beast.
Cadets, once they complete CBT, begin their academic school year as Plebes and begin Cadet Field Training.
In CFT, the second year cadets, known as “Yearlings,” refresh on what they learned during the Beast. These cadets will complete a Water Confidence Course, Marne Obstacle Course, Marksmanship qualifications, Night Vision familiarization and more. They also complete their BLOC A requirements.
Railey says that the completion of CFT will allow the cadets to become Yearlings and leaders in the fall. The following summer, cadets will also begin their CLDT.
Cadet Leader Development Training is a culminating event of all the summer trainings. It is 20 days of training, broken down into 10 days of preparation and 10 days of field training exercise, or FTX. The FTX will consist of ambushes, raids, defenses and more at the platoon level.
With multiple trainings taking place, the Rakkasans came to West Point to help train these future leaders and give them their personal experience.
“I’m hoping the Cadets came out here and retained all the knowledge that we had given them,” said Sgt. Michael Tinsley, an Infantry Team Leader with 1-187. “They are our future leaders. The tactics we are teaching them they can take and communicate with Non-Commissioned Officers to make the future fight easier.”
This training does not just teach cadets how to be leaders, it also teaches them how to work as a team.
“We teach these cadets, then allow them to conduct a training mission on their own,” said Tinsley. “It gives them the opportunity to trust what they have learned and trust one another to communicate and work as a team.”
“You are not with the people you are usually with during the school year,” said Railey. “They take you out of your comfort zone and push you to new heights. Like making new friends, becoming a leader, repelling out of a helicopter.”
Cadets are pushing themselves to be the best they can be.
“The morale is good out here,” said Tinsley. “They are eager to learn and push themselves to be better, to be great leaders in the future.”
| Date Taken: | 05.31.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 06.10.2022 17:10 |
| Story ID: | 422392 |
| Location: | WEST POINT, NEW YORK, US |
| Web Views: | 34 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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