Cadets with 1st Regiment, Advanced Camp, completed their Warrior Skills exercise on Fort Knox, Ky., June 15, 2024. At Warrior Skills, Cadets must demonstrate proficiency in individual tasks that simulate combative environments.

Lt. Col. Mark Christiansen from Western Illinois University said how Warrior Skills is designed to train and then test Cadets on new objectives. Christiansen is appreciative of the first class training that the Cadre have provided to the Cadets at Warrior Skills, despite many Cadre being away from their families.  

“I think the challenge is that there are 14 different tasks between patrol lanes, weapons lanes and medical lanes,” said Christiansen. “They have an hour and 15 minutes for each one of those 14 tasks, so it is very condensed. They have to be able to learn the tasks quickly and get tested.”

Cadet David Pope, 1st Regiment, Advanced Camp, from Campbell University, NC., is a prior service Cadet who served as an Intel Analyst on Fort Liberty, NC. With the guidance from his prior leadership, he joined Army ROTC. His former officers are people he hopes to emulate in the future, as they led with professionalism and encouragement for others. 

“I believe in the Army’s mission, I think it’s a noble mission,” said Pope. “I feel that I can do more, so I decided to join the Army ROTC program and become a commissioned officer.”

Although some of the tasks at Warrior Skills training were unfamiliar to Pope, the training provided by the Cadre gave him the confidence to succeed. At Cadet Summer Training, Pope is appreciative of the training opportunities provided before Cadets are assessed. 

 “As a leader, confidence is necessary,” said Pope. “Ask as many questions during the training period so that you can be as confident as you can during the execution.”  

Cadet Rhett Lee Chance Carter-Williams, 1st Regiment, Advanced Camp, from University of Arkansas at Fort Smith is also a prior service Cadet. Before joining Army ROTC, he worked in field artillery on Fort Smith. 

For him, CST provides a hands-on learning environment that is instrumental to his success. 

“But for me, I need to go out and physically do it,” Carter-Williams said. “I’m a repetitive learner, so I have to do it over and over again.”

With the conclusion of Warrior Skills training, 1st Regiment, Advanced Camp looks toward their Field Training Exercise, where they will be tested both mentally and physically to round out their time at camp.