Cadets with 1st Regiment, Advanced Camp, completed the Hand Grenade Assault Course at Fort Knox, Ky., June 9, 2024. Cadets practiced the course with members of their platoon before individually performing the graded portion.

For many Cadets, the Hand Grenade Assault Course challenged their physical abilities, combining strategy and strength to throw the grenades into the targeted areas. For the graded portion, Cadets needed to hit all performance measures to pass under a ten minute time limit. Grenades were thrown from various positions, like standing, kneeling and lying down, with the goal of hitting targets of up to 35 feet away.

Like many activities throughout camp, this course is designed to challenge Cadets, in turn, building their confidence to tackle new and unfamiliar situations. 

“A Cadet has to be resilient in all aspects,” said Sgt. 1st Class Curtis Langford. “But specifically for hand grenades, you have got to be aggressive because some people can underestimate the weight and how you throw a grenade.”

Cadet Faith Chernowski, 1st Regiment, Advanced Camp, from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville found the course challenging, having no prior experience throwing grenades. Throughout the training, she leaned on the members of her platoon for support. However, Chernowski is used to unfamiliar situations, as she is the first in her family to pursue a path in the military.

“Nobody in my family was in the military, but it was something that I just thought would be really cool. I always thought about serving,” said Cadet Chernowski. “When it came to the point in time where I really wanted to go to college, I figured out that ROTC was the way you could do both at the same time.”

Despite their shortcomings, the Cadets remained positive and stuck together throughout the course. During the practice round, Cadets went through many repetitions at each station. Fellow Cadets and Cadre strategized on how to improve between each throw, fixing their form to maximize results.

“It was great team building, it was fun to work as a team and improve our form together,” Cadet Chernowski said. “It was a new experience, I have never done that before.”