FORT KNOX, KENTUCKY – With bullets soaring overhead and explosions inches away from their faces, Cadets muster up the courage to apply individual movement techniques to get them through an enemy infiltration simulation. Fear, for some, crawls right alongside them. Cadets from 1st Regiment, Basic Camp, inch through the night infiltration course during Cadet Summer Training on Fort Knox, July 10, 2024. NIC is a 125-meter crawl conducted with live fire, explosions and flares, pushing Cadets’ mental and physical abilities.
NIC models penetrating enemy territory and getting past a line of machine gun live fire, as well as other obstacles Cadets could face in the Army during a mission. NIC is not only a test of a Cadet’s physical endurance, but their mental as well.
While this exercise may be a shock at first, many combated their anxieties with comradery, knowing their battle buddy waited for them on the other side. A battle buddy is a Cadet’s partner who is not only their accountability, but their motivation as well.
Cadet Kiona Conner from McKendree University talks about her battle buddy’s influence on her mental fortitude.
“I’m not going to leave my battle buddy behind and I wanted us both to be able to see it through.” said Conner.
Words of motivation are key to the battle buddy pairings successfully making it through the course. For many, these moments of support spur on Cadets to endure the course one inch at a time.
Cadet Franklin from Central State University recalled some of the inspirations she gave to her battle buddy during their crawl.
Franklin said to her battle buddy, “Come on battle buddy. You got it, I’m right here.”
Cadre running NIC adopted the battle buddy mindset, putting themselves through the course with Cadets. Many of these leaders have been through NIC during their own trainings, allowing them to understand the anxieties and excitements Cadets are facing.
Maj. Richard Mattingly, a reservist whose unit is currently at Fort Knox, crawled through. Prior to the crawl, Mattingly knew he wanted to be an encouragement to those around him.
“I chose one Cadet when we were early on and I said I’m going to be right here in line with you, right in front of you.” Mattingly goes on to say he wanted to “just try to motivate him and encourage him.”
From encouraging one another to being a guiding hand through the course, help from battle buddies is key to the success of any Cadet going through the NIC course. After completing the course, Cadets can be seen high-fiving one another and reassuring their battle buddies they’ll be able to make it through basic camp alongside each another.
About the Author: Audrey Shaw
