FORT KNOX, Ky. – Footsteps echo against the asphalt road and heavy breaths break the silence of dawn as Cadets assigned to 4th Regiment, Advanced Camp, complete the six-mile battle march and shoot, June 27, 2025.

The purpose of the BMS is to simulate stressful situations in a tactile environment by starting with a six-mile ruck up nearly vertical hills and ending with Cadets using their M4 carbines on Steeles range, engaging targets up to 300 meters away.

Cadet Noah Stern, Shippensburg University, knew that both the support from his battle buddies and encouragement from family back home could carry him through the miles ahead.

“We just start singing fun songs and telling each other to make it up the hill,” Stern said. “Our family and friends back home help carry us through, as well.”

Cadet Robert Young, University of Valley Forge, also relied on the battle buddies beside him to help push onwards during the ruck.

“Having that guy there next to you (is important),” Young said. “If you don’t quit, he won’t quit. We’re in it together.”

Young’s parents were both Marines, but when he found the ROTC program at his university, he knew he wanted to join the Army as infantryman, drawn toward the community built among the platoons.

“It’s a place where we can all come together and meet new people,” he said. “It creates that initial bond that will hold for the rest of your career.”

Cadet Francisco Millan Montes, Austin Peay State University, a prior enlisted infantryman, knows that some hardships are necessary to build a bond and didn’t see the ruck as a hardship, but an opportunity.

“It builds cohesion and readiness between a platoon,” Millan Montes said. “At the end, the hills don’t seem that steep, and the route doesn’t seem that long.”

A sentiment echoed by Cadet Samantha Bean, Michigan Technological University, who joined Army ROTC solely because of the bonds she created as a prior enlisted armament, electrical and avionics systems repairer.

“I just knew ever since I was young that I wanted to join the military,” said Bean. “(Then) I saw how much my senior officers cared, and I wanted to do the same.”

Bean knew that as long as she had her platoon by her side there was no obstacle she wouldn’t be able to face.

“It’s a big help, when everyone pushes each other positively,” she said. “Instead of thinking you can’t, you have to think you can. You have to believe in yourself.”

For many Cadets, they are not only building their skills, they are building bonds that will last a lifetime. The boost in morale from others gives Cadets the confidence to keep moving forward, one step and obstacle at a time.

“So many people have gone before us, if they can do it, you can do it,” said Stern.