FORT KNOX, Ky. – The distant chirp of birds and the rustling of bushes are the only sounds heard as Cadets assigned to 4th Regiment, Advanced Camp, complete their land navigation training, June 28, 2025.

Land navigation aims to teach Cadets how to traverse tactile environments without the aid of modern technology. Using only a compass, map and azimuth, Cadets trek along gravel roads and forests to find four checkpoints in the span of three hours.

Cadet Joseph Redfern, Alabama A&M University, finds land navigation to not only be a fun time, but a highly practical skill to learn for his future Army career.

“You’re given an eight-digit grid coordinate that you have to find,” Redfern said. “(The importance is) so that, in the future, when you lead a convoy or operation (without technology) you won’t have your Soldiers get lost.”

Redfern believes that trusting in both your equipment and yourself are all one really needs to find the checkpoints. Then at the end, there is the reward of knowing that all of your hard work has paid off.

“When you find your points, it’s a huge morale boost,” he said. “Like, ‘wow, I can actually do this’.”

Cadet Olivia Cardoni, George Mason University, learned similar takeaways from the training, her confidence growing with each checkpoint she found.

“It’s more about learning how to be comfortable by yourself in a somewhat stressful situation,” Cardoni said. “You have to be able to trust yourself and trust that you know what you’re doing.”

For Cadet Gavin Horn, University of Wyoming, the goal is to not only improve his skills, but to follow in the footsteps of his family before him.

Like his great grandfather, grandfather and father who wore the uniform before him, Horn wants to be a confident and trustworthy leader.

“I wanted to continue that lineage,” he said. “I’m trying to become an officer so I can be able to lead and help people.”

Horn wants to use the skills learned in land navigation to help him reach his goals; using the obstacles he’s faced to help build the inner confidence needed to become a well-rounded Cadet and leader.

“Land navigation just helps us build confidence in ourselves,” he said. “If we know we can do this, it will help us be confident that we can do other things.”

With their confidence building every day, Cadets are gearing up for the next challenge or obstacle to come their way, relying on their knowledge and training to be the map they follow toward the future.