FORT KNOX, KY. – Preparation and anticipation are essential to successfully completing the Grizzly phase of the Field Training Exercise. Cadets assigned to Alpha Company, 5th Regiment, Advanced Camp, patrolled the woods for their first mission objective—move to contact—on Fort Knox, Ky., July 17, 2025.

The FTX is comprised of three stages—Wolverine, Panther, and Grizzly, each more challenging than the previous. Cadets are forced to lean on the knowledge and experiences they have gained through Cadet Summer Training and prior ROTC experiences.

For Cadet Emerson Norton, University of North Georgia, anticipating enemy positioning and strategy is something that he always tries to do during every mission.

Arriving near the mission objective, his platoon quickly found themselves under enemy fire. While returning fire, Norton lay next to one of the Cadets operating the M240B machine gun. He was the assistant gunner—pointing out potential enemy positions and loading new belts of ammunition into the weapon system.

While doing so, he mentally walks through each step to thoroughly understand the situation and what he needs to do.

“This is where the enemy is. What’s the next step? (I’m) Always looking to the next step,” Norton said.

This future-oriented mindset was inspired by a common racing quote about anticipating future moves and responding rather than reacting.

“A lot of race car drivers say to always be driving with a 13 second field of view,” he said.

High-speed race cars provide their drivers with little reaction time. It is important to always be able to anticipate and map out where other cars might be near and where you think they are heading.

“They’re basically trying to look 13 seconds ahead at what’s going to happen,” he said. “That’s kind of what I try to do whenever we’re going through an engagement so that I’m already (ready) for the next step.”

As the Radio Telephone Operator for the mission, Cadet Adia Goldsmith, Tuskegee University, takes the initiative by mindfully testing and preparing equipment prior to executing the mission objective.

“You could ask the squad leaders,” Goldsmith said. “You can ask, the platoon sergeant, but as the RTO, your only job is the radio. So, you might as well check every single radio and make sure that they are working and do a radio check with everyone before you step off.”

Although this squad faced complications in the field due to signal failure, the Cadets pushed through, relying on their squad to watch their six while making purposeful strides to continue planning for every possible enemy location.