Fort Knox, Ky.—Gunfire sounded and branches snapped as boots crunched the thick underbrush. The Cadet crossed the terrain, carrying a weight on his shoulders heavier than just his ruck. Having spent two days in the training area, he was being pushed to his limit.

Grizzly phase Field Training Exercise three-day event was designed to test Cadets on tactics, but for Cadet Jones Carter, Tennessee Tech University, 6^th Regiment, Advanced Camp, it tested something deeper. It was in the still moments between missions when the noise settled that the real challenge began.

For Carter, the hardest part of CST wasn’t the ruck marches or pulling security, it was the emotional toll of separation. He ached for the people who shaped him and relationships which grounded him. He didn’t miss comfort; he missed connections. The irony, he admits, is that people are also what kept him from walking away.

“I’ve always wanted to be in the Army,” Carter said. “I wanted to help people and be a part of something bigger than myself. We’re a group of individuals that work as a collective. It’s those relationships you build that keep you going. Still, I miss all my people back home.”

The tension between deciding to return to normalcy or embrace his newfound family followed Carter into the FTX. Days blurred together as Cadets navigated exhaustion, shifting missions, and relentless pressure. It was through this struggle that Carter became closer with his peers and realized his passion for people wasn’t holding him back, it was what made him a leader.

“The idea of responsibility and leadership are very different now from how they were before,” he said. “Before, leading seemed unimportant. Now I know that leadership is what keeps people around, keeps people alive. Leaders care about people, and they are critical to everything you do.”

CST, Carter explains, has forced him to re-evaluate how he leads.

“I had to learn how to be more concise, more consistent, more direct,” he said. “That doesn’t mean I stopped caring or being compassionate to others though. Actually, that’s why it was so hard—because I care.”

Carter was caught between his desire to compassion teammate and effective leader.

“I don’t want to seem overbearing, but as a leader you have to change the tide, not go with the flow,” he said.

Through Grizzly, Carter is discovering that teamwork is leadership. The true mark of a leader is not the loudest voice, but the one that lifts others up. Carter has had to become a more direct leader as his assignments become more complex.

“You’re trained to dictate the chaos,” he said. “But I’m learning you can do that and still lead with empathy. It’s a matter of finding the balance in a personality conflict.”

Most importantly, CST isn’t changing him, it is strengthening who he is. Now, Carter is leading his peers through forming bonds like the ones he misses back home. Training scenarios like the FTX remind him that compassion, adaptability, and emotional intelligence are the greatest assets of a leader.