FORT KNOX, Ky. – What makes a team? For a cadet, teamwork means working side by side with their unit to support, lead, and thrive out in the field together. To reach that point cadets undergo training exercises to work successfully with their team. For Basic Camp, the Team Development Course for Cadet Summer Training that took place on July 9, 2026, provided cadets with the chance to collaborate and assess how to efficiently solve problems throughout a series of obstacles.

The team-building exercise allows groups of cadets to accomplish a goal within set parameters, while providing the chance for leadership and support roles. Not every team starts off perfectly and for some it takes time. If the team can ensure safety and effectively listen to each other, then they are one step closer to being a great team.

“Our platoon is kind of wonky sometimes. Sometimes we work good. Sometimes we scream over each other,” says Cadet Talitha Diaz-Quinonez, a Valley Forge Military College student, assigned to 1^st Regiment, Basic Camp, “but I’m very impressed with how everybody handled the situation, and people actually learned how to be quiet and listen, and then others learned how to lead effectively as well.”

For Diaz-Quinonez, her team isn’t always perfect but found their way to work to ensure each other’s safety and effectively listen to each other. While working on an obstacle to get across, she felt a little scared that she wasn’t going to reach the other side.

“But as long as you trust in your team members, you basically can do whatever it is that you need to do,” says Diaz-Quinonez.

Having a foundation for trust serves as a crucial factor within their teamwork since no one can make it through these obstacles on their own. Delegating roles in a team is the next important step. If a team doesn’t understand each other’s strengths and weaknesses, then things will start to crumble.

Cadet Thomas Dalton, a University of Kentucky student, assigned to 1^st Regiment, Basic Camp, expressed “When we put people in the right positions and they executed what they needed to do, that made it successful.”

When having to rely on a team to get through missions and overcome challenges there are certain push and pulls that happen. Different ideas and solutions can be produced for solving problems and when they flood in, it can become overwhelming. Therefore, establishing a structure within a group can help ideas flow in a controlled way. It’s especially helpful when a team already has a starting foundation.

“Sometimes, we sit there and we just, have heart to heart conversations with the cadre and the other members of my platoon, and we just get everything out. So not everybody’s mad at each other, and we all know what to expect and what we need to do better, and how we could move forward as a platoon,” said Diaz-Quinonez.

To have time before facing a problem as a team allows for better connection and understanding among members of a team. While working together when facing the problem at hand can also further bond teammates and lead to effective communication.

“I feel like the team really came together, and we worked as a team and completed everything pretty efficiently. Definitely got closer as a group and bonded and it was a lot of fun,” said Dalton.