FORT KNOX, Ky. — Cadets assigned to 1st Regiment, Advanced Camp, completed the 12-mile foot march on June 30, 2026, signifying the end of their Cadet Summer Training after 10 days in the field.

After weeks of training, the cadets were ready to finish their journey at CST, many of them having mixed emotions about their final training exercise, but one emotion stands out with clarity — excitement.

Cadet Conor Moyer, assigned to Bravo Company from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, talked about his excitement regarding the end of CST.

“I am so excited. This has been like hell for four days, and now I get to go home,” he said. “It is super rewarding to get through it.”

But Moyer was just one of many cadets who were looking forward to the finish-line.

Cadet Landry Barker, assigned to Alpha Company from the University of Dubuque, claimed that he believes that the 12-mile foot march, which cadets make with 35-pound rucksacks on their backs, is a rite of passage — the final difficult task they have to do to graduate.

“We have been doing hard things constantly for the past 20 days,” he said. “So, I think that this is the one that everyone is really excited for.”

At this point during CST, the finish line was in sight — all the cadets needed to do was walk the distance and cross it.

At approximately 2:00 a.m., Alpha Company finished the 12-mile, and the other companies followed not long after.

But some cadets claim that the distance itself was not the most challenging part of the ruck.

Cadet Chancel Diazenza, assigned to Bravo Company from the University of New England in Maine, said that the most difficult part of the ruck was not even the physical aspect, but the mental challenge of it all.

But despite the challenges, Diazenza had his own thoughts on how he and his fellow cadets could prevail. He even recalled a quote during the walk, one that is a highly popularized mantra in the United States Marine Corps, which helped push him till the end.

“Pain is just weakness leaving your body,” he recited. “You [have] got to keep pushing. Your body will give up, but your [mind] can not give up.”

Now that they are officially done with CST, the only task left being the off-boarding paperwork they are all required to fill out, the cadets are looking forward to the life they can get back to — and, more specifically, their beds.

For them, the next step is the most rewarding one — graduation. But after that, it is up to them to decide how they will take what they learned at CST and use it to make their country proud.