FORT KNOX, Ky. – Some find night comforting with its shining stars and quiet darkness. Whilst cadets at Cadet Summer Training, assigned to Basic Camp, learn to push through it as they face simulated enemy fire on the Night Infiltration Course.

The NIC training consists of a 200-meter low-crawl through sand and obstacles as machine guns fire overhead alongside simulated indirect fire. Considering the live fire above and simulated strikes below, different factors are examined to ensure safety as cadets find themselves struggling through a memorable night at the range.

“Named after Master Sergeant Roy Benavidez, who is a medal honor recipient from Vietnam. He has a very harrowing story as a special forces soldier. His actions resulted in him being awarded the medal of honor.,” explains Lt. Col. Karl Harness, a professor of military science at the New Mexico Military Institute, “The most interesting thing about that particular action was that not only was he wounded multiple times, they thought he was dead and were actively putting him in a body bag. The only thing he could think to do as the chaplain was zipping up the body bag was spit in the chaplain’s face to let him know he was alive. And that’s how they were able to pull him out of the body bag and go and treat him.”

Harness found his story to be very courageous and was honored and privileged to be on a range named after him. As the range safety officer for NIC, Harness has the responsibility to ensure the safety of everyone on the range.

“We have three machine guns as well as mortar pits to simulate indirect fire. Those machine guns have ammunition that’s been cleared for overhead flight. While cadets will put on body armor, helmets, [and] all their proper personal protective equipment,” said Harness.

Delving into the safety precautions, he explains that the machine guns are in fixed positions and are unable to change directions. This guarantees that the gun will not randomly change direction during the exercise, verifying each night before starting that they fire at the correct height and direction. Whereas the mortar pits in the field simulating the indirect fire, are set off by the officer in charge from the tower. In addition to the safety features for the simulated effects, cadets wear their gear to help prevent injury with medics on standby if anything happens. Not to mention the safety aspects, the course itself presents its own challenges for cadets.

“There’s probably two parts to this that’s the most challenging. The first one is the fear. If you’ve never done something like this before and you’re told that machine guns are going over your head and you’re seeing tracers go over, there’s a lot of fear that is associated with that. The second hard part is quite literally the course itself. You’re climbing through sand, something that they’ve not often done before. A lot of these cadets are coming out of the field training exercise already. So, they are already pretty tired by the time they come to us,” says Harness.

Having live gunshots above your head can be scary. The exercise is supposed to simulate that real fear and struggle faced when undergoing enemy fire. It makes sure to prepare cadets to face their fears, push forward, and survive. The protective gear adds 40 pounds to provide a cadet with more weight than what they are used to. Leading to a struggle with one’s endurance and strength to keep moving forward. Testing to see if cadets can push through and fight no matter the circumstance. One things for sure, these cadets will definitely have something to take away from their time at camp.

“It’s very important for these cadets, some of them may not continue in ROTC, some of them might pick a different path, but they’ll remember this experience for their whole life. I know I do; I did the NIC here at Fort Knox in 1998 when I came to Basic Camp. So, I’m familiar with it, I still remember it,” concluded Harness.