FORT KNOX, Ky. — Whether it is under simulated gunfire with the goal of reaching your enemy objective or reacting to an ambush from their fellow cadets, the cadets assigned to Charlie Company, 9th Regiment, Advanced Camp, started the first phase — the Wolverine phase — of their Field Training Exercise with high hopes on Aug. 1, 2026.

Having heard stories of the field during their years in ROTC, the anticipation that had been built around the reality of the FTX became the cadets’ new reality as they planned out their mission for the ambush lane.

However, while the platoon leaders were planning their route and the other cadets were pulling security of the area, a few of them shared a few words about what they hope to gain from their FTX experience.

Despite being told that Advanced Camp was the biggest part of his ROTC career, Cadet Ethan Carlson, assigned to 9th Regiment, Advanced Camp from the University of Arkansas, claimed that the FTX is not as daunting as he thought it would be. Having been assigned to be the Bravo Team Leader for the lane, Carlson was able to reflect on what he hopes to accomplish between now and the end of the FTX.

“I like the field, I love the tactics and I really feel like I get to focus on the camaraderie of my squad and my teammates,” Carlson said.

But what he looks forward to the most is not only the camaraderie between him and his comrades, but learning how to work alongside the cadets he has only known for a matter of days.

“It is going to be interesting to see how you take a bunch of different personalities, a bunch of people from all across the United States, and put them together and see how they work in a team,” he said.

However, even though he knows it will be a challenge, it is a challenge that he plans to accept with open arms. Not just because the grades at their .FTX rely heavily on the camaraderie and responsibility shared amongst the cadets, but because each and every one of them have the same shared, common goal — to become a commissioned Army officer after graduation.

“At the end of the day, it is not an impossible task — you just have to approach it from a different view,” Carlson said.

But Carlson is not the only cadet with high hopes for his FTX experience.

Although he is nervous to see how the new system plays out, Cadet Jesse Rominger, assigned to 9th Regiment, Advanced Camp from the University of Tennessee, is still excited to see what becomes of his FTX experience.

“You can hear from buddies that were from prior [regiments] and from cadre that are here, but it still does not tell you how it is going to be grading wise,” he said.

However, despite being worried about the looming grading criteria, Rominger shares a similar aspiration with Carlson and hopes to learn how to work alongside people from all kinds of different backgrounds. Even when he believes that he has met a great deal of cadets at CST that will be by his side for years to come, working with them in the field is a different challenge he hopes to overcome.

“You end up working with a lot of people that have different perspectives [and] have been taught different things,” Rominger said. “Being able to understand and work with that is a skill you are going to be able to take into the Army and apply it almost every single day.”

With the same goal in mind, all of the cadets in Charlie Company, 9th Regiment, Advanced Camp, stepped onto the ambush lane today with one main motivator on their mind.

“We have eight more days of this, and every day closer that we get, and every single lane that we run is one lane closer to being a commissioned officer,” Carlson said. “I am just taking it a lane at a time and a day at a time.”