Fort Knox, Kentucky — Cadets with 2nd Regiment Advanced Camp, take on Warrior Skills training at Cadet Summer Training on Fort Knox, June 20, 2024. Warrior skills is utilized to prepare Cadets for the remainder of CST and the upcoming Field Training Exercises.
Warrior Skills is broken up into a series of lanes ranging from hand signal practices, how to employ a Claymore mine and more. One lane is referred to as the call for fire lane where Cadets are taught, “how to employ the Army’s indirect fire weapons systems against a target,” said Lt. Col. Mark Christiansen, Western Illinois University.
“They will practice the skill first and then after they are done, they will get tested,” Christiansen said. While the Cadets are given two attempts, Warrior Skills is built to teach before the formal application. Cadets are encouraged to take notes and ask questions in order to better understand and execute their designated lane.
This hands-on practice allows Cadets to familiarize themselves with what they may see in the future. Cadet Mia Walker from the University of Texas at Austin plans to become an Army nurse. While she may not see this kind of training every day, she knows understanding how to execute all of the different exercises is important to know as well as be proficient in if she wishes to continue on to being an officer.
“Warrior Skills is important for every Solider to know because if we are ever in an event where we need to apply this, then we have the capabilities of doing so successfully, rather than not knowing and risking failing a mission,” said Walker.
This training gives Cadets the opportunity to acquire the knowledge needed to operate in a tactical environment. Whether it is firing a weapon or telling other soldiers where to fire a weapon, Warrior Skills does so in a controlled environment with lots of practice.
“As future second lieutenants, we may not be the ones firing the big guns, but its important that we should at least learn these skills to know that the people who use them, what they do,” said Cadet Axel Provido, University of Hawaii at Manoa.
With FTX on the horizon, Cadets will use what they have learned at Warrior Skills to aid them in additional exercises throughout CST.
About the Author: Morgan Edwards
