FORT KNOX, Ky — Cadets assigned to 2nd Regiment completed the Land Navigation (LNAV) exercise on June 19, 2026, which is a training exercise meant to challenge Cadets to find four points within a limited time with only a map, a compass and coordinates. 

However, upon completing the training exercise and getting their coordinates graded, some of the Cadets offered up some words of advice for any future or current Cadets that are not only participating in LNAV at some point, but are also eventually going through Cadet Summer Training (CST). 

Cadet Gretchen Olsen, assigned to Alpha Company, 2nd Regiment, Advanced Camp from the University of Minnesota, was the first Cadet to finish the training exercise. She not only successfully mapped out the four required coordinates, but she also managed to in under two hours.

Having enlisted because her brother had originally joined ROTC, Olsen said she not only always feels like she has someone she can talk to about different aspects of CST, but has someone who pushes her to do her best.

The good-natured competitiveness that Olsen’s brother sparks in her has led her to understand some critical advice that she wants to share with incoming or fellow Cadets. 

“When it comes to fitness, and even having to be in the field for days, you kind of have to have some mental toughness,” Olsen said. “[You have to tell yourself] ‘It is going to suck, but it sucks for everybody, so do not complain.”

Olsen also encourages her fellow or incoming Cadets to maintain a positive mindset.

“If, say, an event did not go my way, I [still have] 10 other events coming up that I need to switch over my mindset [for],” she said.

But Olsen was not the only Cadet that wanted to offer up a word of wisdom based on their past experiences.

Cadet Mia Rodriguez, assigned to Alpha Company, 2nd Regiment, Advanced Camp, from the University of Central Florida, finished the LNAV training exercise not long after Olsen and shared her thoughts about what Cadets should keep in mind while participating in the exercise.

“For Land Nav, I would say just keep your eyes peeled, because a lot of people are very ‘nose in their compass,’” she said.

However, some Cadets had a different way of thinking. Cadet Garrett Lohnes, assigned to Bravo Company, 2nd Regiment, Advanced Camp from IU Indianapolis, believes that the attitude and perspective you arrive at Advanced Camp with can influence Cadets’ outcome at CST.

“If you are going to come here, give a damn. [Just] give a damn about what you do, and we will all be alright,” Lohnes said. 

But ultimately, the main advice that a majority of Cadets want to give revolves around one key factor — the people around you.

“Be a people person. Do not judge a book by its cover, “ said Odin Potemski, a Cadet assigned to Bravo Company, 2nd Regiment, Advanced Camp from the University of Delaware. “Talk to everyone in your platoon. Try to make as many friends as possible, because it will make your time here fly by a lot faster.”

In the end, the Army is built from people with one common goal.

“Everyone comes here for a reason, and whatever that reason is, they are still here and we all do it together. I know I will be better for it, and that other people will be, too,” Lohnes said.