FORT KNOX, Ky. — There are many different ways that people can describe the word “warrior.” Cadets assigned to Delta Company, 8th Regiment, Advanced Camp, as well as the cadre that oversee their training, have come to form their own opinions on what it means to have that title deemed to them.

During the Warrior Skills training exercise on July 25, 2026, cadets worked to master multiple different lanes that focus on enhancing their technical and tactical experience. But Lt. Col. David Allen, a Company Training Officer who oversees over 150 cadets’ training, was able to speak out on what being a warrior means to him, and just how close these cadets are to earning the title.

“I think being a warrior is having a mindset that you can overcome anything that is put in your way as an officer, while being a good person of character and morale,” Allen said. “But I think being a warrior [means] you [have] got to win.”

And winning was certainly 8th Regiment’s goal as they stepped onto the course for Warrior Skills.

“I’ve been super impressed with the cadets’ ability to focus on one event at a time and one task at a time, and I think that’s an important part of being a warrior,” he said.

But the cadets have their own definition of what it means to be a warrior.

Cadet Owen Schafer, assigned to 8th Regiment, Advanced Camp, from Mississippi State University, arrived on Fort Knox feeling fairly confident in his skills after switching from the Air Force’s Reserve Officer Training Corps to the Army’s ROTC.

“I would say a warrior is somebody trustworthy, but also somebody that you see as a leader,” Schafer said. “A strong warrior has to be a strong leader, but in order for leadership, you also have to have followership. In order to lead, you need to have the courage to do what is asked of you.”

Another cadet, Karilynn Cuevas-Rodriguez, assigned to 8th Regiment, Advanced Camp, from East Carolina University, shared a similar perspective.

“Being a warrior is focusing on not only your people that are around you. At the end of the day, we are all a team here. Yes, these events are individual, but we can not do it without each other,” Cuevas-Rodriguez said. “All the training we do, we are together. All of the practicing, all of the dedication and motivation that we pour into each other — that is the only way you will succeed here.”

Even though 8th Regiment is almost halfway through with CST, the cadets admit that they not only still have a lot to learn, but that they plan on carrying the skills they learn here as warriors into their civilian lives.

“I think I am getting there,” Schafer said. “I think I need a little more practice, [but] everything we do kind of enhances my abilities even further.”

At the end of the day, these cadets are all here to learn vital leadership abilities that will help project them further in their future careers. But right now, they are cadets learning from not only their cadre, but from each other.

“I would not have been able to succeed without the people around me and the motivation that I have to be willing to take in all that information, ” Cuevas-Rodriguez said. “As a warrior, you need your people. You need people to help lead you as well as you lead them.”