Big plans for the Summer

One question I always get about Army ROTC is what do you do during the Summer, is there a Summer training requirement? The only Summer requirement is to attend the Leadership Development and Assessment Camp (LDAC), typically between your Junior and Senior year. This year the GKB plans to send 19 cadets to Fort Lewis, Washington for the camp. This camp is essentially the “final exam” for the ROTC program. But, along with this requirement there are many opportunities to take part in Army training and professional development opportunities. There are opportunities for adventure training like Airborne, Air Assault, and mountain warfare school. Golden Knight Battalion cadets will be learning how to jump out of Airplanes, work with Army Helicopters, and conduct military operations in mountainous terain.

This year the Army continues to emphasize cultural awareness, so some of the GKB cadets will be taking advantage of the Cadet Command’s Cultural Immersion Program. After sending a cadet to Vietnam two years ago, and a cadet and our PMS visiting Argentina last year this year cadets will spend time in Tanzania, Morocco, and Saudi Arabia. Finally, we have Juniors who will participate in CTLT opportunities. In conjuction with LDAC, these cadets will spend time with active units experiencing first hand what junior Officers do on a daily basis. Finally, many of our SMP cadets will be participating in Annual Training (AT) with their National Guard or Reserve units. The cadre who aren’t departing this summer will be supporting LDAC, and I’ll be recruiting and preparing the incoming class to contract. So, I hope you have some big plans for this coming summer, we certainly do!