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Every summer, nearly 8,000 college students from across the country head to Fort Knox, Kentucky, for Cadet Summer Training — the largest annual training event for the US Army.
The program is divided into two camps: Basic Camp, a 30-day introduction for students exploring ROTC, and Advanced Camp, a grueling 36-day assessment that determines whether contracted cadets can graduate and commission as Army officers.
During their time at Cadet Summer Training, the cadets participate in field training exercises, obstacle course, gas-chamber immersion, 60-foot rappels, and more.
Business Insider spent four days inside Fort Knox observing both camps to see firsthand what it takes to complete these training events — and to hear from cadets about why they chose this path of military service.
The program is divided into two camps: Basic Camp, a 30-day introduction for students exploring ROTC, and Advanced Camp, a grueling 36-day assessment that determines whether contracted cadets can graduate and commission as Army officers.
During their time at Cadet Summer Training, the cadets participate in field training exercises, obstacle course, gas-chamber immersion, 60-foot rappels, and more.
Business Insider spent four days inside Fort Knox observing both camps to see firsthand what it takes to complete these training events — and to hear from cadets about why they chose this path of military service.
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TechTranscript
00:00this college student is training like the soldiers he will one day lead sweep twist pull
00:19every summer the u.s army brings thousands of rotc cadets to fort knox
00:25to find out who has what it takes to become an officer
00:36army officers lead missions make split-second decisions under pressure and are responsible for
00:43the lives of the soldiers they command one body here two we killed one over there we have a void
00:50of leadership in some places and we need to develop those leaders that have those skills that
00:55are able to have empathy they're able to have confidence they're able to communicate across
01:00broad spectrums i think that is what the u.s army needs and what our nation needs but most of these
01:06cadets have never gone through military training before where do you go to school i go to school at
01:12the university of iowa the university of miami university of colorado boulder the university
01:16of kentucky university of north georgia i go to howard university i go to texas a&m these cadets
01:22are here to face one of the toughest challenges they've ever experienced cadet summer training
01:33the training is split into two programs the introductory basic camp and advanced camp for
01:41those preparing to commission business insider spent four days inside fort knox to see what these cadets go
01:49through and what it takes to become a u.s army officer
02:05for some cadets it's their first time facing physical challenges in this kind of environment
02:18like carmen ayala from the university of puerto rico
02:32people who don't know and i believe it's the advantage that makes them safe in bob and
02:39I just didn't want to go with the easy way, I just wanted to try.
03:09So I'm really, really happy and proud of myself.
03:26I have always wanted to join the Army since I was a younger age, but I didn't have the
03:30opportunity and my life, like, did a 360 and I just got the opportunity.
03:39This is the first time in the United States, fun fact about me, this is my first time traveling
03:45in a plane and everything.
03:47So everything is new for me and I'm just really happy to be here and have this opportunity.
03:53At basic camp, cadets fire a variety of weapons, like the M110 sniper rifle, M250 caliber machine
04:08gun, and even an M320 grenade launcher.
04:12You got to pull it hard.
04:28Before they hit the range, cadets run the M4 carbine through a state-of-the-art simulator.
04:35So it's kind of like a, pretty much like a video game, honestly.
04:38We're going to be in a really dark room and there's going to be a projector of a simulation
04:43that we're going to be doing.
04:44And the rifles, they have this long cord connected to them and we pretty much just simulate what's
04:50going to go on on a range day, but just to help us get us ready and get our grouping of
04:54our bullets right.
04:55All right, pick up your weapons.
04:56Pick up your mags.
04:57Hold your mag up and you'll obtain them.
04:58These mags have computer technology in them, they are expensive.
05:23How does this compare to like a college classroom, sitting in an electric hall when you're here
05:27learning how to find an M4 right now?
05:28I'd say it's different because it's more practical and hands-on.
05:31More entertaining than the college classroom just because there's so many people, new faces
05:38from all over the country and the world, and I've never been able to touch an M4 like
05:44I am even just today.
05:46After attending basic camp, cadets have the choice to stick with ROTC or walk away.
05:53It may not be their path in life and that's okay.
05:56I tell them it's a recruiting endeavor, it allows them to try it and see.
05:59I'm amazed by how many actually stick it out, but those that don't, that's great.
06:04I have no problem with that because I think they're gaining an experience that once again
06:08their peers are not.
06:09The summer before their senior year, contracted ROTC cadets endure the 36-day gauntlet known
06:22as advanced camp.
06:25Graduation is required in order for them to go on and commission.
06:29Advanced camp is 36 days.
06:31It's long, it's arduous, it's tiring, mentally demanding, physically, it's tough on them.
06:38This is their culminating event from a leadership standpoint and a training standpoint.
06:44They've got to actually show that they have the attributes we need of a leader, so we're
06:47going to assess them.
06:48If they don't meet those standards, we have to take a look at it and say, are these the
06:52individuals we want as leaders in the United States Army?
06:55One rite of passage is seaburn, or chemical, biological, radioactive, and nuclear training.
07:03We need to be, you know, ready for all the different challenges that modern day battlefield presents,
07:09one of those being seaburn.
07:11It'll be fun, they said!
07:13Go to summer camp, they said!
07:14It's summer camp 25!
07:16We're going to be a business insider!
07:18Yeah, let's go!
07:22I've been excited since day one to go in the gas chamber.
07:25This kind of helps, one, our cadets learn about trusting their equipment and that it functions,
07:34and then two, you know, helps them understand the serious, you know, the severity of the modern-day battlefield.
07:40Let's go!
07:41Let's go!
07:42Let's go!
07:43Let's go!
07:44Come on!
07:45Let's go!
07:46Let's go!
07:47Ready, let's go!
07:48Ready.
07:49Ready, ready for five, four, five, eight, eight, eight, eight, eight, nine, five, six, seven, six,
08:09I'm not going to be quiet, what's up to the end?
08:18For the Red Bulls week, what?
08:39Oh, it's like a burning sensation, so it started on your neck and then as soon as you took
08:48the gas mask off, it was all over your face.
08:50When you breathed in, you just kept coughing and you couldn't breathe, but it was a fun
08:54experience.
08:55It sounded annoying, but it was an awesome experience to go through.
08:58I snotted out the mouth.
08:59I never snotted out the mouth.
09:00Snotted out the mouth, cough, crying.
09:03It was a very different experience.
09:06I think I will only do this one time if it's this bad.
09:09Why did you join ROTC?
09:10Okay, so two things.
09:12I am a mother of twin girls.
09:15They motivate me.
09:16They push me.
09:17After I graduated college, I was like, I have to get something going financially, and so
09:22I fell back on the military.
09:24The second reason, I'm prior enlisted, so I came in as a specialist and then I said, you
09:29know what, I'm going to get out.
09:30I don't know.
09:31I can't balance both, but my goal was to come in and be an officer, so I took the opportunity
09:35to do the Green to Go active duty route, and I did it, and I'm here, and I'm loving it.
09:39How does, like, CST compare it to basic?
09:43There is luxury.
09:46Very luxurious, very relaxed from my basic training experience, but it's still on you.
09:52It still makes you focus.
09:53It still makes you lock in.
09:54You still get the same training.
09:56You just don't get smoked.
09:58One more.
09:59One more.
10:00One more.
10:01One more.
10:02One more.
10:03Cadets spend a day rappelling down a 60-foot tower.
10:06In the Army, you're going to have to do things that are tough, especially when you're scared
10:10to go out.
10:11There's going to be really hard days, and so for some cadets, this is their first hard
10:15day in the Army.
10:16All right.
10:17Here we go.
10:18Face the side of the tower.
10:19Go down.
10:20Raise forward.
10:21I got you.
10:24As leaders, you're going to be stressed out, so this is one way to test, you know, personal
10:29fortitude and the courage to do something that's uncomfortable.
10:32This is very high.
10:34Very high.
10:35What's your last name?
10:36Irvin.
10:37Irvin.
10:38Put your left hand right here for me.
10:39Where are you going to school?
10:40Marion Military Institute.
10:41Marion Military Academy.
10:43Okay, here we go.
10:44Wait, 7 on rappel.
10:45Step back.
10:46Spread your feet apart.
10:48No more.
10:49Put your right foot back a little bit.
10:53Hold this for last.
10:54Okay, good.
10:55Lean back.
10:56Lock your knees.
10:57Locking your knees.
10:59Walk down three steps for me.
11:03One.
11:04Two.
11:05No, that's one.
11:06No, one.
11:07Good job.
11:08Go.
11:13Straight back.
11:14Not out to the side.
11:16I definitely feel better than I did going up, so that's good.
11:19What was going through your head as you went over that edge?
11:21Just think break hand.
11:22Break hand.
11:23If I feel like I put a ball, break hand, reposition feet, walk down a little bit, and then just keep
11:28doing the break hand.
11:29After that, I was like, okay, you can do it.
11:31I jumped a little bit.
11:32I'll come back and walk a little bit and jump, and I get like bigger jumps as I was going,
11:35and I just got more confident.
11:37After conquering the wall, they descend another 60 feet on a single rope.
11:42Oh, my God!
11:45That would be representing coming out of a UH-60 or a Black Hawk helicopter to kind of get them
11:55ready.
11:56Hopefully, if they go to air assault or do any air assault operations in their future.
12:00Keep!
12:01Keep!
12:02Sweep!
12:03Twist!
12:04Pull!
12:05Freak out!
12:12Goddamn!
12:13Cadets are also tested on a grenade assault course.
12:19Freak out!
12:21That's just giving our cadets some warrior tasks and skills that we would ask our soldiers,
12:28and so we're putting them through the same thing that they're going to ask their soldiers
12:32to do, those level 10 tasks.
12:34Peep!
12:35Sweep!
12:36Twist!
12:37Pull!
12:38Freak out!
12:39Freak out!
12:40Oh, shit.
12:41That's off.
12:43How hard is it to throw those things?
12:46It's not hard for real.
12:47You just got to make sure you aiming it correctly for real.
12:52Peep!
12:54Sweep!
12:55Twist!
12:56Pull!
12:57Freak out!
13:00Okay, let's fucking go.
13:03He sees me!
13:06I'm up!
13:07He sees me!
13:09I'm down!
13:11I'm down!
13:12Shit!
13:15I'm up!
13:16He sees me!
13:17I'm down!
13:20I'm up!
13:21He sees me!
13:22I'm down!
13:24You okay?
13:25Shit!
13:26Okay!
13:32Shit!
13:33I'm down!
13:34I'm down!
13:35I'm down!
13:36I'm down!
13:37I'm up, if he sees me, my mama gonna be able to see that.
13:57On the field leadership reaction course, teams work together to overcome a series of obstacles.
14:03You're gonna have to tie that fucking loop around the other side in that monkey crawl,
14:09and then that's gonna be your next shimmy, I guess.
14:13So each obstacle is led by a different squad leader, and they manage their squad and they
14:17learn how to be a leader, a squad leader, and also a follower as well.
14:23We follow one platoon, tackling an obstacle known as the Ho Chi Minh Trail.
14:29It's a horizontal post supported by two vertical beams, and the object here is to get someone
14:37boosted up onto the pole, shimmy across the pole, avoiding the razor sharp gold vertical bar
14:45in between the horizontal bar.
14:47The platoon has just ten minutes to complete the mission.
14:50Are you safety?
14:52Yeah.
14:53Coming up, that's actually not like the hardest part.
14:55It's more the nerves you get when you're up there.
14:57I'm not really that scared of heights, but, I mean, you see it, it's like, what, twelve
15:04feet tall?
15:06It's still a considerable drop.
15:07I mean, you could easily break a bone if you fell, like you could break your wrist or
15:11something.
15:12What now?
15:13You know, I started getting sore because I'm on a steel pole.
15:17At least I gotta sit though, that's what I'm happy about, you know, I got my five minutes
15:20of sitting.
15:21Guys, there's nowhere for me to go.
15:28This is crazy.
15:29Oh!
15:30I was really scared.
15:31I'm scared of heights, so this is not like fun for me.
15:35It was just nerve wracking.
15:36I just kept looking at the other cadet who was up there, so I wouldn't look down and just
15:40kind of was focusing on his voice and like what he was telling me to do.
15:43All right, now is your time.
15:45Oh.
15:46Slowly lower the equipment down, don't just drop it, and then you guys can slide down
15:50the pole.
15:51You don't have to come all the way back down.
15:54All right.
15:55Stay.
15:56All right, come on, let's go, let's go.
16:03Advanced camp culminates with a field training exercise in which cadets put everything they've
16:09learned to the test in scenarios designed to mirror real combat.
16:16Instructors grade every move.
16:19To graduate and commission, all cadets must pass.
16:24They're rated on an excellent, proficient, capable, or unsat, like unsatisfactory.
16:28It means you essentially just failed your position.
16:30your position. What would somebody have to do to fail? I mean anywhere from like
16:36putting your fellow cadets in points of fratricide, I mean you're not
16:42obviously building a positive environment that way, right? And then
16:47obviously if your team's not working well with you and you just kind of give
16:52up essentially like, hey I don't want to do this anymore, that would be an
16:56unsatisfactory performance. I have some recovery trail mix with beef jerky and
17:03then in my little heater meal I have some elbow macaroni. Probably one of my
17:12sweets is either going to be sour skittles or Twitzlers. So I'm eating meatballs and
17:20marinara sauce. This is definitely not the best MRE but you know it's still food,
17:26it's still calories. I got two teriyaki beef sticks. Norris for giving me a beef
17:30stick. Yeah. Baked snack crackers but they're Cheez-Its, Skittles and I got
17:38chili and macaroni. So my whole family is a Navy. My brother just recently
17:43commissioned and my mom was a 06 in the Navy. My dad was also enlisted and I was
17:47like, I just don't want to be on a boat so I joined the army.
17:52After the meal, designated leaders huddle to plan a movement to attack on an
17:57oppositional force or OPFOR played by active-duty soldiers. So this straight
18:04line right here, Security and Weapons Squad, you guys are going to be the main
18:08base of fire. I need you to push your people through that vegetation.
18:24Stand by. I'll pass for some more information.
18:26Give me the cover. I appreciate it. I'll smoke it.
18:29Base of fire. Down to your watch. Go. Assault one. Up. Assault one. Up. Base of fire. Go.
18:48Go. Hey. Extend out. Extend out. Base of fire. Set. Assault one. On your feet.
19:00Watch this up.
19:09Keep fire. Keep fire. Keep fire. Keep fire. Keep fire.
19:15Keep fire. Keep fire. Keep fire.
19:18Keep fire.
19:19P.L. P.L. do you want 2-20 to go?
19:21P.L.
19:22Keep fire. Keep fire.
19:24Keep fire.
19:26Any face of fire. Look where our assault is going.
19:29Got it.
19:30Where do you want us to go?
19:31The guidance is not fair.
19:33Go.
19:38Go. Go. Go.
19:39Let's go.
19:40Let's go.
19:41We've got our partners from the active component out there as opposing forces, so it provides
19:46that realist realism and some ambiguity of things that they're going to have to consider as leaders
19:52as they're out there.
19:55Op 4 has been subdued.
19:58We've got one body here, two, we killed one over there.
20:05One of your feet. Right ahead. 12.
20:07What are you missing?
20:08An arm set.
20:09Yeah, yeah, yeah.
20:10Cool, cool, cool.
20:16He's looking over here. What's wrong?
20:18Good. Lost the right arm.
20:19Lost his whole arm.
20:20Lost his whole arm.
20:21Lost his whole arm.
20:22Lost his whole arm.
20:23Lost his whole arm.
20:24He lost his right arm.
20:25Medic has placed the tourniquet on at 1517.
20:30I will do my duty!
20:32After graduating from advanced camp, cadets return to their universities.
20:37They'll finish their degrees before officially commissioning as U.S. Army officers.
20:48Bottom line is we're training in the profession of arms.
20:52We're training your second lieutenants that are going to lead from the infantry units all the way to cyber warriors.
20:58But at the end of the day, it's all about lethality. It has to be.
21:01That is what our profession is.
21:03So we have to train hard, and we've got to stress these cadets, let them know what's going to be expected of them.
21:10I often tell them, I'm like, this may be the hardest thing you've ever done to this point.
21:13And then at the end of it, I say, congratulations, now that you've done the easiest thing you're going to do in the Army.
21:23Peak! Sweep! Twist! Pull!
21:27Freak it out!
21:31Okay, let's fucking go.
21:33My momma gonna be able to see that?
21:35Okay.
21:37Freak it out!
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