Cadets in Co E 2/321 IET finish up their time and graduate from Leaders Training Course. Congratulations for making it through these physical and mental tests. This is the last post for Echo Co. I hope you enjoyed the photos and videos that were posted throughout Echo Co. time here.

We just want to say good luck with everything that your future entails, thank you.

Echo Co. photographers-Jeff Sainlar and Sarah Gordon

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Staff writer

For the last time this summer, Cadets at the Leader’s Training Course stood in their platoon formations Saturday. The 214 men and women of Co. E 2/321st IET took their final march, passing parents and loved ones at their graduation. 

As they gave hello hugs to their families, Cadets also gave goodbye hugs to the friends and mentors with whom they had spent the last 30 days sweating, hurting, bleeding and saluting. 

Chandler Alford, a Cadet in Echo Co. and student at Georgia Institute of Technology, said having the families show their support was extremely motivating after four challenging weeks of training.

Co. E 2/321 IET Cadet Christopher Tillery, from the University of Maryland, shouts the Soldiers Creed at Echo Company's graduation at Brooks Field on Saturday. Photo by Jeff Sainlar

He said he felt a great sense of pride as they marched their culminating march.

“It was almost like a high,” he said.

William VanSaun, another Echo Co. Cadet and a student at Pennsylvania State University, said the difference between the first day and the last at LTC is incomparable.

“We have definitely improved a lot. Our first couple of days it took about 15 minutes to get in order,” he said about lining up in formation. “It only took 30 seconds today.”

After a summer of intense physical and mental training, each of the seven companies that came to LTC have or will be traveling back to the same lives they left a month prior. Although those lives may not have changed, each Cadet has.

Barbara Schroeder, mother of Echo Co. Cadet Alicia Schroeder, a student at King’s College in Pennsylvania, said the change in her daughter was apparent after one glance.

“She was more self-confident, more disciplined,” Barbara said. “She looked tired, but happy.”

Echo Co. 2/321 IET Cadets take photographs of fellow platoon members at their graduation at Brooks Field on Saturday. Photo by Jeff Sainlar

During the graduation ceremony for each company, awards were given to Cadets who showed excellence above their peers, a keynote speaker gave words of empowerment and the “Army Strong” song played after the final march. Guest speaker for the final graduation was Maj. Gen. Arthur Bartell, commanding general of U.S. Army Cadet Command.

Flanking the podium where Col. William Wanovich, the commandant of Cadets at LTC spoke at the final ceremony on Saturday, sat a line of Army veterans.

“They are the reason our country is free today,” Wanovich said to the four platoons in front of him. “And you are the reason our country is free tomorrow.”

Staff writers

The routine training exercise turned into a mid-air brawl.

The person behind Staff Sgt. Carlos Largaespada on the plane jumped too soon, practically walking on his parachute canopy, which could have collapsed the chute altogether.

The life of Largaespada, a drill sergeant for Co. E 2/321st IET, was on the line.

But he remained calm.

“That could have been really bad,” he said while reminiscing. “I realized, you know what, this is his first time. He may not know any better. If I lose my head, and he’s already losing his head, you know…we’re both going to get hurt.”

Staff Sgt. Carlos Largaespada, a drill sergeant for Co. E 2/321st IET, low-crawls through the mud pit at the obstacle course. Photo by Sarah Gordon

As a part of the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, N.C., Largaespada is used to working well under pressure.  Much of his training has required him to be in high-intensity situations, including jumping out of planes.

“Both of my ankles are shot up to death…it’s one of those love/hate relationships,” Largaespada said.

But he said it’s all just part of the job, you have to get back up and do it again.

Largaespada enlisted in the Army at 23, after he saw the 3rd Infantry Division storm into Baghdad.

“I saw 19 and 20 year-old kids, and I was like wow, they just liberated a country, and here I am not doing anything,” he said.

After finishing medic school at Fort Sam Houston in 2003, Largaespada went to Airborne School at Fort Benning, Ga. A year later, he was given his assignment at Fort Bragg.

Largaespada said he enjoys the one-on-one interaction with his Cadets.

“There’s no bigger opportunity to train, than, you know, being a drill sergeant,” he said. “I jumped on it, and it was one of the best things I could have done.”

Sgt. Norvin Rosales, a drill sergeant for Echo Co., said Largaespada has been an inspiration to him over the past two years they have known each other.

Staff Sgt. Carlos Largaespada does push-ups with Cadets in Co. E 2/321st IET after low-crawling at the obstacle course. Photo By Trisha Weber

“Everywhere I go, as far as a job or whatever, I always try to pick someone I want to be like, or I pick the good things I like,” Rosales said. “With him, he has a lot of good things.”

As a drill sergeant, he says Largaespada would never ask anything of the Cadets that he wouldn’t do himself.

“If they do push-ups, he gets down with them,” Rosales said.

For Largaespada, he said the most nervous times were when he was just about to jump. But afterwards, his training kicked in and all worries went away, what he referred to as muscle memory.

“You do something enough times, and it becomes instinct,” he said. “I just chalk it up to training. That’s how you want it to be. That’s how it should be. You do something enough times that you just react.”

Staff writer

The Army has turned into a family business for 2nd Lt. Vanessa Dudley. She has a brother in the Army and another in the Reserves, her father served with the Air Force and her husband recently deployed as a second lieutenant.

Joining the Army was not a difficult decision for Dudley. She joined ROTC at the University of Tampa after one semester.

“I knew I wanted to be in the Army in eighth grade,” Dudley said.

And so it happened. Dudley, a squad tactical officer with Co. E 2/321st IET, graduated in May with a bachelor’s in criminology. Now Dudley passes on what she has learned to Cadets at the Leader’s Training Course before going to her first duty station.

Co. E 2/321 2nd Lt. Vanessa Dudley, right, from Tampa, Florida, looks over Matthew Shrupe’s stress shoot target during a Leader’s Training Course exercise. Photo by Jeff Sainlar

“She’s been able to provide personal and professional information so we can make better decisions,” said Cadet Chandler Alford of Echo Co., who attends Georgia Institute of Technology.

But some of these lessons come with a price.

Vanessa met Jason Dudley when she was a sophomore. He was a junior. Both were in ROTC at University of Tampa. In December, Vanessa and Jason tied the knot. But in June, Jason deployed to Afghanistan for a year-long tour, leaving Vanessa to finish her officer training and get settled at her first duty station in Schweinfurt, Germany, alone.

So far Vanessa said the experience hasn’t been as hard as she thought it would be because she has been busy at LTC. They also lucked out when Jason was assigned as a battle captain working in a tactical operation center.

“He has more time to talk than if he was a platoon leader,” Vanessa said.

In addition to dealing with the strains of a deployed husband, Dudley must prepare herself for a culture shock when she transfers to Germany.

“America is so convenient,” Dudley said. “But in Vilseck, it’s pretty much country and inconvenient.”

The Dudleys already have a house near Jason’s base in Vilseck. But Schweinfurt, where Vanessa will be stationed, is roughly two-and-a-half hours away. They are trying to enroll in a military spouse program which will hopefully move them closer together.

Add to all this the looming possibility that Vanessa’s unit may deploy as early as December. If Vanessa’s unit deploys in December, this will place the Dudleys on an offset deployment schedule, making the time they are able to spend together less than if they were on concurrent schedules.

But Dudley looks forward to the move despite all the obstacles she faces. She may still be transferred to a different unit, or the deployment schedules could change. But Dudley looks forward to the positive aspects instead of dwelling on the negative. She looks forward to the different things she can do in Germany and is comforted by the fact she knows she will be able to hear her husband’s voice on the phone as often as he can call. Plus, there is fun stuff to do in Germany too.

“I love the Autobahn,” Dudley said with a sly smile across her face.

Staff writer

Transitioning into the Leader’s Training Course is a difficult process for many Cadets. But Co. E 2/321st IET Cadet David Freeman had more on his mind than just drill sergeants and barracks life.

Freeman, an engineering student at the Georgia Institute of Technology, has had three knee surgeries in the past three years, the most recent just five weeks before he arrived at LTC.

“The first two weeks were pretty rough. It hurt a lot,” he said. “It taught me I could go through more pain that I thought I could.”

Co. E 2/321st IET Cadet David Freeman, from the Georgia Institute of Technology, goes through a congratulatory line with the rest of his fellow Cadets after the 10K road march and the rights of passage ceremony. Photo by Jeff Sainlar

The first of Freeman’s surgeries took place in 2007, when he tore his ACL playing soccer. He tore it again and got surgery to have it repaired five months later, in early 2008. Then, in June, he tore his meniscus playing dodgeball during physical training with his ROTC classmates.

Freeman said his knee doesn’t usually bother him, but standing on his feet all day and running still occasionally cause him pain.

His injuries didn’t delay his plans to join the military. Freeman said he began considering ROTC between his second and third surgeries, and thought about it for a full six months before actually joining.

“I prayed about it a lot and felt like it was what God wanted me to do, so here I am,” he said. “And I love it.”

Although he said operating on as little as four hours of sleep a night is challenging, it’s not keeping Freeman from developing some important traits.

“I’ve learned a lot about my weaknesses in leadership,” he said. “Also, I’ve grown a lot in patience, because how many groups have you just standing out in formation for half an hour?”

Second Lt. Daniel Gruenstern, a squad tactical officer for 2nd platoon, said Freeman ranks in the top three Cadets for his platoon and has stood out as a leader.

“He was very quiet, but now he’s definitely one of the stronger ones,” Gruenstern said. “He knows how to treat his other squad members. He takes care of them.”

Staff writer

Cadet Kyle Eastis has had a busy summer.

Before coming to the Leader’s Training Course, he spent three weeks in June in Vietnam, helping the rural poor in makeshift clinics. 

In the fall, the Co. E 2/321st IET Cadet will be a junior at Mercer University in Macon, Ga., where he is a business major on a pre-med track. His school’s service-learning program, Mercer on Mission, brought the small group of students and physicians to southern Vietnam to set up healthcare clinics and help those in need. The group, a mix of physicians and students studying medicine, nursing, business and pharmacy, brought their supplies from the United States and set up the clinics in hospitals.

Co. E 2/321st IET Cadet Kyle Eastis, from Mercer University, practices his basic rifle marksmanship at Handiboe Range. Photo by Sarah Gordon

Eastis said the students learned to meet with the patients and take their vital signs before taking them to meet with the doctors. Eventually the students took more responsibility and used the translators to help diagnose and treat the patients. Patients ranged from children to elderly. Many were local farmers and complained of joint and back pain, while others who could not afford food suffered from malnutrition.

All could not afford other healthcare.

Eastis, who came to LTC to learn about the benefits of joining ROTC, said he is still deciding whether he will join when he returns to school in the fall. He said he plans to go into medical care, whether he joins or not, and is also interested in international business. Joining the Army would mean he would be able to travel and help others, something he is very interested in, he said. He said his trip to Vietnam was a good glimpse at what Army life might be like.

“One of the biggest things is that knowing if I join the Army, we will be most likely shipped abroad somewhere to defend and work,” he said. “Just having those people skills and language barrier have helped me.”

Dr. William Bina, Dean of Mercer University School of Medicine and retired Navy Captain Medical Corps, went on the trip and said Eastis easily adapted to the changing situations, a necessary skill in the military.

“Everything in developing a country always requires a lot of flexibility, so our plans changed daily, and sometimes even hourly,” he said. “I think having to do that would be consistent with being a good Army officer.”

Bina cited an anecdote about Eastis in Vietnam he said showed his generous nature.

“On the last night he packed up some clothes that he wasn’t going to need in the states, and he had found a mother and a son who were living in the streets of Saigon, and delivered those clothes to them,” he said.

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Cadets in Co. E 2/321st IET. took part in their final stages of the Leader’s Training Course where they participated in a 10K march at around 3:00 a.m. After that they took part in a Right of Passage Ceremony where the cadets were congratulated and recognized for their achievements.

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Retired Capt. Paul Bucha graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point, served in the Vietnam War and received a Medal of Honor in 1970. But to him, Cadets completing the Leader’s Training Course are the real heroes.

“When I look at you, I see what I was and what I could have been,” Bucha said to Co. E 2/321st IET Cadets Tuesday. “Thank you for the inspiration you are.”

After graduating from West Point, Bucha earned a master’s degree in business administration from Stanford University. He was sent to Vietnam in 1967 as the commander of Co. D, 3rd Battalion, 187th Inf. Regiment. On a mission in March 1968, the company’s lead group contacted a North Vietnamese Army battalion and came under heavy fire.

Retired Capt. Paul Bucha, recipient of the Medal of Honor for his actions as an Army commander in Vietnam, spoke to Cadets of Co. E 2/321st INF at Waybur Theater. Photo by Sarah Gordon

Crawling toward the North Vietnamese soldiers, Bucha destroyed an enemy bunker, then ordered a withdrawal. Through the night, he encouraged his men, directed artillery fire and directed helicopters evacuating the wounded. The next morning, he led a party to rescue Soldiers cut off from the rest of the group.

Bucha said the bravery and heart shown by his unit that night proves everyone has potential to be great.

“We were known as the clerks and jerks of the Army,” he said. “But this group went on to be one of the most decorated units in the Vietnam War.”

Echo Co. Cadet Lorianne Allen, of the University of Alabama at Huntsville, said she appreciated Bucha’s tales of bonding with and leading his unit.

“Any story having to do with going out and helping his men was really touching,” she said. “He was very inspiring.”

Bucha also outlined five elements needed for leadership: integrity, confidence, competence, compassion and humility. All are important, he said, but the most critical is integrity.

“From integrity and honor comes trust. From trust comes willingness to follow, simple and clear,” he said. “Without which, it doesn’t matter.”

He also told Cadets stories about his first experiences as an officer and how important it is to recognize the responsibility of leading fellow Soldiers.

“They’re somebody’s brother, sister, son, daughter,” he said. They’re people. It doesn’t matter if they have four stars or no stripes. We’re all human.”

Echo Co. Cadet Candice Jones, of Grand Canyon University in Arizona, said Bucha’s anecdotes made it easy for him to relate to Cadets.

“He seemed like a strong, confident guy, and he had some great stories,” she said. “He was the new guy on the block once, too, just like us.”

Bucha thanked Cadets for considering serving in the Army and said their experiences at LTC and the military in general will help them no matter where they end up in life.

“Everything else is easy compared to being a military leader,” he said. “That uniform is the heaviest rucksack you’ll ever carry.”