Leader's Training Course

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Reserve drills play key role in developing Cadets

Posted on June 16, 2011 by PAO

Drill sergeants with Alpha Company, all of whom are Reservists, instruct Cadets through physical training Thursday. Photo by Dorothy Edwards/LTC PAO

By Caitlin VanOverberghe
Staff writer

For the first time in the Leader Training Course’s 46 years, Reserve drill sergeants, rather than active duty troops, are acclimating all Cadets to the life of a Soldier.

To fulfill requirements that drill sergeants must be used to train Cadets, for years LTC had relied on Fort Knox-based 1st Battalion, 46th Infantry, a basic training outfit. But with Base Realignment and Closure, the 1/46th uprooted after the close of last year’s course and settled in a new home at Fort Benning, Ga.

In anticipation of the battalion’s loss, course leaders had Reserve drills oversee training of the final two LTC cycles in 2010 with guidance from their active counterparts. It was as much a move to acclimate the new drills to the training regimen as much as it was to identify potential hiccups.

Cadets in all four companies in 2011 will be under the tutelage of drills from the 2nd Battalion, 485th Infantry of Orlando. There are 20 drills per company.

Maj. Mark Reed, chief planner for the Leader’s Training Course, said representatives with the 2/485th knew well in advance this summer’s mission and were able to visit the course last summer to learn about LTC and smooth the transition. Command Sgt. Maj. Luis Vila, the battalion’s top noncommissioned officer, was one of those who came to Knox to observe the 1/46th in action and oversee those final two companies.

“They got a flavor of LTC with the 1/46th Infantry drill sergeants still working with them, so that this year they weren’t just thrown into it,” Reed said.

After returning this year, the battalion went through a quick period of drill sergeant proficiency training, where they were reminded of their role as drill sergeants for the Leader’s Training Course. They also learned the ins and outs of training at Fort Knox and how to conduct that training safely.

While the transition will not affect the Cadets’ training, there are some differences in the way drill sergeants behave at LTC compared to basic training.

“The thing that makes LTC unique from what these drill sergeants are normally used to is that those companies operate somewhat independently,” Reed said. “But when you come to LTC, that structure changes. So there is a marriage of Cadet Command and drill sergeants, and they are brought together and ultimately speak with one training voice to the Cadets.”

To accomplish that training, drill sergeants tone down their behavior significantly compared to their behavior at basic training. The intent is to give Cadets a peek at the life of the Soldier and to decide whether they ultimately want to be part of the Army ROTC program – and a future Army leader.

“They volunteered to come here and try it out,” Reed said. “They’ll go back to their college campuses to make that choice. So there are intense periods, but it’s not like basic training – there is still an element of recruitment.”

Vila described teaching elements that exist at LTC that are not present in basic training. Since LTC exists as a 29-day program to catch up students who previously did not take ROTC classes at their schools, there are certain time constraints.

“In basic, the first two weeks are dedicated to converting a Soldier from a civilian to a military person,” Vila said. “Here, it’s an effort to show these Cadets what military life is all about and understanding that we do have values and discipline, but everyone is still treated professionally.”

Let them eat cake: Alpha marks Army’s birthday

Posted on June 14, 2011 by PAO

Members of Alpha Company and their cadre gather Tuesday to eat cake and celebrate the U.S. Army's 236th birthday. Photo by Dorothy Edwards/LTC PAO

By Caitlin VanOverberghe
Staff writer

After a quick ceremony honoring the completion of their first phase of training, the 198 Cadets of Alpha Company continued their celebration Tuesday to honor America’s Army.
They filed into a small building caddy-corner to their barracks. Some were lucky enough to get seats; others stood against the wall.

At the front of the room sat a sheet cake with small, plastic Army men dotting its iced surface.

Like many Soldiers around the world, the Cadets took time to celebrate the Army’s 236th birthday.

“Without it, we probably wouldn’t be here today,” answered one Cadet when his drill sergeant asked about the significance of the birthday.

Per tradition, the oldest and youngest in the room – Sgt. 1st Class Julio Palmer and Cadet Michael Blasberg – cut the cake together with a saber.

For Cadet Nicholas Lucca of DePauw University, the celebration was a nice break after two days of hard work.

“It’s a big, important thing not only for us, but also for the whole country,” he said of the Army’s birthday. “It celebrates the beginning of our nation defending itself.”

Master Sgt. Shane Stamper, Alpha Company’s tactical NCO, urged the Cadets to eat as much cake as they wished.

“I will burn this off of you tomorrow,” he said, warning the Cadets of the work out he had planned for them the Wednesday morning.
Lucca said that while he was looking forward to physical training, he was just taking every day in stride. He doesn’t know what to expect from the course, but he’s just looking to having fun.

While Alpha Company Cadets honored the Army’s history, they were reminded that they would be part of its future.

Stamper encouraged the Cadets to see the challenges of the Leader’s Training Course through to the end.

“If this is something that you’ve been thinking about, if this is something that you’ve wanted to do, why would you quit?” Stamper asked. “When it comes time for graduation, we’re going have all 198 Cadets.”

Cadet from Guam facing different LTC fear

Posted on June 14, 2011 by PAO

University of Guam Cadet Matthew Cabrera gets his mugshot taken for his military ID during in-processing for LTC's Alpha Company. Photo by Dorothy Edwards/LTC PAO

By Noelle Wiehe
Staff writer

Most every Cadet comes to the Leader’s Training Course with a fear. A fear of heights, a fear of water or a fear of having no control.

Matthew Cabrera’s biggest fear is letting down his fellow Cadets.

If the first few days of the course are any indication, that fear will be short-lived.

“Whenever I needed help with something, this was the first guy who was there to help me,” said Wendell Grouby Jr., Cabrera’s battle buddy in Alpha Company.

Cabrera, 22, endured a 17-hour flight Sunday from Guam — the longest trip made by any Alpha Company Cadet. He is the only Cadet in his company from the island.

Saipan, with a population of 70,000, is Cabrera’s home island. It is in the Northern Mariana Islands, a string of 15 islands that are a three-hour flight from major Asian cities such as Tokyo and Hong Kong.

One hurdle some Cadets attending the course from outside the mainland U.S. encounter is a language barrier. But Cabrera conquered that issue long ago when he attended a private high school that forbade students from speaking any language other than English.

“You would pretty much get punished,” he said. “They’d give you cleaning detail and all that.”

Last year, Cabrera moved to nearby Guam to attend the University of Guam, where he is majoring in marketing in hopes of going into public affairs after graduation.

In 1994, the University of Guam’s ROTC program was named the Triton Warrior Battalion to more appropriately convey the strength of these Cadets and cadre. That program is the main reason Cabrera chose to attend.

While Cabrera wishes there was a course like LTC closer to home, he is still optimistic about being a part of the training at Knox.

“I was looking at enlisting, and I wanted to give this thing a shot because I also wanted to finish my degree,” he said. “So I kind of wanted to kill two birds with one stone.”

He was encouraged to attend LTC by Cadets who attended in the past. His family influenced his decision as well.

“My dad’s brother, he’s a captain in Hawaii,” Cabrera said. “He’s been giving me a heads up on what to expect in the program.”

He also has cousins who are enlisted Soldiers, some of whom are stationed in Afghanistan. Most of Cabrera’s family is home waiting for him to return to Saipan, including his 3-year-old daughter, Miana.

“I’ve caught her sometimes saluting her mother,” he said, “or I’ll catch her saying ‘Hooah’ just out of nowhere.”

Cabrera is proud, yet surprised his little girl has picked up his habits by watching him. The admiration is obvious, but Cabrera can’t ignore that his little girl will be without her father while he is away.

“She is not liking the whole thing that I live on a different island,” he said.

Miana is home with her mother in Saipan. Cabrera is assured that their daughter won’t have to share another parent with the Army, however. In Saipan, Miana’s mother works part-time for the ROTC program at Northern Marianas College, but has no interest to serve in uniform.

“She feels my pain, so to speak,” he said.

Of course, Cabrera faced more pressing issues than leaving his daughter and her mother behind. Fort Knox is 14 hours behind the time in Guam.

“The drill sergeants do a good job of taking my mind off of the time difference and jet leg,” he said.

There is no specific method for getting used to the time change so quickly, said Sgt. Daniel Sisto, an Alpha Company drill sergeant.

“Truthfully, until its lights out, we are just constantly doing training,” he said. “They are basically moving at all times.”

The main advice he gives is for schools to help Cadets adjust even before they arrive at LTC.

“Their school needs to say, ‘Hey, maybe don’t sleep at all until that night you get there and then sleep a full night,” Sisto said.

Restlessness cannot be an issue at the course, Sisto said, because “when they get here, everyone has to train the same.”

When Cabrera finishes the course, he will return to his university for another two years before he graduates.

“I’m trying to get this whole thing done so we can get our lives jump-started,” he said.

First Cadets arrive at Leader’s Training Course

Posted on June 13, 2011 by PAO

Edgar Penedo, of University of Central Florida, goes through his personal belongings during the shakedown. Photo by Bobby Ellis/LTC PAO

By Thomas Gounley
Staff writer

It might not be the ideal way to show up for 29 days of exhaustive training, but the first Cadets to arrive Sunday morning at Louisville International Airport had already had a long day.

“I just found out I was going Thursday night,” said Cadet Kerby Mills, of Central Washington University, who learned she would be able to go only when another student dropped out. “I basically haven’t slept since then.”

Mills caught her first flight, from Yakima to Seatack, Wash., at 12:30 p.m. Saturday. That was followed by a redeye to Louisville Saturday night, making her one of the first Cadets to arrive in the airport’s Fort Knox reception room, where Cadets gathered before being bused to Fort Knox.

All together, 198 Cadets from Alpha Company arrived at Fort Knox, and completed in-processing procedures Monday. The company is the first of four that will go through the Leader’s Training Course this summer.

But even those who didn’t come from across the country had a haul. Cadet Robert Berch, of Auburn University, left home at 3:30 a.m. to drive to the airport.

“Actually, I didn’t even go to sleep last night,” Berch said Sunday morning.

For some, the videos of training from previous years shown on a loop in the reception waiting room were their first taste of what to expect.

“I know nothing (about the program),” said Cadet Cassandra Kotlowski, of Marquette University.

Skyler Mays, of Arkansas State University, is weighed in on his first day at Fort Knox. Photo by Bobby Ellis/LTC PAO

Sgt. Maj. Michael Thompson, the LTC sergeant major, assisted with the Cadets’ arrival at the airport. He said the amount of information that Cadets have going into the course varies according to their school.

“I think they’re eager to figure out what the daily life is of a Cadet,” Thompson said

And as Cadets began opening up to their fellow Cadets, that was often the subject of conversation.

“I have an idea, but it’s probably not going to be anywhere near what I’m thinking,” said Mills as she sat in the airport.

Some Cadets benefited from knowing others who have already gone through the program.

“I know a pretty good bit from Cadets that came last year,” said Cadet Tory Woodward, of The Citadel.

Cadets also reflected on the various tasks they will face over the 29-day program.

“I’m excited for high ropes and rappelling,” said Cadet Kristen Leforte, of SUNY-Brockport. “I’m a little unsure about land navigation, but I’m sure they’ll teach me everything.”

Monday morning, Cadets were led through in-processing, where, after being briefed by various LTC staff offices, they went through eight stations dealing with everything from completing medical forms to receiving a $50 advance.

“The purpose of in-processing is to make sure you have records of all the Cadets,” said 2nd Lt. Cierra Reaves, a member of the course’s personnel division.

One of the final stations allowed Cadets a three-minute call home to let their family members know they had arrived, a welcome opportunity for those Cadets without cell phones.

Most Cadets, however, were focused on what was going to happen next.

“You don’t really know what it is until you get here,” said Cadet Samantha Kinsman, who goes to Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis., a partner school with the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse.

As Cadets filtered around the in-processing room, clad in gray Army T-shirts and black shorts with a reflective belt, they were already on the second day. But some things hadn’t changed from the airport the day before.

“I feel tired, but excited at the same time,” Cadet Natanael Maria said.