Alpha Co. | Leader's Training Course

Sgt. 1st Class Ben Rugg, a drill sergeant with Delta Company, ratchets up the intensity with a Cadet shortly after he arrives at the company barracks. Photo by Sammy Jo Hester/LTC PAO

By Thomas Gounley
Staff writer

As the first bus full of Delta Company Cadets pulled through the gate onto Fort Knox Wednesday, Sgt. 1st Class Ben Rugg, a drill sergeant for the company, reflected on the level of intensity of the Leader’s Training Course compared to traditional Army basic training.

“It’s about the same (level of intensity) off the bus,” he said. “The toughest time for them is in 15 minutes.”

Unlike those at basic training, Cadets at LTC have made no formal commitment to the Army. The majority of them are going into their third year of college, and the 29-day program allows them to catch up to fellow students who have been in ROTC since their freshman year. Cadets who graduate from LTC will decide whether to commit when they return to their schools.

While at LTC, however, Cadets can elect to go home at any time — a fact that plays a role both in the way the Army trains them and how the Cadets themselves approach it.

“I’m thinking of it as ‘Basic Lite,’ ” said Cadet Sam Stowers, of George Washington University, as he arrived with the rest of Alpha Company last month.

The first day, however, there’s not much of a difference.

For five seconds after Delta Company’s bus pulled up outside the barracks and the first Cadets moved to grab their luggage, there was no noise beside the sounds of the idling bus. Then, 14 drill sergeants who had been standing nearby simultaneously descended and started barking orders.

“The object here is to give them the ‘Welcome to the Army’ experience,” Rugg said beforehand. “It’s an attention-getter.”

Sgt. 1st Class Elijah Ragin, a drill sergeant who worked with visiting educators this past week, referred to the moment as “establishing the power base.”

The power dynamic shifts somewhat at each company’s Guidon Ceremony, which occurs on the third day. At that time, the command of the Cadets formally shifts from the non-commissioned officers to the squad tactical officers, those second lieutenants who have been assigned to work with the company.

By that point, the Cadets have survived the most intense period.

“After the first few days, we relax a bit,” Ragin said.

And Cadets notice the shift.

“They started to be more approachable,” said Bravo Company Cadet David Baez, of the University of Puerto Rico, during a break Friday from training at Call of the Wild.

But even after the Guidon Ceremony, the drill sergeants still interact with their company a great deal.

“It’s a joint effort between the STOs and drill sergeants,” said Staff Sgt. Chris Stanley, a Delta Company drill sergeant.

Overall, various drill sergeants at LTC estimated they operate at between 50 and 70 percent of the intensity they would have at basic training.

“We’re not giving them the full load,” said Julio Palmer, a drill sergeant with Alpha Company.

Still, they are quick to make it clear they’re not making it too easy for the Cadets. And some say they aren’t backing off after the first few days as much as Cadets become better at understanding what they need to do.

“They need to know the real Army,” Stanley said.

Essentially, the drill sergeant role is all about striking the right balance.

“You have to be strong with them,” said Richard Palmer, head drill sergeant for Alpha Company. “You don’t want a weak leader, but not to the point where you’ll break them before they become a leader.”

The switch can admittedly be tough for some drill sergeants used to maintaining intensity for longer periods of time.

“There are some drill sergeants here who don’t know how to tone it down, so they just keep being hard-chargers,” Palmer said.

But some cadre also report that Cadets have approached them wishing the drill sergeants were even tougher on them, and drill sergeants add that having to back off in intensity means they can’t achieve the same degree of discipline from their charges.

LTC also differs significantly from basic training in the training itself. Exercises like the Fitness Factory and Call of the Wild (in which Cadets flips boats and build makeshift rafts) offer a lighter side that goes beyond just building basic skills.

“The training itself is a lot more fun,” said Maria Sanchez, a drill sergeant with Bravo Company.

In the end, because no one has committed yet, LTC is a 29-day recruiting tool. So Cadets usually have access to cell phones in the evening and enjoy a more exciting diet than they would at basic training.

Of the Cadets who do drop out of LTC, the majority do so in the initial days. Excluding those who left for medical reasons, only one Cadet of the original 199 has dropped out of Alpha Company.

But Lt. Col. John Abroscato, company tactical officer for Alpha, met with another who wanted to drop on the second day.

“It had been 24 hours,” Abroscato said. “I don’t think he had slept a whole lot.”

Abroscato urged him to give it some more time, and on Thursday the Cadet was making his way through the obstacle course with the rest of the company, all of whom were approaching the end of their third week of training.

“I told him it gets better,” Abroscato said of his meeting with the Cadet. “That the first few days don’t typify the Army.”

But not every intervention works. As of Thursday, five Cadets had dropped out of Charlie Company within the first week, in addition to one for medical reasons. And four Cadets had voluntarily dropped from Bravo Company, along with two who left for medical reasons. Of the voluntary drops, half occurred in the first three days.

Still, that leaves hundreds of Cadets in the four companies navigating through anywhere from their third to 20th day at LTC.

“For the most part, I think the Cadets are responding pretty well,” Palmer said.

Staff Sgt. John Eldridge, an Alpha Company drill sergeant, demonstrates to Cadets how to adjust the patrol cap. Proper uniform etiquette is an important aspect of the Army, encouraging Soldiers to look professional at all times. Photo by Heather Cortright/LTC PAO

By Noelle Wiehe
Staff writer

It was almost as if third squad Cadets in Bravo Company were in a high school locker room Monday evening listening to a pep talk from their coach before they hit the field. Except, in this case, the locker room was the floor of their barracks, the coach was a drill sergeant and the field was Fort Knox.

Most Cadets sat cross-legged on the floor, listening intently, filing away the instructions of Staff Sgt. John Eldridge, a drill sergeant. What was initially a session on how to wear the uniform wound up being Eldridge telling motivational stories and sharing laughs with the Cadets.

“There’s a lot you’re going to be learning in the next 27 days, but its something that if you guys want this really bad, you’re going to have to give 110 percent,” he said.

Early on in every company’s training at LTC is a course on the basics of being a Soldier. The instruction includes how to wear the uniform, how to march in formation, how to salute and learning the rank structure.

Eldridge explained, in his hour-long session with Alpha Company, what is required of the Cadets in general, whether they are members of Army ROTC or whether they are commissioned Soldiers deployed overseas.

While most Cadets learn some of the Army standards in their ROTC programs at their colleges, there are still some who had only been in the ROTC program for a week before coming to the Leader’s Training Course.

“It’s obvious, the ones that come in who haven’t had any formal training at all,” said Sgt. First Class David Osborne, platoon sergeant for Bravo Company.

Much of the key to transitioning is attention to detail with Cadets’ uniforms, stance and speech. Most Cadets already know how to wear the uniform, but putting in the time and effort every day to check themselves before appearing in front of drill sergeants is what is most important.

Cadet Grant Cook of the University of Chattanooga said he was confident in his ability to meet the Army standard.

“I do this stuff back at school all the time,” Cook said.

Eldridge pulled Cadet Jeff Arnold of Syracuse University to the center of the floor to model the correct way to wear the uniform. Arnold had everything down, from the block-style haircut to the correctly placed patches.

Among the instructions Eldridge gave, most revolved around the physical uniform, but some other tips focused on personal hygiene and appearance.

“The one item people always forget is part of the uniform is the belt,” Eldridge said.

Cadets, while in LTC, will follow Cadet Command Regulation 670-1 concerning their uniform. On the Cadet’s chest the U.S. Army patch is worn on the left and the name patch on the right. On the right shoulder is the combat patch, if applicable, and the American flag. The left shoulder is for the unit with which the Cadet is currently assigned, which for now is Cadet Command. Beyond LTC, Soldiers follow the Army Regulation 670-1.

Eldridge threw in extra tips such as to have the uniform pressed and not starched and to always have trousers tucked into the combat boots. The hats Cadets are issued must be “level with the marching surface” when worn, Eldridge said.

Appearance is important at all times. Male Cadets at LTC must shave every day and keep a haircut which is “high and tight.” Also, no Cadets are permitted to wear piercings.

Outside of the uniform instructions, Eldridge told them to always carry a notebook and a writing instrument. Cadets and Soldiers alike are constantly in training, and they never know when someone may say something they are expected to remember.

Finally, Eldridge urged Cadets to “listen to your drill sergeants.”

The drill sergeants aren’t too rough on the Cadets who slip up from time to time, but if a Cadet were to repeatedly leave strings hanging out or not stand at attention at appropriate time, it may call for harder discipline such as push-ups to keep the Cadet in line.

“It is not about being harsh; it is just about teaching the standard,” Osborne said.

Cadets are expected to know the basics within the first 48 hours of arrival, but training sessions are held between events for about two weeks to reinforce and make sure all Cadets are on track.

“The difference between these Cadets and the privates these drill sergeants are used to working with is the privates are contracted to the Army,” Osborne said. “These Cadets are here to make a decision whether or not they want to sign that contractt.”

Osborne explained to his Cadets that from the moment they got off the bus at Fort Knox, they were treated as though they are part of Army. There was yelling, ordering and several petrified Cadets as they grabbed their bags from the cargo area and lined up.

“This is their first impression of the Army, and we want them to feel it,” Osborne said.

Cadet Mark Holt of the University of Alabama had a full semester of ROTC before he came to Fort Knox, and the only thing he’s having trouble with is waking up at 4:30 a.m. every morning.

“It’s taken some getting used to, but I’ve adjusted well,” he said.

Holt said drill sergeants even the smallest thing to be “crisp,” such as buttons being done, drawstrings tucked in and pockets being down.

“We make sure to check out battle buddies out as well,” he said.

With the basics strongly enforced at LTC, Cadets can learn the fundamentals and realize how important it is to keep everything in line at all times, no matter how small.

“In the Army you can do 100 things and hear ‘good job, good job,’ but that one time that you step on it, everything you’ve done where they told you ‘good job’ is gone,” Eldridge said.

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