Leader's Training Course

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Bravo!: Second company takes a bow

Posted on July 16, 2011 by PAO

Cadet Neriann Velez recites the Soldier's Creed at the Bravo Company graduation Saturday on Fort Knox's Brooks Field. Photo by Dorothy Edwards/LTC PAO

By Caitlin VanOverberghe
Staff writer

They traveled from across the country, many meeting for the first time in the Louisville airport in the middle of June. They were strangers then, but things have changed.

Saturday morning, as they stood under a cloudy sky on their graduation day, Leader’s Training Course Commander Col. Eric Winkie reminded the Cadets of Bravo Company they are now family — part of the Army family.

It took “a little dose of peer pressure” as Maj. Gen. Gina Farrisee, the graduation’s guest speaker and commander for the Army Human Resources Command, said when she addressed the 196 Cadets, knowing how they have pushed each other through many tasks.

“I suspect many of you came to Fort Knox with great expectations, perhaps a little anxiety and even some doubt about yourselves. Standing here, four weeks later, many of you surprised yourselves at what you could accomplish.”

That was the case for Cadet Jeremy Engalla of the College of New Jersey. Standing only 4 feet, 11 inches tall, his buddies teased him, saying he’s leaving a giant.

“I’m actually feeling really proud of myself right now because I came to LTC not knowing if I could do it or not and not knowing if I could do well,” he said after the ceremony.

Feeling “stiff” yet “ecstatic,” Cadets gathered all around Brooks Field as LTC alumni, interacting with their families and preparing to say good-bye to those newfound friends they have grown close to.

Cadet Brian Geil of the University of Georgia said that over the past 29 days he and his fellow Cadets have done everything together. From singing songs on the bus and in the shower, to picking on drill sergeants and being forced to do push-ups, he has grown close to his company and his platoon.

“Everything else we did was fun,” he said of completing the physical activities at LTC, “but it’s the people that we’re going to miss the most.”

While the activities challenged their physically ability, their mental skills were also tested and they were forced to discover their weaknesses and overcome their fears.

Cadet John Gillespie of Utah State University said his hardest task was the situational training exercise lanes because it made him do just that.

“I wasn’t used to being in those positions or having to make those kind of calls,” he said. “So it was taking me out of element and putting me in a place where I needed to learn the most. I was finding out my own weaknesses in front of everyone, but I was learning from it. That was the most difficult activity, but the most rewarding.”

From here, Cadets return to their respective schools to continue their civilian education and prepare to attend the Leadership Development and Assessment Course next summer at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash.

“I definitely enjoyed the camaraderie. All the events tested our team-building, so we got know our squads and develop a really tight bond,” said Ken Hashimoto of the University of Hawaii. “I’m gonna miss it.”

Facebook leads to friendships for Bravo parents

Posted on July 15, 2011 by PAO

Friends and family of Bravo Company get together for a meal before reuniting Friday with their Cadets. Photo by Dorothy Edwards/LTC PAO

By Caitlin VanOverberghe
Staff writer

With their flight from Maine landing Thursday morning in Louisville, Patti Davis found herself searching for a way to fill the time before she was reunited with her daughter, Christine, Friday afternoon at the Bravo Company family day.

“We thought about sneaking on to base and trying to find her,” Davis said, “but we thought that might not work out.”

In planning, the idea sparked her to have a get-together with other parents of Bravo Company. While their children are away at the Leader’s Training Course, parents and family members have been using the social media site Facebook to interact with one another.

Davis posted the idea a week ago for members of the “Bravo Fan Club” to have dinner together Thursday night at the Texas Roadhouse in Elizabethtown, Ky., near where she and her husband, Tony, would be staying. A handful of families attended.

The idea was well-received, and Davis, who had quickly become a hostess, began planning.

Sheila Buie responded to Davis saying her family would be joining. The two women have bonded in a way, like many parents of Cadets. Their “friendship” has spread from the LTC group onto their personal pages.

“She made me feel better,” said Davis of Buie, with a laugh. “I knew I wasn’t the only neurotic mother.”

Buie, whose husband Steve retired from the military, said she has missed the connections they typically made with other military families. She has been able to form friendships with not only parents from Bravo, but other LTC parents as well.

Her son Timothy’s interest in the Army has rekindled that feeling of connection for her.

“And I’m grateful for it,” she said.

Cadets celebrate end of training with future in mind

Posted on July 12, 2011 by PAO

A Cadet lights a ceremonial torch Tuesday during Bravo Company's rites of passage ceremony. Photo by Dorothy Edwards/LTC PAO

By Caitlin VanOverberghe
Staff writer

There comes a day toward the end of a company’s time at the Leader’s Training Course when, under a dark, early morning sky, Cadets are given a moment to celebrate with a ceremony known as the rites of passage — an event that marks the official end of formal training.

After a 6.2-mile road march starting at 3:15 a.m., the bleary-eyed, sweat-soaked Cadets made their way to Memorial Grove, where music greeted them. Tunes ranging from Eminem to Toby Keith blared over the speakers, but were quickly drowned out by the motivating shouts of the Cadets.

Exhaustion could be heard in their voices and seen on their faces. Just as the began to peek, giving the sky a purple hue, the Cadets fell into formation for the ceremony.

Under the shadow of trees, seven Cadets, reciting the seven Army Values, lit torches with a flame from the past, always remembering those who came before them. At the conclusion of the ceremony, Cadets received an Army Values tag.

Bravo Cadet Doug Spencer, of Southern Illinois University-Carbondale, said that for him the ceremony meant he and his fellow Cadets were one step closer to becoming second lieutenants in the Army. He’s looking ahead to the Leadership Development and Assessment Course next summer, where he will continue training.

Alpha Cadet Kyle Carlson, of Western Michigan University, said that even though he and his fellow Cadets were sweaty, after many handshakes and slaps on the back, completing the ceremony made him feel good.

“It was nice to hear the Army Values again,” he said. “Mostly, I was just really sweaty and wanted to get a shower.”

Like Carlson, Bravo Cadet David Abrams said he also looked forward to changing clothes and eating breakfast. While he has enjoyed his time at LTC, Abrams is glad training has drawn to a close. He said he’s looking forward to heading home.

Fellow Bravo Cadet Derricka Vereen, of Jackson State University in Mississippi, said she was motivated and proud of herself for receiving a dog tag.

“This is the first thing I’ve actually worked for in my life,” she said. “I’m feeling good; I’m feeling really good.”

Like Spencer, Vereen is eyeing attendance at LDAC next summer. She knows many in her LTC platoon will join her there.

“I’m going to miss everybody, but we’ll all end up together at LDAC, and when we do that it will be on and poppin’,” she said.

Bravo Cadet overcomes fear of water at LTC

Posted on July 11, 2011 by PAO

Bravo Company Cadet Destiny Martell from Florida International University conquered her fear of water at CWST training. Photo by Dorothy Edwards/LTC PAO

By Thomas Gounley
Staff writer

For being 2 at the time, it’s a very vivid image.

Bravo Cadet Destiny Martell was in the water at the beach on Coney Island, near where she lives in Brooklyn, N.Y., when she was knocked down by the waves and caught underwater. Looking up and seeing the bright rays of light bend and refract in the water remains one of her earliest memories.

“I remember that moment as clear as day,” said Martell, of Florida International University.

The beach episode is one of two times Martell has come close to dying in the water. In the second, then-15-year-old Martell was in her backyard pool with friends playing “chicken,” in which two people climb on another’s shoulders and try to push their opponent off and into the water. Martell was on the bottom, and the weight of her friend forced her underwater, where she tried to loosen her friend’s legs wrapped around her neck.

“No matter how much I loosened them, she tightened them even more,” she said.

Despite the backyard setting, her struggle went unseen.

“I finally got free, and I had that one breath,” she said. “It was such a relief. One more second I would have been gone.”

While Martell didn’t avoid the water entirely after the two incidents, the memories made her panic on the odd occasions she encountered deep water.

“It feels like your life is being sucked out of you,” she said.

And her fears made her worried coming to the Leader’s Training Course.

“I had a friend who came last year, and he warned me about CWST,” she said.

In combat water survival training, or CWST, Cadets complete a variety of water-based tasks. In the final one, Cadets are blindfolded and step off a three-meter-high diving board and must swim to the side, all without releasing their weapon.

At first glance, it seemed like a recipe for disaster. Martell, who had been holding back tears before, couldn’t stop herself now.

But then there were the fellow Cadets and cadre members standing on the sides of Anderson Pool, yelling out encouragement. There were the motivational phrases lined the walls of the room. There were the lifeguards standing by.

But most of all, there was the growing feeling within Martell that it was now or never.

“I thought to myself – I can’t be scared my whole life,” she said. “Then I took one last breath and I jumped.”

After the build-up of her childhood experiences, the actual jump itself was somewhat anti-climatic. She hit the water, surfaced quickly and maneuvered her way to the edge of the pool, successfully completing the station.

And with that, her outlook on LTC got a lot brighter.

“Ever since then, I’ve been more confident than ever,” she said.

That confidence has been contagious. Early on, Martell bonded with another Cadet in Bravo’s third platoon, Cadet Christa Phillips, of Eastern Illinois University, who had a similar debilitating fear – only of heights instead of the water.

“She feared something I was good at, and I feared something she was good at,” Phillips said. “We both pulled through this together.”

After CWST was finished, Bravo Company moved on to Where Eagles Dare, in which Cadets navigate a rope course and other obstacles such as Jacob’s Ladder. In the latter, Martell found herself belaying for Phillips.

“My life was in her and one of our other battle buddy’s hands,” Phillips said.

As in the case of CWST for Martell, Phillips was able to successfully complete all aspects of the complex. And she attributed a large part of that to Martell, someone who, despite it still being early on in the course, had developed into more than a battle buddy.

“We’re together 24/7,” Phillips said. “You know them better than your best friends back home.”

Some fire for first time in rifle marksmanship

Posted on July 9, 2011 by PAO

A Bravo Company Cadet takes aim at a target during basic rifle marksmanship. Photo by Dorothy Edwards/LTC PAO

By Thomas Gounley
Staff writer

Tuesday morning, Bravo Company Cadet Lorena Tepan, of St. John’s University in New York, laid down in the prone position at Fort Knox’s Handiboe Range, aimed at the silhouette on the post 25 meters away and, for the first time in her life, pulled the trigger.

“I thought I was going to be scared, but not at all,” she said afterward, as she and her fellow Cadets cleaned their rifles.

Cadets at the Leader’s Training Course spend several days at Handiboe and other ranges as part of their basic rifle marksmanship (BRM) training. Although a vast majority of Cadets come in with at least minimal firearms experience, ranging from past experience with an ROTC unit or a background in hunting, some, like Tepan, are firing for the first time.

“There were about 15 out of 100 that hadn’t shot before,” Cadet Ken Hashimoto, of the University of Hawaii, said of the two platoons from Bravo Company that were at the range Tuesday.

Firearms training for Cadets at LTC begins with engagement skills training, which offers a computer simulation of what Cadets will encounter at the range, complete with cloudy skies and trees in the background behind the targets.

“We’re still teaching basic skills, it’s just not wasting our ammo,” said 2nd Lt. Victoria Bowden, assistant officer in charge of the BRM committee, of the simulator.

The EST program, which the Army has been using in training for about 10 years, allows cadre assisting the Cadets to see the round trace – essentially the movement of the rifle before and after shooting. That allows them to focus on the little things, such as encouraging Cadets to raise their rifles up before shooting, just as they would do if they were on a combat mission.

“It helped me a lot,” Tepan said of the simulator. “It helped me realize what I had to go through.”

After completing exercises including squad tactics using rubber M16s, Cadets draw the real version at the end of their first week at LTC. At the barracks, they are introduced to the weapons, disassembling and reassembling them to learn how they work. Then it’s time to head out to the range.

“The overall goal of this is to teach basic marksmanship,” Bowden said.

Tuesday morning, Bravo Company’s third and fourth platoons were focused on grouping and zeroing. Cadets brought their targets to cadre members for inspection after each round.

“Their rounds are going to be tight, close together,” Bowden said of the optimal result.

Sometimes, that was easier said then done.

“Zeroing was the most challenging part,” said Alpha Cadet Cecilia Ysassi, of Texas A&M- Kingsville, who said she was the last in her platoon to finish. “Grouping was just learning to keep the gun still.”

“It was harder than I expected,” Tepan said.

A trailer with the EST simulator was on-site at the range for Cadets who needed extra practice.

“If they go through and can’t zero, we bring them in here, correct it and send them back,” said Staff Sgt. Vicente Mariscal, a member of the BRM committee.

However, several experienced shooters found the range easier than the simulator.

“It’s a lot easier to get in your zone out here (on the range),” said Bravo Cadet Mark Holt, of the University of Alabama.

The goal of marksmanship training at LTC is weapon familiarization, as opposed to being a specific qualification program. At Alpha Company’s out-briefing Friday, LTC Commander Col. Eric Winkie praised the company’s 98 percent success rate at grouping and zeroing.

“In today’s Army, everyone is a rifleman,” he said.

Cadets who matriculate into ROTC programs at their home schools will go through basic and advanced rifle marksmanship as part of the Basic Officer Leadership Course after they graduate. There they’ll be outfitted in full combat gear, as opposed to the ACUs that Cadets train in during LTC.

“Once they get the good fundamentals down, then we add the equipment,” said Lt. Col. Eric Wishart, officer in charge of the marksmanship committee.

In Wishart’s eyes, eliminating the distractions allows for better development.

“Out here, it’s just you and the rifle and developing good habits,” Wishart said.

And for those first-time shooters, that habit is something worth bragging about.

“It’s one thing to have the fake gun; having the real one was really cool,” said Cadet Kylee Roberts, of the University of Idaho.