Cadets, especially in their third year, are trained to be leaders. The hardest part is being a leader to your peers, as the social dynamics of college are not exactly built to do that. Cadets are pushed into awkward situations to test and strengthen their confidence in leading others.

Going through the ROTC program is physically, mentally, and emotionally draining, but it has to be in order to prepare students for what they will face. A large part of the cadet leadership is motivation to keep students encouraged and part of the program.

Cadets wake up at 5:30 three days a week in order to participate in workouts and spend eight hours in class on Fridays. Twice a year cadets will participate in a Field Training Exercise that can range from three to five days spent in the woods training. Cadet leadership put in even more hours to keep things going on behind the scenes, making it almost a 24/7 job. The program is supervised by cadre but much of the internal function is done by cadets in the program.

Many tasks cadets do involve a little bit of pain. Whether it is running until you can't, crawling through rocks, holding position for hours or bouncing up after falling several feet, cadets push past it all in order to accomplish their task. It's in the quiet moments that they notice the cuts and bruises that cover their bodies.

Weather does not typically cancel ROTC activities. If it is raining, snowing, sleeting or 35 mph winds, they continue on. The conditions of the future are unknown and they have to learn to adapt to any situation. If it's raining, they get wet. No umbrellas allowed.

The third year of ROTC is extremely important. It is where cadets are most intensely grilled on their leadership skills in preparation for the advanced officer camp they will attend in the summer. Having to deal with COVID guidelines was an unexpected aspect of leadership that the juniors had to take on this year, but unexpected is part of the job, so they learned to adapt.