Advanced Camp
The Leadership Development and Assessment Course (LDAC), also known as Warrior Forge, is the only required summer training cadets normally attend, usually between their junior and senior year. This five-week camp is essentially the final exam for Army ROTC cadets.
LDAC is the crucible of the Army ROTC program. The primary focus at LDAC is to evaluate each cadet's officer potential in a collective environment. The secondary purpose of LDAC is to validate specific skills taught on campus and to impart selective individual and collective common skills. LDAC represents an opportunity for cadets from disparate schools to train in an environment with common operational conditions. They will be required to pass certain basic skill assessments, like land nav and PRT, and demonstrate their leadership proficiency in six graded leadership assignments during the camp. A cadet's performance at camp plays a significant role in her or his final national ranking.
Although LDAC is the only required summer training, there are training opportunities based on availability of slots. These opportunities are competitive, and participation, GPA and APFT scores will play a role in determining who is given the opportunity.
Airborne School
Airborne School is a three-week course held at Fort Benning, Georgia. This training teaches the cadets how to jump out of an aircraft and land successfully under a parachute deployed by static line. Attendees normally receive five jumps and are awarded the parachutist badge upon graduation.
Air Assault School
U.S. Army Air Assault School is a two-week (10 days) course of instruction conducted at several Army locations, including Fort Campbell, Ky.; Fort Drum, N.Y.; Camp Smith, U.S.M.A.; and overseas locations in Germany and Hawaii. The purpose of the course is to train soldiers in air assault operations, sling-load operations, and rappelling. Upon graduation of the course, soldiers will be able to perform skills required to make maximum use of helicopter assets in training and in combat to support their unit operations. Soldiers are trained on the missions performed by rotary wing aircraft, aircraft safety, aero-medical evacuation procedures, pathfinder operations and principles and techniques of combat assaults.
Cadet Troop Leader Training Internships
The Cadet Troop Leader Training (CTLT) internship program places you in actual Army units acting as a real lieutenant. This three-week challenge is a definite learning experience, allowing you to gain a perspective on what you will be facing as future officer. Generally, you are placed in a platoon leader position, leading 30+ soldiers and are responsible for millions of dollars of equipment. CTLT is the best way to familiarize yourself with a branch before having to choose your branch preferences during the accessions process at the beginning of the MSIV year. In recent years, Golden Knight Battalion cadets have done CTLT in Korea, Hawaii, Fort Hood and Fort Bragg, among other locations.
Cultural Understanding and Language Proficiency (CULP)
Cadet Command Culture and Language Immersion Deployments help ROTC cadets become aware and more knowledgeable of cultures, languages and regions, including the American and Army culture. Cadets are exposed to peoples, languages, traditions, and contexts of countries other than the United States. Culture and language immersion prepares these future leaders to make better decisions not only in the best interest of the U.S., but also in that of the indigenous population of the country within which they may find themselves operating. These summer deployments help dispel stereotypes and build mutual respect. These "real-world" missions not only provide excellent venues for culture and foreign language immersion, but provide ROTC cadets with the opportunity to directly contribute to Army efforts toward building relationships with our partner nations around the world. Cadet participation in summer deployments is strictly voluntary. Applications are solicited each fall term.
Mountain Warfare
Mountain Warfare School is a two-week course taught by the Vermont National Guard at the Ethan Allen Firing Range in Jericho, Vermont. Both a summer and a winter phase are offered. The training is designed to make you an expert in mountain operations. Mountain Warfare School is both physically and mentally demanding. Training is non-stop, 15 hours per day, for 14 days. If you can carry a 65-pound rucksack up to 5 miles per day in mountainous terrain and are competent with both day and night land navigation, you may have what it takes to complete this intense training.