Cadets prepare to head out for STX Lanes.
Just about any Officer who is commissioned through the Reserve Officer Training Course recalls their time at Cadet Summer Training (CST). The name and location for CST has changed over the years, but is currently a 5-week course at Fort Knox that Cadets must attend between their Junior and Senior years of college. CST is a time where Cadets are assigned leadership positions and assessed on their leadership performance. The assessments at Cadet Summer Training are used to determine which component and branch the Cadet will serve in once they commission.
When Cadet Summer Training at Fort Knox was canceled for the summer of 2020 due to COVID-19, ROTC programs were asked to form a Task Force, analyze CST and replicate it on a smaller scale closer to home. This abbreviated CST would be known as Operation Agile Leader (OAL).
The ROTC Departments from Colorado State, University of Colorado – Boulder, University of Colorado – Colorado Springs, and the University of Wyoming grouped together to develop Task Force Colorado/Wyoming (TF CO/WY). TF CO/WY then decided to hold their Operation Agile Leader at Fort Carson, Colorado in August 2020.
TF CO/WY
New to planning and staffing such an event, the four schools of TF CO/WY relied on 4-414 SROTC NCOs and officers to help plan, organize, and conduct the event. Traditionally, 4-414 SROTC members supplement the staff at these schools during the school year as Assistant Professors of Military Science and Senior Operations Sergeants, but don’t normally participate in or staff Cadet Summer Training.
On August 6, 2020, TF CO/WY OAL began with initial COVID screening and in-processing. Cadets then headed to the field for four days of Situational Training Exercise (STX) lanes. Several 4-414 SROTC Officers and NCOs served as Observer, Coach, Trainers and completed Cadet leadership evaluations.
After the STX lanes, Cadets completed both day and night land navigation courses. Finally, Cadets qualified with M16 rifles at the range.
Ultimately, eight 4-414 SROTC NCOs and Officers helped with the TF CO/WY OAL by planning, managing logistics, evaluating Cadets, staffing ranges and land navigation courses, and helping with anything else that needed to be done.
| Maj. Rojewski, center, shares combat knowledge with her platoon. | Cadets assaulting the objective during STX. |
Overall, TF CO/WY OAL was a great success. With special thanks to 4-414 SROTC Staff that included Maj. Lance Cartrite, Maj. Tim Hilke, Maj. Peter Hjelmstad, Maj. Sarah McInerney, Maj. Katie Rojewski, Maj. Jeff Ullmer, and Sgt. 1st Class Joshua White, it met the intent of replacing this year’s CST.