108 cadets face Advanced Camp trials at Fort Knox

As has been the case for decades at the University of North Georgia (UNG), rising seniors in the Corps of Cadets spend about a month in the summer getting tested on their military and leadership skills, allowing the U.S. Army Cadet Command to assess their proficiency as a future officer. This year, 108 UNG cadets who plan to commission into the military and their UNG military instructors are participating in Advanced Camp at Fort Knox, Kentucky.

"Advanced Camp is one of those really big steps in their cadet career and will help the Army as a whole identify those cadets who are going to go into certain branches within the Army," said Capt. Michael Collins, assistant professor of military science at UNG. "This crucible that they go through at Fort Knox this summer, it will be that final exam from a leadership standpoint as they progress in their military career and get ready to accept a commission into the U.S. Army."

Last year, 77 of the 110 UNG cadets who completed Advanced Camp – a requirement for all commissioning cadets – rated outstanding or excellent, which are the two top levels of completion. To earn a score of outstanding, which 30 UNG cadets achieved, means they were in the top five or six of a 30- to 40-person platoon.

This fall, the results from Advanced Camp, along with GPA, Army physical fitness test, and college ROTC training, are used to rank cadets on the national Order of Merit List (OML). All Army ROTC senior cadets from around the country are ranked in a national OML to determine his or her priority in being chosen for the branch or occupational specialty of choice. Last year, UNG had two cadets ranked in the top five in the nation from among more than 5,000 Army ROTC cadets.

Instructors attribute UNG's history of success at Advanced Camp to the corps' Leadership Development Program (LDP), overseen by Capt. Paul Scifers. Throughout the junior year, LDP focuses on the areas and skills cadets are tested on at Advanced Camp, including tactics and battle drills, land navigation, and first aid or "buddy" aid.

"We educate them, we train them and they go and master that training as teachers to the rest of the cadets, so that's what develops their leadership skills as well, in addition to the tactical side," Collins said. "That plays a huge part into why we have cadets who are so successful at camp, because we expect a level of mastery to be able to teach their peers."

While UNG cadets' junior year is devoted to LDP, the process of preparing for Advanced Camp and becoming an officer starts on their first day at UNG.

"It's really starts from FROG Week, when they show up on campus and become a part of the Corps of Cadets. We start instilling those skills and that leadership as early as possible," Collins said. "When they come in, especially the four-year scholarship cadets who come in as freshmen, their timeline is laid out and they know we're preparing them to be second lieutenants in the U.S. Army. Advanced Camp is a big gateway that they need to get through to get to that point."

The goal of UNG's instructors in the Department of Military Science is bigger than just preparing officers, Collins said.

"We're preparing leaders to go out into the Army and to go out into the world after they leave the Army and contribute to the society in a positive way – to be leaders in their community, in their peer groups and in the world," Collins said. "That's our ultimate goal, not only to make a second lieutenant in the Army, but greater than that to produce a leader who is agile and capable."