Adam Box completes U.S. Army Leader Development and Assessment Course

2013 Jul 10

Adam Box, an Army ROTC cadet at the University of Dayton, participated this summer in the Army's Leader Development and Assessment Course, the Army's largest training exercise and its capstone training event for ROTC cadets.

Also known as Operation Warrior Forge, the 29-day course is held annually at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash. It is intended is to train cadets to Army standards, to develop their leadership skills, and to evaluate their officer potential.

Box is a senior criminal justice studies major from Toledo, Ohio, who graduated from Sylvania Northview High School.

On June 27, Box and other cadets from the 2nd Regiment inched down a gravel road in two parallel lines during the improvised explosive device training. Mindful of the looming disaster that may await them at every turn, the cadets scanned the trail for holes, trash and misplaced brush possibly disguising an IED. At the head of the line, a squad leader put up his hand, halting movement as he spotted wires on a guardrail. A split second later, a loud bang alerts them of their misstep that could have cost them their lives had it been a real life situation.

The IED training exercise is designed to teach future Army commissioned officers to identify and react to IEDs in the field because of to their increased use in combat situations.

Prior to walking the squad-led IED lanes, the cadets are prepped in a classroom with background information and shown prop IEDs.

"Throughout the exercise we go over how to properly identify the type of IED, what signs could have alerted us to its presence, the best way to scan for IEDs in the field and the best way to deal with one once you have identified it," said Sgt. 1st Class Robert Joseph Ramey III, an IED cadre member. "IEDs are a threat. They can be anywhere and they can be hidden to any degree. The whole thing here is to develop situational awareness."

Ramey considers it one of the largest casualty producing weapons in the field and anticipates IEDs will continue to be a large part of future conflicts. While classroom instruction allows cadets to become familiar with the different devices, moving through the lanes forces urgency and diligence, which can only be developed through experience.

"They've been very well disciplined," said Ramey. "When something does go off they're calm, and they move as a unit. The worst thing that could happen is to have chaos take over."

The experience in the lanes gives the cadets practice as leaders and also helps them to mentally prepare for anything they may see in the future.

"I think hands-on training is more efficient because it's practical and realistic and that's how our job is going to be," Box said. "I think learning about IEDs is always going to be a vital part of our job."