U.S. Army Cadet Command

Maj. Gen. Arthur Bartell, commanding general of U.S. Army Cadet Command, hands the command colors to Col. Charles Evans, left, incoming commander of Army ROTC's 8th Brigade. Departing commander, Col. Paul Wood, right, and Sgt. Maj. Robert Bell initiated the turnover of leadership during the ceremony. Photo by John Wayne Liston.

By Jeremy O’Bryan
U.S. Army Cadet Command Public Affairs

JOINT BASE LEWIS-McCHORD, Wash. – Col. Charles M. Evans assumed command of Army ROTC’s 8th Brigade Aug. 12 in a change of command ceremony here. Maj. Gen. Arthur Bartell, commanding general of U.S. Army Cadet Command, was present to transfer the unit colors to Evans from Col. Paul Wood, who has led brigades within Cadet  Command for three years.

Evans, a field artillery officer, is a 1986 graduate of Northwest Missouri State University and received his commission through Army ROTC. He recently returned from a year-long deployment in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Evans comes to 8th Brigade from the 25th Infantry Division, Schofield Barracks, Hawaii.

Bartell, during his remarks, lauded Wood for his efforts as commander of the Viking Brigade and of the Leader Development and Assessment Course, Army ROTC’s capstone training and assessment exercise, held annually at Joint Base Lewis-McChord.

Wood will remain with Cadet Command as a deputy commanding officer, Joint Base Lewis-McChord.

The current structure of 8th Brigade emerged in May 2009, when the former Western Region and 13th Brigade were combined. Evans and the brigade are responsible for Junior and Senior Army ROTC programs in eight western states and the Pacific rim and for planning and carrying out the Leader Development and Assessment Course.

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Second Lt. Shameka Fitzpatrick talks to Cadet Isabella Malaki from Wentworth Military Academy and College about a blue card. Photo by Sam Oldenburg.

By Vern Hockney
LTC PAO intern

Some say leadership can be taught. Some say it is inherent to a person’s character.

Whatever the case, the Leader’s Training Course is not about passing final judgment on a Cadet’s ability to lead. It is about assessing each Cadet’s potential leadership ability, using a complex web of interactions between the Cadets, drill sergeants and squad tactical officers.

“It’s a team process,” said Maj. Scott Macksam, an inspector/instructor with the leadership development committee who oversees the fair assessment of Cadets’ leadership potential and trains cadre in the application of assessment tools. Read more…

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Co. E 2/321st IET Cadet Kyle Eastis, from Mercer University, practices his basic rifle marksmanship at Handiboe Range Sunday morning. Photo by Sarah Gordon

By Blaise Hart-Schmidt
LTC PAO intern

Cadet Kyle Eastis has had a busy summer.

Before coming to the Leader’s Training Course at Fort Knox, Ky., he spent three weeks in June in Vietnam, helping the rural poor in makeshift clinics.

In the fall, the Co. E 2/321st IET Cadet will be a junior at Mercer University in Macon, Ga., where he is a business major on a pre-med track. His school’s service-learning program, Mercer on Mission, brought the small group of students and physicians to southern Vietnam to set up healthcare clinics and help those in need. The group, a mix of physicians and students studying medicine, nursing, business and pharmacy, brought their supplies from the United States and set up the clinics in hospitals. Read more…

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FORT KNOX, Ky. — An 18-year-old student from Alabama training here as part of the U.S. Army Cadet Command’s Leader’s Training Course died Friday, July 30, after being struck by lightning Tuesday afternoon.

Carmela Kirkland was pronounced dead at 4:50 p.m. EST by University of Louisville Hospital and the commonwealth of Kentucky. The cadet, who would have been a freshman this fall at Marion Military Institute, had her parents at her side at the time of her death.

U.S. Army Cadet Command leaders and fellow Soldiers’ thoughts and prayers are with Kirkland’s family during this difficult time.

Kirkland and others in her training company had been alerted Tuesday afternoon to a potential storm threat and were moving to safety when a storm cell popped up at their location on the northern end of Fort Knox.

Military officials are conducting a safety investigation to review Kirkland’s death.

U.S. Army Cadet Command will keep the public informed if any new information comes available.

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FORT KNOX, Ky. – A Cadet training here as part of the Army ROTC Leader’s Training Course was struck by lightning Tuesday. The Cadet and others in her training company were at a training site on the northern end of Fort Knox when a field exercise was halted because of a pop-up storm.

The Cadet is at University of Louisville Hospital, where her family is by her side.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with the cadet and her family,” said Col. David Hubner Sr., commander of the Leader’s Training Course.

No other Cadets were injured in the incident.

The Cadet who was struck was immediately taken by an on-site medical vehicle to Fort Knox’s Ireland Army Community Hospital. She was then flown by MEDEVAC to University of Louisville’s trauma center.

Safety officials with the Leader’s Training Course are continuing to collect data about the incident.

The Leader’s Training Course, or LTC, is designed to qualify college students without ROTC experience for the advanced senior ROTC program on their campuses — and ultimately commission as an Army officer — while giving them a glimpse at the life of a Soldier.

Over the intense 29-day course, cadets learn a great deal about the Army, as well as themselves. They are placed in a variety of roles that test their ability to lead others, and the course instills participants with discipline, motivation, physical conditioning, self-confidence and initiative.

In all, more than 1,400 men and women in seven groups are going through the course. The course ends Aug. 7.

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Air Assault Cadets hook up a slingload to the bottom of a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter Monday at Fort Knox. U.S. Army Cadet Command 1st Brigade is hosting three cycles of air assault training this summer, with 168 students going through the current cycle. Photo by Forrest Berkshire

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Staff Sgt. Russell Kojo makes his way through a wooded area at Fort Eustis, Va., Monday during the opening day of the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command NCO of the Year comeptition. Kojo was announced the winner Thursday afternoon. Photo by Forrest Berkshire

By Forrest Berkshire
U.S. Army Cadet Command

FORT MONROE, Va. – Staff Sgt. Russell Kojo, an ROTC instructor at the University of California-Berkeley, was named the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command’s noncommissioned officer of the year this afternoon.

“Not in a million years did I ever think that I would reach this point,” Kojo said at the awards ceremony at Fort Monroe, Va. “When I heard my name being called, I wasn’t prepared.”

Kojo, who was representing Accessions Command at the competition,  will go on to represent TRADOC at the Department of the Army level this fall. Thursday’s win was the fourth hurdle he needed to clear to qualify for the Army-wide competition. He previously won his brigade’s competition, U.S. Army Cadet Command’s and Accessions Command’s competitions.

Kojo praised his three competitors, fellow NCOs from other subordinate commands under TRADOC.

“I can’t say enough about all the competitors and their professionalism throughout this whole event,” Kojo said.

He also credited his grandparents for inspiring his competitive spirit and service to his country. Read more…

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Staff Sgt. Russell Kojo salutes the board before the final event in the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command's NCO of the Year competition Wednesday morning. Competitors faced a board composed of senior TRADOC NCOs, who fired off questions running the gamut of what an Army noncommissioned officer should know, from how to deal with their Soldiers' personal issues to how to react in combat situations. Photo by Forrest Berkshire

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Staff Sgt. Russell Kojo instructs four Soldiers on how to breach a doorway at one of the warrior skills testing sites of the TRADOC NCO of the Year competition at Fort Eustis, Va. Kojo, an ROTC instructor at University of California-Berkeley, is representing Accessions Command at the event. Photo by Forrest Berkshire

By Forrest Berkshire
U.S. Army Cadet Command

For Staff Sgt. Russell Kojo, one of Monday’s training stations struck close to home during the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command’s Noncommissioned Officer of the Year competition.

Standing in front of a cinderblock building, he had four inexperienced Soldiers and 20 minutes to train them how to breach a door and clear a room.

That added up to 1,200 seconds, and Kojo packed every second from the word “go” preparing them for one of the most dangerous assignments Soldiers face in Iraq and Afghanistan.

First he taught them how to stack up tight, butt cheek to groin (although his verbiage varied slightly), tight against the outside wall. Then he laid out each team member’s job.

The lead man would be first through the door, the most dangerous position. He reminded them that Army training did not require it to be the team leader, but he noted to them that if he was team leader, as he has been many times in real-life situations, he would be the one in front.

“It’s the most dangerous position,” he warned them. “But if I have to lose a Soldier, I want it to be me.” Read more…

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Staff Sgt. Russell Kojo nears the finish line of the two-mile run portion of the Army Physical Fitness Test Tuesday morning at Fort Monroe, Va. Kojo, an Army ROTC instructor at University of California-Berkeley, is representing U.S. Army Accessions Command at the Training and Doctrine (TRADOC) NCO of the Year competition. Tuesday morning started off with the APFT at 6 a.m. The majority of the remainder of the day will be taken up by classroom activities, such as a 50-question written exam.

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