Each summer, with the goal of becoming officers in the U.S. Army, thousands of ROTC Cadets from more than 1,300 colleges and universities nationwide attend the Leader Development and Assessment Course (LDAC), U.S. Army Cadet Command's flagship training and assessment exercise held at Joint Base Lewis-McChord. The course lasts nearly a month and spans a range of activities including physical training tests, weapon familiarization, obstacle courses, land navigation training and branch orientation.
A group of Cadets who participated in LDAC during the summer of 2011 shared their first-hand accounts on Army Strong Stories, the Army's official blogging and storytelling platform. According to the majority of Cadets who shared their story, LDAC gave them the opportunity to determine what kind of leader they would make by providing them with real-world test scenarios and assessments. For example, Cadet Daniel Muren shared his enthusiasm for ROTC and LDAC by saying, "I have been in ROTC for three years now. I'm on a four year scholarship, and it's one of the best things I've ever done for myself."
Other Cadets attend LDAC with the goal of honing their leadership skills and exploring the various branch opportunities available to them. One such participant, Cadet Laura Williams, noted, "I came here to further my leadership abilities with the things that I learn … I decided that I would like to go medical service, and maybe be able to help other people."
Throughout the summer, Cadet Command provided real-time photographs, videos and written stories about the Cadets' LDAC experiences via the Warrior Forge news and information website. Participating Cadets, family members and other supporters also could follow each regiment on the LDAC Facebook Page and the Warrior Forge Flickr photostream.
For more highlights from one of this summer's LDAC branch orientations, please watch all of the Cadet and Soldier stories captured at LDAC 2011 by visiting Army Strong Stories: http://armystrongstories.com/tag/ldac.
To learn more about ROTC, visit http://www.rotc.usaac.army.mil/index.html or http://cadetcommand.armylive.dodlive.mil/.
Related Links:
LDAC cadets sharing their Army Strong Story
LDAC news and information website
U.S. Army Cadet Command website
LDAC photo set on the GoArmy Flickr page
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