FORT LEONARD WOOD, Mo. — More than 300 ROTC cadets from eight universities across Missouri and southwest Illinois conducted a field-training exercise here over the weekend.
The spring FTX, as it’s called, is the culmination of the on-campus training portion of the cadet academic year, said Lt. Col. Matt Burmeister, Professor of Military Science at the Missouri University of Science and Technology in Rolla, Missouri. All four grade levels — ROTC cadet ranks are called Military Science 1 through 4 — are certified during the event on new skills learned.
“All these military science levels are certifying some level of progression that they all learned over the last year,” Burmeister said.
At the junior level, MS 1 and 2, individual soldiering skills are tested, Burmeister said.
“They’re manning the machine guns, they’re employing radios, doing individual land navigation — things you expect an individual Soldier to master,” he said.
Cadet Riker Barclay, from Bethany, Missouri, is an MS 2 and attends Missouri S&T. He said his goal at this FTX was to observe the team leader and squad leader positions in preparation for his more senior roles to come. He said one of the advantages he has noticed about ROTC is cadets get years to develop as future military leaders.
“And you’re getting instant feedback from people all the time,” Barclay said. “People have different ways of doing things, and you get to see everybody’s way of doing things, whether it’s good or bad. You get a lot of attempts at things, what works and what doesn’t.”
The next level up, the MS 3s, are performing first-level leadership skills, such as tasking Soldiers and managing their requirements, Burmeister said, and the seniors — the MS 4s — are being certified on their ability to fill platoon-level leadership positions at cadet summer training that occurs each year at Fort Knox, Kentucky.
“And then, as they’re seniors, they’re in the command post, managing the whole operation,” Burmeister added. “They’re also evaluating the FTX, having done it successfully last summer. It's kind of the last step they do before they commission. It's a good way for them to get used to their leadership expectations coming up.”
Cadet Andrew Berndt, from Springfield, Missouri, is about to graduate from Missouri State University. Upon commissioning as a Missouri National Guard construction engineer officer, Berndt will be assigned to the 276th Engineer Company, based in Pierce City. As an MS 4, he filled the role of lane walker at this FTX — each lane presents opportunities to demonstrate various skills.
“Our job is to guide the platoons through the lanes, communicate with the cadre and the opposition forces, keep people from getting lost or too far off track,” he said.
Berndt said getting to train here alongside cadets from other schools provides an “immeasurable” value compared with other events.
“It’s hard to get the camp experience with your own people — people you’re around all the time,” he said. “This gives us the chance to get out of our comfort zone and get used to working with new people, new squads, new teams.”
Burmeister said all of the cadre and cadets appreciate the partnership with Fort Leonard Wood.
“None of these individual universities have access to a training area without Fort Leonard Wood in their backyard, so it’s a critical opportunity for us to be able to bring everybody here and utilize those resources,” he said.
Learn more about opportunities in Army ROTC here.
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