Basic Camp Course
INTRODUCTION:
US Army Cadet Command (USACC) conducts Cadet Summer Training (CST) between May and August. CST consists of four main components:
Basic Camp (BC), Advanced Camp (AC), Cadet Professional Development Training (CPDT) and Cultural Understanding and Leadership Program (CU&LP). Approximately 11,000 Cadets participate in CST annually, supported by approximately 5,400 cadre from USACC, FORSCOM, USAR, MEDCOM and newly commissioned 2LTs.
Basic Camp (BC) is a 31-day training event which introduces approximately 1,900 Cadets to individual and collective tasks. USAR Drill Sergeants are responsible for training BC
Cadets in a "basic training like" environment to instill basic Soldiering principles and Warrior Ethos. The purpose of Basic Camp is to provide lateral entry Cadets with the requisite skills necessary for success in the MSL 3 courses. It also provides the opportunity for select high school graduates to qualify for entry into the advanced course if they attend a military junior college (MJC) and contract in the Early Commissioning Program (ECP). Basic Camp continues to play a critical role in qualifying lateral entry and Military Junior College Cadets to progress on to the advanced course program, providing the curriculum that is given to contract MS I and IIs on campus.
The Cadet Summer Training Basic Camp is the premier leadership program of its kind in the United States. An intense four-week introduction to Army life and leadership training of the Reserve Officers' Training Corps, the aim of the course is to motivate and qualify Cadets for entry into the Senior ROTC program.
Basic Camp is designed for college students typically between their sophomore and junior years. Upon successful completion of the course, graduates can take part in ROTC at their college as a third-year student in the four-year program.
While attending Basic Camp at Fort Knox, Kentucky, Cadets gain an experience that runs the gamut of Army life and the responsibilities of being an officer. The course instills confidence and decision-making abilities to become a leader, in the Army and in life.
The four weeks of Basic Camp are mentally grueling and physically taxing. But the reward of graduation and meeting ROTC standards is the opportunity to enroll in the world's greatest leadership program and to receive college tuition assistance.
Graduation from Basic Camp has been the first step in many successful officers' careers. Graduates have gone on to lead America's sons and daughters in fighting to preserve American democracy and freedoms or in civilian life in the boardrooms and offices of American business.
