My youngest just returned from four weeks of fun in the lovely Pacific Northwest. Yes, Carole went to LDAC (say that with a deep voice) — also known as Leader Development and Assessment Course. This is the four weeks of training that college ROTC cadets attend as part of their preparation for becoming officers.
When I was coming along we called it summer camp. I still do, but I don’t think I’m supposed to do that these days.
It was exciting to get her home, of course. Hearing about the things she did was fun for the family. I enjoyed hearing her talk about the things she excelled in like land navigation, and the things that were a bit scary — walking the water confidence course board at about 30 feet without eyeglasses. I think she couldn’t see the water very well, but she also didn’t have a clear view of her feet!
Lt. Gen. Ben Freakley, former Fort Benning commanding general, visited but she didn’t have a chance to say hello because she was paddling a raft in the middle of a lake. I suppose that was his bad luck.
I don’t think Carole enjoyed the steady diet of MREs and dining facility food. At least she did get to eat. She even got to sleep, but I don’t think she had ever slept in a sleeping bag as much.
When in garrison, the cadets were in World War II era barracks. If you don’t know what that means, visit the Infantry Museum and see World War II Street. Ah … the good life!
Carole was thoroughly indoctrinated in Army language. She took the “red-eye” from Seattle and arrived at 7:15 a.m. on July 24. We picked her up at the Atlanta airport and stopped at the Cracker Barrel restaurant in Union City for breakfast.
When we sat down to read the menu, Carole had this stunned and confused look on her face. We asked her what she wanted; she looked up in utter frustration and said all she could think of to say was Hooah! Clearly she had been wandering around the woods too long.
Funny stories aside, training cadets, just like training any soldier, is serious business. The young men and women who spent that month at Fort Lewis will graduate from college during the next year or so and take their place alongside the soldiers serving today. Many of these new lieutenants will be in units that will face a deployment to Afghanistan or Iraq soon after they arrive. That’s a sobering thought for any parent, including an old soldier like me.
So I hope the training was good. I hope the leaders at LDAC worked them very hard. I want Carole and the rest of her fellow cadets to have learned a lot about the Army and themselves. Some of the lessons probably aren’t apparent yet but will come to mind when they face a situation that resembles something they did in ROTC or at LDAC.
Regardless of where they learned the skills they have, it won’t be long before a new crop of young officers hit the trails (and the desert) with the Army. This bunch will be very special for me.
John M. House is a retired Army colonel who lives in Midland, Ga. His e-mail is housearmylife@aol.com
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