The Army’s ROTC Cadet Summer Training (CST), which brings thousands of cadets from around the country to Fort Knox, Kentucky, will not be held at the base this year due to concerns over the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).
- Maj. Gen. John Evans, commander of U.S. Army Cadet Command, told reporters on Tuesday that training for Advanced Camp, a prerequisite for cadets to commission, and Basic Camp, typically held for freshman cadets or rising juniors who joined the ROTC program their sophomore year of school, will be held either on college campuses or at nearby military installations.
- Training during the school semesters will be extended from 48 hours to 96 hours; Evans said he plans to reach out to university presidents to ask them to work with faculty to help accommodate cadets who might miss class because of the longer exercises.
- None of the adjustments should hinder the cadets’ ability to move through the ROTC program, he added.
- Evans explained that the decision was made because of the inability to properly social distance cadets at CST, along with the risk of cadets being infected with COVID-19 and then returning to their respective universities.
- “We were concerned that if the worst were to happen, we might send out a large group of cadets that might be carrying infection — may even be asymptomatic in that regard — and sending that back out into our college population,” Evans said. “And we just felt that that risk, combined with our inability to social distance here, was just too great.”