WEST POINT, N.Y.—Paratroopers assigned to the task force, from the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, arrived recently to spend the summer at Camp Natural Bridge, a training area at the U.S. Military Academy, to assist with Cadet Summer Training (CST) 2023.
CST is about 12 weeks’ worth of summer training that develops the cadets by giving them the opportunity to train under the guidance of upper-class cadets with the visiting Army units facilitating the initial training of those cadets. The task force also assists when needed when the upper-class cadets lead the underclassmen during summer training in the field.
The goal is to ensure that the cadets become technically and tactically proficient with Army tasks. The annual summer training helps cadets mold into commissioned officers and future Army leaders. The task force’s mission is to help develop, train and test the general Soldier skills of the upper-class cadets, who in turn provide the leadership to guide the younger cadets during Cadet Basic Training and Cadet Field Training.
During CST 2023, the task force is comprised of elements of the 82nd Airborne Division from Fort Liberty, North Carolina. Just under 700 paratroopers are supporting CST through the summer.
“I think it’s really important for these cadets to be exposed to different aspects of the Army,” said Spc. Caleb Sandefur of Bravo Company, 2-504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, who is assigned to help train the CST cadets in warrior tasks and battle drills. “Some of these cadets don’t have that experience of getting to interact with a different Army unit yet.”
Sandefur expressed that the exposure to the task force paratroopers has great benefits in molding the cadets into leaders because they get to take in a different perspective. During the academic year, the cadets are taught by their academic professors, both military and civilian, but the change of pace and environment that the task force provides is important because the cadets can learn from Soldiers who they have never worked with before.
During CST, cadets will learn basic Soldier skills like land navigation, rifle marksmanship and teamwork at a squad and platoon level.
“The 82nd Airborne (Division), being the immediate response force, gives it a unique and fast-paced learning atmosphere,” Sandefur said. “They can benefit from that and take this experience with them.”
Class of 2026 Cadet Madison Phillips describes her current experience as “very important because I have not had a chance to speak with a lot of enlisted Soldiers and those are the people who I am going to be working with and that I am going to be leading.”
Phillips said she will take this experience in working with the task force paratroopers and use it to help her become a better leader in the future.
“I’m excited for the rest of the training and I'm looking forward to getting that exposure to enlisted Soldiers and developing as a leader,” Phillips said.
She described the level of professionalism that the task force paratroopers had when conducting training as very high.
“It’s a unit that I would definitely like to be a part of after my cadet days,” said Class of 2026 Cadet Joshua Shefter, when describing his experience going through CST with the task force training.
Shefter expressed his excitement to train with the task force because he wants to become a paratrooper in the future.
“It’s a unit that is filled with many of my personal heroes … they definitely hold us cadets to the highest standard,” Shefter concluded.