Leader Development and Assessment Course

ROTC cadets board CH-47 Chinook at Ft. Lewis

The Leadership Development and Assessment Course (LDAC) is the centerpiece of the US Army's Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) program. Over the last 40 years the Army has called it "Advanced Camp", "Camp Adventure", and it is currently known as "Warrior Forge". Within ROTC, it is often referred to simply as "Camp", or by other creative nicknames such as "LDACistan", or "L Dac". It is conducted only during the summer months (June, July, and August) at Fort Lewis, WA, with the beautiful Mt. Rainier as the background to most training. LDAC is normally attended by cadets between their junior and senior years of college although the last rotation consists of soldiers in the OCS (Officer Candidate School) program.

The course totals 29 consecutive days of training and testing in common soldier skills. Days 1-4 are dedicated to in-processing paperwork and getting to know your squad and platoon. Days 5-11 are focused on the individual training tasks such as: the Physical Training (PT) test, land navigation (day and night), grenade assault course, rappelling, radio procedures, US weapons, Chemical Biological Radiological Nuclear and Explosives (CBRNE), cultural awareness, field craft, and tactics. Days 12-13 are geared towards team and squad training with Field Leadership and Reaction Course (FLRC) and first aid. Day 14 is dedicated to soldier and equipment preparation for the upcoming “deployment.” Days 15-22 cadets are deployed to conduct 6 days Squad Situational Training Exercises (STX) and 2 days of Patrolling consisting of two full squads (three missions per day). Day 23 is started off by an early 10K victory march back to the barracks were cadets clean and turn in their M16s, clean their equipment, and recover. Days 24-29 are final assessments (water confidence course included), retesting any failures for land navigation and the PT test (if you do not pass on the second time they will send you home on day 27), and finally graduation.

Typically, the training is only a refresher of what the cadets should have already learned at their individual schools, and is meant to act as a leveler as all the cadets come from different backgrounds. The main goal is to assess and evaluate the tactical and garrison knowledge learned during the first three years in ROTC. The formal training is conducted by the active duty officers and non-commissioned officers (NCOs), but garrison (day to day) activities are run by the cadets who rotate through leadership positions such as: Squad Leader (SL), Platoon Sergeant (PSG), Platoon Leader (PL), First Sergeant (1SG), Executive Officer (XO), or Company Commander (CO). These leaders are responsible for completing specific tasks depending on their position title, and could include such tasks as making sure barracks are clean and that subordinates are present, on time, and have all the equipment required for scheduled training. The cadets are encouraged to hold formations as necessary, march the formations (while reciting different marching and running cadences), perform inspections, and conduct extra training to better prepare cadets for upcoming events.

All the training before day 15 is to prepare for a simulated deployment to a fictional nation that changes each year. The 2010 LDAC regiments were deployed to Atropia, said to be located in the Caucasus, where the inhabitants speak Spanish but have culture and customs similar those of Iraq and Afghanistan. In Atropia, the cadets' mission was to conduct peacekeeping missions while fighting an insurgency known as the SAPA (Southern Atropia People's Army) in order to stabilize the nation of Atropia. This "deployment" is an eight day field training exercise during which the cadets run six combat missions each day during SSTX, then link up with a predetermined squad to conduct patrolling operations. Missions can include attacks, ambushes, reconnaissance, react to contact, knock out a bunker, and all the variables that are associated. Variable lanes can include, but are not limited to, media on the battlefield, enemy surrender, indirect contact, etc. During SSTX companies will stay in either Tactical Training Base (TTB) East or West, depending on your assignment. The one night between patrolling is spent in a tactical patrol base where fireguard should be alert throughout the night as many bases are “attacked” (TAC dependent). Squads only have the clothes and equipment that they can carry on their backs, and receive resupply of only water and meals ready-to-eat (MREs) each day.

For cadets the LDAC experience revolves around evaluations that are received in various leadership positions. They receive a minimum of six evaluations: 2 in garrison (1 at a squad level and one at platoon or company level), 2 as Squad Leaders during Squad Tactical Exercises (referred to as STX Lanes, 1 evaluation is a normal STX lane, and the other is a "variable" lane where the mission is changed halfway through), 1 during Patrolling Exercises (which can be as PL, PSG, or SL), and one as a leader in an FLRC course (an obstacle course in which a leader has to maneuver his squad through the obstacle and brief a five paragraph operations order in half an hour). A grade of E (Exceeds the Standard), S (Satisfies the Standard), or N (Needs Improvement) is given for 17 "Dimensions of Leadership" which makes up an overall grade for the position. At the end of LDAC the cadets receive an overall grade of E, S, or N for their entire 29 days. This final grade is determined primarily by their leadership evaluations, but also by two peer evaluations, PT score, land navigation score, and a TAC evaluation. Cadets who received at least 3/6 Es overall, as well as 9/17 dimensional Es, receives an overall E for camp.

The average grading for LDAC is approximately 18% of cadets receive an overall E, while 70-80% received an S, and 5-10% receives an N. The cadets also receive additional credit for being one of the top five cadets in their platoon (consisting of 40 to 50 cadets) and for meeting "Recondo" requirements. To earn Recondo, cadets must:

1. Execute all confidence training presented to the prescribed standard, to include water safety tasks.
2. Have no non-medical waivers on any event throughout LDAC.
3. Score 270 or above on the Army Physical Fitness Test, without retest, with a minimum of 90 points per event.
4. Achieve a score of 80 percent on written and practical Land Navigation proficiency tests without retest.
5. Complete the following First Aid tasks to specified standards: CPR, evaluate a casualty, manage the airway, and control bleeding.
6. Pass both Squad STX lane evaluations with a minimum rating of satisfactory or higher.
7. Successfully complete Warrior Forge without a performance waiver. Medical wavers are acceptable.
8. Receive satisfactory or higher summary ratings for all 16 scored leadership dimensions and values, as reported on the Cadet Command Form 67-9, Cadet Evaluation Report.
9. Meet height/weight or body fat standards IAW AR 600-9.

The additional credit that cadets receive at LDAC goes into their accessions packet used to determine the National Order of Merit List (OML). A list used to determine each cadet's branch and duty station upon graduation.