Building Student Leaders
The Drake Army ROTC program develops and assesses its leaders through the Army Leadership Requirements Model (ALRM), focusing on these core pillars and training:
Core Pillars
Attributes (Who a Leader Is)
- Character: Anchoring leadership in the Army Values, empathy, discipline, and humility.
- Presence: Maintaining a professional military bearing, peak physical fitness, and resilient confidence.
- Intellect: Cultivating mental agility, sound judgment, innovation, and interpersonal tact.
Competencies (What a Leader Does)
- Leads: Taking initiative to build trust, communicate effectively, and influence beyond the chain of command.
- Develops: Creating positive environments, mentoring others, and committing to lifelong self-improvement.
- Achieves: Executing complex missions consistently and ethically to deliver results.
Advanced Training & Commissioning
The foundational skills taught at Drake are reinforced during specialized summer training sessions. These intensive programs give cadets the opportunity to master specialized skills and further refine the leadership base they have built throughout the academic year.
Advanced Camp (formerly the Cadet Leadership Course)
Every Army ROTC Cadet who enters the Advanced Course attends the Leader Development and Assessment Course. It's a four-week summer course to evaluate and train all Army ROTC Cadets. This course normally takes place between your junior and senior years of college, and is conducted in Fort Knox, Kentucky.
These courses are offered to cadets on a voluntary and limited basis. Unlike LTC and Advanced Camp which are specifically for ROTC cadets, these are regular US Army courses and cadets attend right along side current Army soldiers and officers. The courses are designed to challenge your mental and physical endurance and toughness. If you think you have what it takes, I highly encourage you to compete for a chance to attend these courses.
CULTURAL UNDERSTANDING AND LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY PROGRAMP (CULP)
Immersion into foreign cultures exposes Cadets to the realities that other countries have vastly different lifestyles, economic standing and world perspective. Cadets travel in small groups led by senior leader cadre. Trips typically incorporate approximately 20 Cadets and a cadre member traveling in conjunction with a civilian agency or non-governmental agency. The trips last approximately one month, which encompasses the deployment as well as a five-day Soldier readiness process. CULP slots are awarded on a competitive basis and take into account several factors, such as GPA, physical fitness, an essay, and other pertinent selection criteria.
AIRBORNE TRAINING
Limited quotas for volunteer airborne training at Fort Benning, Georgia, are available to cadets who qualify. Applicants must have passed the airborne physical examination and attained the appropriate score on the Army Physical Fitness Test. Successful completion of this training entitles the cadet to wear the Army Airborne Badge. The three weeks of training are divided into ground, tower, and jump week.
AIR ASSAULT TRAINING
Successful completion of this course allows the cadet to wear the coveted Air Assault Badge. Requirements for selection are the same as for Airborne training. This 11-day school is designed to teach air assault skills and procedures, improve basic leadership skills, and instill the Air Assault spirit. During the course, cadets face such challenges as an intense obstacle course, physical training, rappelling, troop ladder, rigging and sling loading, road marches, and evaluations. Highlights of Air Assault include a 12-mile Ruck March and rappelling from a Blackhawk helicopter. The cadet may attend the Air Assault course at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii or Fort Campbell, Kentucky.
NORTHERN WARFARE TRAINING COURSE (NWTC)
Highly motivated and physically qualified cadets may apply for NWTC. The three-week training period is designed to familiarize the cadet with winter operations, to include a River Phase and a Glacier Phase. The rivers, mountains, and ice fields of Alaska provide a physical and mental challenge as well as tactical experiences in a mountainous region.
MOUNTAIN WARFARE TRAINING
Mountain Warfare School takes place on the slopes of Vermont's Green Mountains. "Tough" is a good way of describing the winter phase of the Mountain Warfare School. In a two week period, soldiers learn to ski and snowshoe. They patrol through waist-deep snow, using altimeter barometers instead of compasses. They climb 30-feet walls of solid ice, perform crevasse rescues and learn survival skills.
The summer phase is equally as challenging. Soldiers learn basic knot-tying skills that will eventually prepare them for more advanced rope systems to include a 3-to-1 Pulley System and Casualty-Evacuation System. Soldiers will also take away insights about waging warfare on mountainous terrain.
CADET TROOP LEADER TRAINING (CTLT)
Limited CTLT allocations are available annually to cadets who wish to volunteer to participate in CTLT. The CTLT program allows selected cadets to be attached to active duty or Army Reserve and National Guard units and serve in a leadership position. The program is approximately three weeks in duration, and is available only to third-year cadets during the same year they attend LDAC. Cadets who attend CTLT are paid at the same rate as for LDAC. Overseas CTLT tours are usually four weeks. Upon completion of this assignment, cadets receive a performance evaluation by an officer in the assigned unit. This evaluation is used by the Professor of Military Science (PMS) when providing further counseling and leadership training.