Reserve Officer Training Corps cadets who attended the Lt. Gen. Stephen Twitty Leadership Symposium at Fort Jackson this year received a more “immersive” experience.
Seventy-one of 136 cadets who attended this year’s symposium received an up and close introduction to drill sergeants during an immersive experience into Basic Combat Training.
The event was first started in 2017 where ROTC cadets were able to meet senior Army leaders and gather information and experiences to enable them to have better careers.
The year’s symposium was held Feb. 20, with some cadets arriving early to be immersed in what trainees first experience when they get off the bus and into training.
The cadets represented nine universities: South Carolina State University, University of South Carolina, Clemson University, Wofford University/Furman, Presbyterian College, the Citadel, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, and North Carolina A&T.
For some cadets this wasn’t the first time meeting a drill sergeant and it brought back memories.
Cadet Stacy Puckett from Presbyterian College in Clinton, South Carolina, said the experience was nothing what she expected.
“To be honest, we were told it was going to be nothing like it was,” the college junior said. “It was supposed to be like, we get smoked, a little scared, and then we get left alone. I didn’t realize it was going to be a whole immersive experience, at least personally, I didn’t realize and I didn’t expect to be smoke for four hours.”
But having gone through it before “definitely” made it easier.
“I’d like to say we were disciplined to do that,” Puckett said. “So it was easier just keeping that straight face, being serious and standing still.”
Cadet D.J. Lister from Wofford University in Spartanburg, South Carolina, called the experience “nostalgic and a little traumatizing.”
“When you see the brown rounds come off the bus .. and he’s like all happy, and then all of a sudden they start yelling at us, and it was pretty intense. It was fun and a good learning experience for those who hadn’t experienced it before.”
The experience allowed future Army leaders to see what their troops go through.
“As an officer, I believe it is important to understand what your Soldiers go through, so you have that mindset, ‘Hey, I know where you’re coming from. Let me try to help that.’”
Lister’s fellow cadet, Preston Bailey, who is also a prior enlisted Soldier, agreed.
There can be some disconnect between some officers and Soldiers, Bailey said. “I think even just the experience of today can really help a lot of officers get that direct experience.”
Not only did the symposium help some cadets get first-hand experience what a new trainee faces, it also allowed them to hear firsthand from senior leaders during a panel discussion and a speed mentoring session.
“Not only did we pick the brains of all these senior leaders, they each had something different” in answering our questions, Lister said. “We asked very similar questions, and each one had something different that kind of built upon what the last person said.”
The common denominator of the advice was to be humble and keep learning.
“Our professor of military science Lt. Col. Michael Cooper says to stay hungry, healthy and humble,” Lister added.
For Brig. Gen. Antoinette Gant, a former ROTC cadet, meeting with the cadets was “absolutely amazing.”
Gant, commander of the Military District of Washington Joint Task Force National Capital Region, was part of a panel of general officers who spoke to the group of cadets.
“The students today are so much more well advanced than we were during that time frame before we decided to come into the military,” she said. “To sit down and have candid conversations about the expectations of them as platoon leaders, eventually company commanders, I think will pay great dividends later on. It gives them a level of something to expect but also knowing what they’re doing is a cause much greater than themselves.”
Gant said she wants the cadets to “be confident in who you are as an individual, understand that in any job, especially when it’s being in a military officer, it’s truly about the job you have to do.”
This mentorship is vital to the growth of newer officers.
“It is important for us to invest in them, because again, this is our future,” Gant said. “These are the individuals that will be the one to take the Army to the next level.”
Gant was joined on the general officer panel by:
Maj. Gen. Daryl O. Hood – Army Training Center and Fort Jackson
Maj. Gen. Patricia Wallace – 81st Readiness Division
Chaplain (Maj. Gen.) William Green – Army Chief of Chaplains
Brig. Gen. Antwan Dunmyer – Mission Command Center of Excellence
Brig. Gen. Chris Hyman – South Carolina National Guard
Brig. Gen. Camilla White – Program Executive Office Combat Support and Combat Service Support
(Editor’s note: Nathan Clinebelle contributed to this article)
| Date Taken: |
02.26.2026 |
| Date Posted: |
02.26.2026 10:14 |
| Story ID: |
558956 |
| Location: |
FORT JACKSON, SOUTH CAROLINA, US |
| Web Views: |
15 |
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This work, Providing Mentorship: Symposium imparts leadership advice to cadets, by Robert Timmons, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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