New Cadet Takes on Beast
By Elaina Cronin
Northwestern Preparatory Class of 2016
The
campus was green and manicured. Dark dimensional buildings stood high like an
ancient fortress. It was a fort after all, George Washington picked the
location of the campus right along the western peninsula of the Hudson river
for its defensibility, nestled 50 miles north of New York City tucked away in
the Hudson highlands. It was Reception Day, or R-Day, and over 1,200 new cadets
would be arriving on campus on the scorching July afternoon. Carrying
everything with her for the next six weeks on her back, Adrianna made her way
with her parents into the auditorium for the short orientation.
“You have 60 seconds to say your
goodbyes,” echoed over the loud speaker, and after giving her parents a quick
hug, she turned around and didn’t look back, as she knew she wouldn’t be able
to hold it all together. She was led in a line out of the auditorium and
directly onto a bus which would take her to be fitted for uniforms and sorted
into her corresponding company, Delta.
Adrianna Biederman at West Point
Thinking
back at her time now it all felt like a blur, it was long days and sometimes
even longer nights. Her feet were split open, blistering and sore, as she spent
days marching and running through the woodland. The pain after a long ruck
march, the burning in her lungs from the tear gas chamber, or the coldness in
her bones after spending nights in the woods in near hypothermic conditions
were things she hoped to never experience again.
Walking
into her empty and sterile room, she was greeted by her Chinese roommate, Songwen,
who goes by the Americanized name, Sharon. Sharon sat quietly at her desk,
careful to not disrupt her perfectly made bed. She was already dressed in her
parade uniform, organized, and ready to take the initial oath. Sharon grew up
in the United States, but was born in China in an abortion clinic. Her birth
mother was worried that if she was born elsewhere, she would be killed. Shortly
after her birth, her mother had to give her up for adoption so she could live,
being born as a girl her mother feared she would not have been able to leave
the hospital. Raised in America by her adoptive Chinese mother and an American
father, Sharon was determined to make them proud by continuing her education at
such a prestigious academy.
Sharon Lao, middle; Adrianna Biederman, right
Adrianna stumbled in the room
disheveled, her arms weak from carrying all of her belongings. As she toppled
into the room, Sharon glanced up giving a look of slight disappointment. This
tall and slender pale girl, with her blond hair pulled back into what was
supposed to be a clean bun, was a complete mess.
"Wait, what uniform are we supposed to
have on today?” Adrianna quickly asked.
Sharon, glancing down at herself
already dressed in the proper uniform, responded
“Um, Parade.”
“Oh, of course. Okay, thank you.”
Adrianna replied. She was so flustered from the whole ordeal that she barely
had a second to gather herself.
The
uniform was unusual, and in all honesty, a little strange. 21 gold buttons
adorn the front of the stark gray and long-sleeved jacket, and across the chest
is a white strap with one solid gold and shined buckle which wraps over the
cadet’s shoulder like a sash. The finishing touch is a boxy hat with feathers
coming out the top, and the cadets have to wear the chin strap in front of
their chin, not under.
After
hastily changing, and finally feeling slightly in order, both the girls left
for the parade ceremony together. They didn’t talk much on the walk over and
mostly kept to themselves before getting in formation. Little did she know
then, Sharon would become one of her closest friends. They both took the oath,
officially transitioning from civilians to members of the U.S. Army with their
company members along their side. Now the real fun started.
“GET
UP! GET UP! GET UP! WAKE UP, NEW CADETS!” Startled from her sleep, Adrianna
jumped out of bed. The squad leaders were running through the barracks,
clanging pots and pans with wooden spoons and yelling into megaphones. It was
0500, and everybody was getting the wake-up call to head straight to physical
training. This included either running or calisthenics, but either way, both
were dreadful. Then following their morning exercise, the cadets had to quickly
shower and head straight to breakfast formation. At breakfast, new cadets are
required to focus on the white crucifix marked on the top rim of their plate
and cannot socialize or look at anyone unless instructed to do so. Adrianna
quickly shoveled in her food without saying a word or looking up, and after
breakfast they were dismissed for briefings.
The
room was dated, dim and cabin like with thick wooden panels running up the
walls. They discussed West Point honor code, enforcing the rules and
expectations of a cadet. The squad leader stood in the front of the room and
restated the values to the cadets.
“A
cadet will not lie, cheat, steal, or tolerate those who do. If caught breaking one
of those four major principles you will be immediately discharged. If you help
another cadet cheat you will be dismissed. If you don’t speak up after seeing a
cadet lie, cheat, or steal, you will be dismissed…” The briefing continued, and
with each intimidating word, the more serious training became.
The
cadets were required to know a lot of information, as knowledge is a very
important aspect of being a West Point cadet. The cadets are required to study
their New Cadet Handbook during any
waiting period. They need to know basic, but random, information such as
Schofields definition of discipline, the number of lights in Cullum Hall, or
how many names are on Battle Monument. It was overwhelming, having to memorize
so much information and repeat it on the spot, but not as daunting as being out
on the field.
Field
and artillery training moved between times of being really fun, to really
horrible. The cadets had to practice throwing nearly 80 artificial grenades
that consisted of the same weight and feel of a live grenade. The purpose of
this training is to adapt muscle memory, so when things go bad, you mentally
resort back to your training. After practice, they move to throwing live
grenades, you pull the pin, aim, throw, and duck. They did this from multiple
positions such as standing, kneeling, and even laying down. While throwing live
grenades, the cadets went one at a time. Right after Adrianna had thrown her
three live grenades from each position, the cadet following her was immediately
tackled to the ground by one of the supervising sergeants. The girl was short
and frail looking, but so far seemed to hold her own in each challenge the
prior weeks had presented. The nervous cadet pulled the pin and unintentionally
aimed at the group of cadets, she froze in panic with not knowing what to do
once she had a live grenade in her hand about to detonate on her release. Instantly
the cadet was tackled to the ground, the grenade was ripped from her hand and
thrown into the field. It was experiences like this that brought Adrianna back
to reality, and the intensity of the training.
One of
the last things the cadets have to complete before their six-week training is finished
is to enter into the tear gas chamber, remove their protective face masks, and
recite the soldier’s creed. The purpose of this training is so you know what it
feels like to be gassed, so you can counteract when it happens to you in
combat. Adrianna entered the chamber
called “The House of Tears” with 12 other cadets. The cement block building was
small, around 100 square feet. There was nothing in the room besides an
emergency fire extinguisher, and 4 closed windows to let in some light. They
enter through the front door with their gas masks securely tightened, and
spread out around the perimeter of the room. With their backs to the wall, and
their masks still on, they were instructed to do five jumping jacks. Shortly
after they were told to get in a line and put their hand on the shoulder of the
person in front of them. Then they were asked to take a deep breath of clean
air from their mask, lift their mask off, take another breath in, and recite
the soldier’s creed. Coughing and choking, her eyes welled with tears, snot
dripped from her nose, and saliva was pouring from her mouth. She couldn’t
control it, her lungs were burning, everything was burning. They opened the
door and they all ran out flapping their arms like a bird in effort to open
their lungs and air out the gas from their clothing. It was over. That was it.
The House of Tears
They
completed the training with one final ruck march back to the West Point
Military Academy from Camp Buckner. It’s a little over seven miles, and they
carry everything on their backs from the six weeks. In addition, they also
bring with them the class motto of 2021, “Until the Battle is Won.” The motto
is voted on early in the training process and was now written in big gold lettering,
standing out against the contrasting black fabric. The training served as a
purpose to push the barriers in your mind, to let you know you can do more than
you think. Once you break through that barrier, your mind knows you can do it because
you’ve done it once before. They break you down to build you back up. When you
are put in such challenging and difficult situations, both mentally and
physically, you build relationships with people and bond over the common
struggles you face together. The Cadet Basic Training experience was everything
but basic. But, all armed services run by the same philosophy; take it one day
at a time, and you will come out of the experience stronger than you were
before, and as strong as you can be.
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