"Cadet Officer's School"
By: C/Capt. Maraj, CAP
This year the 2007 Cadet Officer School was held at Huntington College in Alabama, with just over 115 cadets attending. Mornings generally consisted of lectures from various speakers, afternoons of analyzing the lectures that were previously given and TLPs or Team Leadership Projects, and then after dinner was everyone’s favorite part of the day; volleyball and free time.
Many of our speakers were extremely distinguished in their field, and provided excellent lectures with relevant information on their topics. We learned about everything from leadership to space power in these lectures. The two that stuck out the most were Lieutenant General Stephen R. Lorenz, and a former POW from Vietnam. The knowledge and experience these speakers conveyed were truly a once in a lifetime experience.
One of the highlights of the week was when we did Project X. Project X was a leadership reaction course at Maxwell Air Force Base that the Squadron Officer School used. Each station had a different situation and a problem that needed to be solved. We were given different materials to use and we had to use effective teamwork and communication in order to solve the problem in the given amount of time. Though most teams did not complete more than half of the tasks, it provided a real world situation in which to implement the leadership skills we had been learning about.
Overall the Cadet Officer School is an excellent experience where cadets learn all they could ever want to about leadership and the cadet program. I would sincerely recommend this NCSA to any cadet officer who wants to further their leadership abilities and prepare themselves for the future.