Corps to hold 9th Annual Squad Tactical Challenge
The Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets will be participating in the ninth Annual Squad Tactical Challenge on March 1.
The purpose of the Squad Tactical Challenge is to provide a stressful situation for cadets to develop their leadership. Cadets must train their subordinates over time and plan for the events to be successful. The entire Corps of Cadets began training for this event when they returned for the spring semester. Also, cadets’ leadership and ability to react moment by moment is tested during the event.
Cadets in each squad will be assigned leadership positions at random and will be given a chance to lead in a tactical situation. This year’s challenge will include 72 squads, each consisting of approximately eight cadets. These squads are the units they are assigned to within their cadet companies and work with on a daily basis.
This will be an all day event with the first squad starting at 7 a.m. and the final squad finishing at approximately 4 p.m. The competition will entail a circular 3.6-mile course around campus that will start and end on the Upper Quad near Lane Hall which is located at 280 Alumni Mall.
Events along the way will include a litter obstacle carry where cadets will have to navigate a litter through an obstacle course; a rope bridge station where squads will have to construct a rope bridge that spans a 25-foot gap and then each navigate the bridge one cadet at a time until all are across; and a station at the rappelling tower where two cadets will be selected at random and required to rappel. The challenge will conclude at Hancock Hall where cadets will be tested on essential cadet knowledge.
Extensive training and planning have gone into the Squad Tactical Challenge. This is an excellent opportunity for cadets of all classes to demonstrate leadership lessons they have learned throughout their time in the Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets. All are invited to stop and watch cadets as they compete in the event.
