RMC-West Point Exchange 2010
RMC delegation to our southern neighbours
OCdt Catie Keyser, 24633
From the 4th to the 7th of February, a contingent of around 100 cadets drove down to the United States of America to partake in an exchange at West Point, led by IV Ryan Pridmore, 24667.
The cadets were for the most part, hosted by cadets of their same year, who took them to their classes, showed them around their campus, and involved them in the various activities available to the West Point cadets.
We rose at 0630 hrs Friday morning to the Plebes (first year cadets) calling out the dress for the day and counting down the minutes to the morning form up in extremely monotonous chants through the hallways. I was told this was a duty of the first years, and they do this before all meals and timings.
All meals throughout the workday at West Point must be attended, and all cadets are given a specified seat at a specified table. The Plebes bring the food, and the most senior cadet at each table will signal when the table can begin their feast.
I began the academic day with a language class. All cadets have to take one language for their first two years, and are eligible to request more classes for their last two years if they wish to obtain a Major in that language. They have a variety of different language to choose from including German, French, Spanish, and Arabic; in which I sat focusing intently with a confused look on my face for 50 minutes learning how to write backwards.
Afterwards, I attended a Geological/Weather course and finished the day off with International Law. The course was taught by a Major who spent the entirety of the class explaining torture and human rights in conflicting situations. This was a mandatory class for all cadets, and one that they seemed to thoroughly enjoy as I have never heard so much debate in the last class before the weekend.
West Point, I was quick to learn, has more varsity programs than it seems RMC has in cadet varsity players. So I threw on my coat, put on a toque and gloves, and made my way over to the ski hill for the afternoon learning how to snowboard alongside their varsity ski team, and gym class participants. Up until this point I was overly thankful of being able to attend RMC, although being the only University in North America to have a local ski hill does seem to be a big perk to a Westerner who misses her mountains!
To finish off the weekend, the RMC cadets were allotted time at the academy’s digital shooting range. The range used the equivalent of the C 8 and we were given three different shooting scenarios on a large projector screen focusing on delegation and arcs of fire. After the range, we were shown a computer program that trains the cadets to learn how to command attack forces and place their troops in the most favourable locations to defeat the enemy. No gamers, West Point cadets are not trained on a “Call of Duty”-like game; this was entirely different!
Overall, the weekend was a success. We were shown a good time, and I am sure we left a footprint of being the Canadians with a flair for being crazily energetic, and willing to try anything that the West Point cadets do.
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RMC as a host to our southern neighbours
By: 24991 OCdt Aarthi Prabhakaran
The RMC Winter Sports Day and I-81 Exchange is an annual event that brightens the busy lives of our Officer Cadets. This year the affair was filled with much fun-spirited competition. As every year, The US Military Academy, West Point, sends a delegation of their Cadets to take part in the snow covered fun! The games seen this year were a little less snow covered, but fun nonetheless. Ball Hockey on the Parade Square, Football, Dodgeball and the Chain of Command Relay Race were some of the events occurring around the campus.
The weekend started with a meet and greet in the New Gym of RMC as Cadets welcomed their counterparts that they were to play host to. Friday found West Point Cadets joining their Canadian friends in classes catching a glimpse of the life of an Officer Cadet at RMC!
The opening ceremonies for the fun and games took place Saturday morning with the usual display of Squadron pride at the parade at the KMCSC facility. Throughout the course of the day, one could see a great show of comradeship as squadrons came together to take part in the days activities. The day was not only fun for regular cadets and their West Point counterparts but for the RMC Varsity program as well. As every year, the RMC Taekwondo competition vs USMA took place in the KMCSC Field House with RMC winning 5-1. Alongside TKD were the Judo Clinic, Fencing demonstration, and Water polo match. RMC Fencing impressed by winning all but one event against West Point.
Following Sports Day the Cadets from both academies enjoyed a special dinner prepared for them in the Cadet Dining Hall. As per tradition, Saturday’s Winter Sports Day and I-81 Exchange was an excellent display of cadet pride, a lot of fun and a chance to let out the kid in all of us!