Heat protocols at Ft Knox ROTC Advanced Camp
Concerned mom here. My son would lose his freaking mind if he knew I was asking this. He’s already been through and graduated from BCT, also in the summer. He and all of the other cadets he’s met at Ft Knox who have also been through BCT agree that Advanced Camp is overall pretty easy for the most part since they went through much worse at BCT….. EXCEPT for the heat especially last week with the heat emergency the East has been experiencing!! I would think after last summer’s cadet death during CST, the Ft Knox leaders would be hypervigilant with their heat protocols!!!!!!!!! There were apparently 10-20 heat cats a day for several days last week in my son’s regiment including my son (who as an aside had no issues an entire summer at BCT in 90+ degree heat). I get that it can happen in the heat. But what is NOT acceptable is when appropriate measures aren’t taken to prevent heat cats during TRAINING. This is CST, not Ranger School or Navy Seals for pete’s sake! In my son’s case his heat cat was not his caloric or water intake - he’s on top of that since it was drilled into them at BCT, plus he’s an athlete. This was 100% his cadre who has continued to make his company unnecessarily sit in the direct sun for HOURS in a 105 to 108 real feel during a heat emergency, while other companies’ cadres are allowing them to wait in the shade for their turn doing assessments. Additionally, my son recognized his symptoms and asked to do the ice immersion or whatever it’s called which was literally right there and was told NO he has to wait!? They were done with their assessment and weren’t doing anything but waiting around! Sure enough a couple minutes later they are calling for a medic. It’s just unacceptable and is the fault of a cadre with poor training. Thankfully he was ok after a short time but I’m livid especially knowing a cadet died there last summer. Am I over reacting here?