Aviation Aspiration

Fort Knox, KY. – With the dense rainclouds overhead, cadets, assigned to 5th Regiment, Advanced Camp, power through the dire weather conditions to complete their group and zero during Cadet Summer (CST).

Group and zero works to familiarize cadets with their weapon systems while also building proficiency in the firing, maintaining, and safety of their M4 Carbine Assault Rifles.

With the added troubles of the weather, Cadet Miles Bailey, Boise State University, explains his experience persevering through conditions presented.

“At the end of the day, there's a bunch of people outside that are doing the exact same thing as you.And if you can put a smile on your face, you can keep smiling, and other people are going to smile too,” Bailey said.
Bailey relies on his teammates around him to build a consistent, constructive environment to thrive in.
Prior to CST, Bailey spent his summers working as a wildland firefighter, spending hot summers with other firefighters with a similar sense of purpose.

Bailey found a similarity between his experience as a firefighter and his current training here during Advanced Camp through the people surrounding him.

“You'll look to the left or right, and you'll see guys smiling, and you just got to keep going,” Bailey explained, “the people you find in places like these are good people.”

It’s clear that Bailey finds strength through the people around him, that remains true through the support from back home.

Bailey finds motivation in the hopes of returning home and seeing his girlfriend of five years. Traveling abroad, they were separated because of the distance, but at the conclusion of his training, they plan to get married in the spring.

Also following CST, Bailey has high hopes to branch aviation because of a mentor back home, Lieutenant Colonel Mike Kinzel. While enlisted, Kinzel was part of the 160th “Night Stalkers”, a Special Operations Aviation Regiment.
Bailey not only was impressed by his cadre’s accomplishments, but also the ideals his mentor holds.

“You're in charge of other people's lives, and to really, truly understand someone else, you have to be able to walk in their shoes, and you have to be a person,” Bailey explains.

His mentor is a constant reminder that soldiers are people too, and the way you treat others is the biggest showcase of the person inside.

As Bailey heads out to 5th Regiment’s M4 Qualification tomorrow, he will take the lessons learned and use the strength provided from those he cares about most to continue pushing on through CST.