LTC Remley Guides Cadets through Warrior Forge

Following the Regimental Activation Ceremony on July 4, Lieutenant Colonel Ryan Remley (left) talks with Colonel John Kelly, who served as the commander of Warrior Forge 2012.

Lieutenant Colonel Ryan Remley, a professor of military science, spent five weeks this summer at Joint Base Lewis – McChord, located near Tacoma, Wash., serving as a regimental tactical officer for Operation Warrior Forge.  Warrior Forge is a 29-day leadership course conducted by U.S. Army Cadet Command designed to train, assess and develop cadets between their junior and senior year in preparation to become commissioned officers in the U.S. Army. The course tests cadets on a wide range of military skills, including the Army physical fitness test, day and night land navigation, water confidence, first aid, squad tactics, platoon tactics and the operations order process. Warrior Forge assesses a cadet’s mental agility, communications skills, decision making, physical fitness and ability to lead others in order to determine their suitability to one day serve as commissioned officers in the U.S. Army.

This year, LTC Remley served as one of 14 regimental tactical officers charged to lead a regiment of between 435-450 cadets through the 29-day training program. With a staff and cadre of 51 personnel, comprised of ROTC cadre and Department of the Army Civilians from across the country, the regiment is responsible for every aspect of a cadet’s life while at Warrior Forge. From receiving the cadets on day 1 to seeing them graduate and depart for home station on day 29, regimental cadre work 15 to 18 hour days to ensure that cadets receive the best training, assessment and counseling possible during the training cycle. This marks the second year in a row that LTC Remley has served at Warrior Forge. Last year, he served as a company tactical officer, one of two inside a regiment, who oversee approximately 225 cadets. 

“After my experiences as a company tactical officer last year, I knew I wanted to compete to serve as a regimental tactical officer,” said LTC Remley. “When I was notified by our brigade headquarters last November that I was selected to lead the 12th ROTC Regiment at Warrior Forge 2012 I was extremely excited. As a tactical officer, you have the opportunity to see and do everything asked of your cadets, as well as the opportunity to coach, teach and mentor these young leaders daily. Having a direct role as a tactical officer in leader development is very rewarding”

While at Warrior Forge, LTC Remley’s key duties and responsibilities included command and control of the regiment, supervision of regimental training and evaluations, defining the roles and duties of the regimental staff, setting standards and policies for the regiment and ensuring that regimental esprit de corps was maintained by both the cadets and cadre.

Warrior Forge is the largest excerise conducted in the United States each year by the Army, with more than 10,000 cadets, ROTC cadre, Department of the Army Civilians and active duty, as well as reserve component soldiers participating in or supporting the training. This year 12 cadets from The University of Scranton attended Warrior Forge and a total of 28 members of the Royal Warrior Battalion traveled to Joint Base Lewis – McChord for the event.