When one thinks of traveling to Europe for a summer, driving tanks and shooting rifles isn't exactly what comes to mind, right? Well, Lambda Chi Alpha's Connor Camp did exactly that while spending weeks in the Czech Republic learning the ins and outs of military training.
Connor spills the details on driving heavily-armored (14-ton!) vehicles and managing to experience nightlife in the Czech Republic, all while balancing a rigorous training schedule.
1. How are you spending your summer?
This summer I was lucky enough to go on a mission to the Czech Republic for ROTC. The program is called CULP (Cultural Understanding and Language Program) and each year the army sends cadets all over the world to places like Thailand, South Korea and Africa. Most other missions had the purpose of either teaching English or humanitarian work, but I was picked to do a military to military mission. I was able to train with their military, more specifically the 73rd tank and 72nd mechanized infantry battalions in Praslavice. I learned how to drive their tanks and armored personnel carriers, how to do improvised repelling with no harness, camouflage training, and some hand-to-hand combat. We shot RPGs, dragunov sniper rifles, AK47s, CZ805s and CZ Pantoms (their assault rifle and pistol), anti-aircraft guns, and a lot of historic guns from WWII and before. I lived in a city called Oloumoc, which was about 20 minutes away from our training area by car. It was a college town of about 110,000 people, so even after we finished our training for the day, we still had plenty of things to do and places to go at night. We also stayed in Prague for about 5 days.
2. How did you acquire this opportunity?
I acquired this opportunity by applying for it, but it's only open to Army ROTC cadets. There’s a similar program for civilians through the DOD called Project Go, but it’s only for language learning so you probably won’t get to drive a tank. Sorry!
3. Is this position any different than you imagined it would be going into it?
It was actually a lot different than I imagined. My roommate did a CULP mission last year to Benin, Africa, and he really didn’t enjoy his time. He mostly just taught English in 110-degree heat. Basically, all he came away with was dysentery. I was pleasantly surprised when I got there and learned that I would be doing cool military training...that makes for better pictures on social media, too.
4. What was your most memorable experience?
It’s tough to pick out a single moment; I honestly never had a dull one. It was “go, go, go” for a month straight. Wake up at 5 a.m., learn new military skills till 4 p.m., eat four-course meals at a different restaurant for dinner every night, stay out till 2 a.m., then wake up three hours later and do it all over again. I guess if I had to pick one, it would be driving their BMP, which is a heavily-armored vehicle on tank treads with a 30-mm cannon on top. It was fast for a 14-ton vehicle, so you could really whip it around. The craziest part was that it was a manual transmission. I have a motorcycle, and the concept is pretty much the same with the clutch and the stick shift, but I’d never driven stick in a car. Well, I learned on a 300 horsepower 14-ton APC, which is a little cooler than, say, your uncle’s five-speed Volkswagen.
5. What would be your advice to anyone who wants to obtain a position similar to this next summer?
As I said, it’s a prerequisite to be a contracted Cadet with Army ROTC (as in, I’ve signed the dotted line for at least four years of active duty and four years reserves), but if you’re reading this and it applies to you, make sure you apply for a MIL to MIL CULP mission. Keep up your grades, Army physical fitness test score, and, if you can, learn a language in your geographic area of interest. For example, I speak German, so I think that gave me an edge to get a European mission. Best of luck!
