The old adage that posits that “the more you sweat in training, the less you bleed in battle” holds sway across the United States military. This is especially the case with the Corps of Cadets at the United States Military Academy at West Point. I jumped at the opportunity to join the ALLIES delegation participating in the Key Leader Engagement (KLE) simulation. Comprised of three Tufts students and two students from Wellesley College, the delegation arrived at West Point on the weekend of September 24. I have been exposed to service academy through ALLIES to numerous conferences and events in the name of civil-military relations, but this was the first time I have been involved in an exercise that actively seeks to prepare cadets for the battlefield. While the staff was comprised of older cadets, mostly third (cows) and fourth year cadets (firsties), the bulk of the cadets working alongside us were first year (plebes) and second year cadets (yearlings).
