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Cornell AFROTCDetachment 520Ever Upward
A cadet briefs a seated flight from a whiteboard at an outdoor classroom during a field training exercise.

Detachment 520Cornell University

Det 520 Cadet Life

Field Training

Field Training is an approximately two-week summer program for cadets continuing into the Professional Officer Course. Detachment 520 cadets build toward it with local field training exercises.

Explore Leadership DevelopmentCornell Officer Education catalog

What Cornell currently publishes about Field Training

Field Training is an approximately two-week summer program, normally between the second and third program years, for cadets continuing into the Professional Officer Course.

Built around leadership, followership, and teamwork, Field Training is a two-week training and evaluation period held at Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama, normally between the second and third program years. Exact duration, timing, selection, prerequisites, and evaluation remain subject to current official guidance.

Cadets in formation march past the reviewing stand at a Field Training graduation parade, with the national colors and unit flags flying and the Air Force and Space Force emblems set into the pavement in the foreground.

FTX

Field Training Preparation

Detachment 520 runs its own field training exercises — FTXs — where cadets practice small-team leadership, planning, communication, and decision-making in the field. These photographs show detachment preparation exercises, not Field Training itself.

In the field

Planning circles, movement, communication, and debriefs — an FTX compresses the leadership cycle into a weekend.

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