Coast Guard Detachment FTX

&emsp;&emsp;For the newest official branch for Cadets at the Virginia Military Institute (VMI), the Coast Guard Detachment had one of the more unique Field Training Exercises (FTX) last weekend. On Friday, October 14th, both members of Old Corps and Rats participated in a training period hosted by the Rockbridge County Sheriff's Department, where participants practiced detaining techniques with handcuffs. Saturday, members of the Old Corps were shuttled to Coast Guard Station Portsmouth, Virginia for a tour of the facility. While on base, cadets were able to talk to multiple members of the Coast Guard with differing backgrounds, from NCO's to Warrant Officers and Commissioned Officers, who all shared their professional experiences and career progression. Most notably, Cadets were honored with an audience by Coast Guard Atlantic Area Commander Vice Admiral Kevin E. Lunday who was gracious enough to spend time answering Cadet questions. Perhaps the most notable highlight of the Portsmough Coast Guard station visit were the Coast Guard cutter tours, where Cadets toured two cutters examining the various facilities onboard from the engine room to the command bridge and even the mess galley. &emsp;&emsp;For the Rats, Saturday consisted of completing multiple online training courses for the Auxiliary before a Physical Traiining (PT) session and more "hands-on" training. That training consisted of damage control involving the use of fire hoses to simulate fighting fires and a first aid station where the Rats learned various first aid techniques from applying tourniquets to dealing with transporting patients with spine injuries. Sunday, Rats also did swim qualification tests while the Old Corps was transported back to VMI where a detachment After Action Review (AAR) was conducted before formally ending FTX. &emsp;&emsp;None of what the Coast Guard VMI Detachment was able to do would have been possible without the hard work by its Cadet leadership spearheaded by Cadet Aidan W. Simmons '23 and the immense help received from CSM Rubenstein and USCG Commander (Ret.) Richard At Lee. Both CSM Rubenstein and Commander (Ret.) At Lee accompanied the Old Corps on their trip to the Portsmouth Coast Guard Station. It is sufficient to say that VMI's Coast Guard detachment has had another strong FTX training, and it will continue to offer consistently strong trainings going forward.