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Contact: Steve Arel Public Affairs Officer (502) 624-1842 steve.arel@usacc.army.mil Communication with family in Germany difficult for Georgia Military student FORT KNOX, Ky. — By the light of his red flashlight, Charlie Company Cadet Trenton Floyd uses the hour he has in the evening at the Leader鈥檚 Training Course to write a letter to his parents. 鈥淚 haven鈥檛 gotten to talk to them on the phone since I鈥檝e been here,鈥� the Georgia Military College student said. 鈥淚鈥檝e written two letters and gotten one letter back. That鈥檚 been my communication.鈥� Floyd鈥檚 parents live in Germany, which is six hours ahead of Fort Knox, making communication difficult for the LTC Cadet. His father recently retired from the Army and is there as a contractor. Floyd was born in Virginia, moved to Germany for three years, moved back to the United States for about six years and then moved back to Germany for the last nine years. As he nears the end of LTC, he looks forward to reuniting with his family. 鈥淚 just think about going back to see them again, and I just know there鈥檚 an end point to this,鈥� said Floyd, whose company graduates Saturday. 鈥淚t sort of feels like I鈥檓 distant because I don鈥檛 really know that many people, except for the people I met here.鈥� The Leader鈥檚 Training Course is the premier leadership program of its kind in the United States. An intense four-weekintroduction to Army life and leadership training of the Reserve Officers鈥� Training Corps, the aim of the course is to motivate and qualify Cadets for entry into the Senior ROTC program. During in-processing, Floyd tried to set up a phone number and a phone but was not successful. When mail is passed out, Floyd watches as his fellow Cadets receive mail, but not him. The last letter he sent was July 4, and he still hasn鈥檛 gotten one back. 鈥淚t makes me a little sad and that鈥檚 usually the time I take to think about what I鈥檓 going to write, asking people for stamps so I can send more letters out,鈥� he said. Another Cadet in his platoon is quite the opposite when it comes to communication. 鈥淚 get a lot of letters because my mom sends letters all the time,鈥� said Charlie Company Cadet Aaron Gunn, of Wentworth Military College. 鈥淢y girlfriend and her family, we are very close so they send letters. It鈥檚 the type of situation that even if I don鈥檛 write because I鈥檓 busy around here, I still get letters from them. They just want to make sure I鈥檓 still doing well and that I have something to look forward to.鈥� Gunn, who has gotten more than 20 letters, said that when the Cadets get mail, it鈥檚 a big deal to them, especially because they didn鈥檛 have access to phones for a portion of LTC. 鈥淲e all look forward to that time when we can call whoever we want, or just send a text,鈥� he said. 鈥淔or me, it is very helpful to communicate like that.鈥� Any communication at all is key for these Cadets to stay motivated throughout their time at LTC. 鈥淵ou don鈥檛 have a lot of time here, but when you get the chance write a letter,鈥� Gunn said. 鈥淓ven if you don鈥檛 get one back, it鈥檒l help you think that one of these days you鈥檙e going to get a letter back. You鈥檙e going to get that reply.鈥� Although his communication isn鈥檛 as much as he would like, Floyd said his family motivates him to finish LTC strong.
At the end of the summer, he will be going back to Germany for about a month before attending college 鈥� Georgia Military is a military junior college. Not being able to call his family has been more difficult than Floyd expected. 鈥淚 thought I鈥檇 be able to contact my parents maybe once a week and get caught up on things, but it didn鈥檛 work out that way,鈥� he said. 鈥淎s long as I stay motivated and keep a good spirit about everything, I think that I can get through it.鈥� Floyd said being away from his family will help prepare him for a military career. 鈥淚 miss them, but I鈥檓 pushing through and I鈥檓 going to get some good training out of this,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 need to get ready for my life for when I am away from my family so it鈥檚 good practice.鈥�