From South Carolina to the Netherlands: Citadel cadets visit the Royal Military Academy in Breda

October 2, 2024October 3, 2024last updated on October 3, 2024 at 11:37 Academics Students

Over the summer, six Citadel cadets chose to spend their break at the Royal Military Academy in Breda, Netherlands. While not a typical summer experience, the cadets still earned course credit through The Citadel’s Center for International and Special Programs.

Those who went on the study abroad trip included Cadets Mary Charland, Mecadeez Durham, ‘24, Jason Hutto, Chadwick Johnson, Zachary Kramer and Colin White. Over the course of four weeks, they attended classes with Dutch cadets, traveled to different parts of the country, rucked through the Netherlands, and underwent various physical and mental challenges.

In 1828 the Royal Military Academy, or KMA, was established in Breda, Netherlands. The KMA provides military and technical training, as well as training of officers for the Royal Netherlands Army, the Royal Netherlands Air Force and the Royal Netherlands Marechaussee.

Other than course credit, what would make a Citadel cadet want to join this trip? For Cadet Colin White, the idea of going intrigued him the first time he heard about it during his knob year. He was drawn to the program’s leadership opportunities, military training and the chance to build his confidence. He said the experience meant so much because it was about personal growth, leadership development and testing one’s limits.

“The whole process was seeing leadership under stress. So, the entire time, there were multiple groups and each group had a leader, and you had to keep your group functioning and in control, even when people are angry, tired, stressed and hungry. They wanted to see how you would respond under stress,” said White.

White, a current sophomore and Army contract, will spend his second year at The Citadel focused on learning how to lead. He said this experience was instrumental in preparing him for that task, and that the challenges he faced over the summer have greatly added to his empathy.

“I can confidently say that I am open to more challenges. I want to push myself to be a better person and cadet, and now I know that I can go further than what I think. I can go past the struggles, the pain, and can push through a lot more than I think. You build so much confidence from this experience,” said White. “After this, I’ll be able to go out and do more things, help more people. A lot of this was about leadership and empathy. A lot of times at The Citadel you’re put in a leadership position, and if your people are tired, or hungry or under stress, that’s a true leadership challenge and you need to be able to calm down the situation and refocus the task.”

This trip was also the first time that White traveled outside of the U.S., allowing him to explore different parts of the Netherlands and even neighboring countries, such as Belgium. The cadets also had the chance to visit NATO’s headquarters, a memorable experience made even more so when they met a Citadel alumnus there who is now a Green Beret. They also met some of the highest-ranking officials at NATO, allowing for rich discussions on military innovations and more. All of this allowed him and the rest of the cadets to have an enriching experience abroad.

Their final week could best be described as a stress test. The cadets were given minimal food supplies and had to stretch their rations while getting little sleep and going through intense physical activities. This week also involved a series of challenges that were designed to test the cadet’s endurance and teamwork skills. This included obstacle courses, rope climbing, rappelling and zip lining. The cadets also underwent several different scenarios, such as locating sand-filled dummies and transporting them to an extraction zone. These scenarios tested their physical and mental limits under stressful conditions.

Through study abroad opportunities, competitive scholarships, fellowships and other special programs, The Citadel’s Center for International and Special Programs seeks to enhance cadets’ and students’ academic, leadership, social and personal growth while they are enrolled at The Citadel.