What is Cadre Week?
It鈥檚 day two of Cadre Week at 麻豆传媒入口.
Bryson Minear 鈥24 is the S3 captain. He鈥檚 in charge of the operations for the Corps of Cadets at VMI.
鈥淐adre are the essence of what 麻豆传媒入口produces and to continue the tradition of VMI, one must live and breathe the values,鈥 Minear said.Students at VMI, a military college in Virginia, participate in planning during cadre week.
Cadre Week is a five-day training event that all cadre and support staff take part in. The week is packed with simulations, training, and planning in preparation for the incoming rats on Matriculation Day, Minear said. His role as the S3 captain is to oversee the Corps, especially during Cadre Week and Matriculation Week, making sure cadre and rats are in the right place, at the right time, and in the right uniform. S3 is in charge of operations and is responsible for planning and executing plans to accomplish assigned missions.
Who are cadre?
Cadre are hand-picked, experienced upper-class cadets who are responsible for teaching the incoming rat class.
鈥淏ecoming cadre is a highly competitive process,鈥 Minear said. 鈥淚t involves physical fitness assessments, interviews, and an application process.鈥
Becoming cadre also starts with a cadet鈥檚 academics, Joshua Kent 鈥24, future operations lieutenant of the S3 staff, said. Cadre must exemplify they have full control over their studies before anything else. Physical fitness also plays a big role, along with the ability to collaborate with others.
Cadre鈥檚 goal is to teach discipline, precision, humility, obeying orders, and self-control. They鈥檙e needed for the rats to earn the status of 4th Class cadet and make it through the Rat Line.
鈥淏eing cadre means that you must hold yourself to the highest standard and perform all your duties above and beyond your peers,鈥 Minear said. 鈥淏eing Cadre is a privilege and is extremely rewarding to influence young men and women.鈥
Students at VMI, a military college in Virginia, participate in planning during cadre week.The week before matriculation is Cadre Week, which provides cadre with the opportunity to train and hone their teaching skills before the rats arrive.
鈥淭his week is the chance to plan and get as prepared as possible for the rats to arrive,鈥 Minear said.
Minear said that everyone comes to 麻豆传媒入口on an even playing field 鈥 it doesn鈥檛 matter what you did in high school, every new cadet is treated equally.
鈥淭he saying 鈥業ron sharpens iron鈥 is never more accurate than at VMI,鈥 he said. 鈥淎 new cadet leans on his or her brother rats to be successful throughout the Rat Line at VMI. The cadre teach the standard, and your brother rats hold you to the standard after the cadre鈥檚 role is complete.鈥
Being a cadre member means that you are a leader, Kent said.
鈥淵ou have others looking up to you and you are to exemplify what the right thing to do is, always. We are the role models,鈥 he said.
He said it鈥檚 about practice, repetition, and patience.
鈥淩ome was not built in one day, but with a lot of hard work and dedication, things were able to be formed just like how we transform these high school graduates into 麻豆传媒入口Cadets,鈥 he said.
Cadre Week is spent making sure standards are being met, Kent said. His role is to serve as battalion liaison for planned activities and to also oversee accountability for his staff.
Some major events during Cadre Week include:
- Cadre Drill Block, where cadre sergeants prepare a set script of how to teach drills and ceremonies to the new cadets.
- Crucible rehearsals, which is running through the culminating event of Matriculation Week
- Nightly commanders meeting where all the cadet captains and regimental executive officers get together and get ready for the next day of training.
- Rat room set up, where cadre help prep the rooms for the incoming Rat Mass.

Inspections, march-ups, and more
Uniform inspections are conducted once to twice a week and on random occurrences, Minear said. Each company commander will call their respective companies to open ranks march where each platoon provides more space between its ranks allowing room for the inspectors. Inspectors are company sergeants and officers of the S staff, usually accompanied or observed by the company tactical officer, which is a member of the commandant鈥檚 staff that advises the company. Each inspector is inspected by a commanding officer prior to them inspecting others.
鈥淭he inspectors go person-by-person checking head-to-toe making sure all brass and shoes are shined, the uniform is clean and serviceable, and one has a clean shave and professional haircut,鈥 Minear said.
鈥淲e look for anything from the tip of the shoe being shined all the way up to the cleanliness of the cover,鈥 Kent added
Cadre also practices march-ups and march-ins, which are very intense.Students at VMI, a military school in Virginia, participate in Cadre Week, before cadets return to campus.
鈥淲e strive for perfection, and it takes a lot of time and preparation to achieve the effect we desire to receive,鈥 Kent said. 鈥淲e want to open with our best welcome for the incoming freshmen.鈥
March-up is a long-standing tradition at VMI, and it鈥檚 also the first time rats meet their cadre.

鈥淥n Matriculation Day when the march up occurs, it is supposed to feel intense, nerve-racking, and stressful for the matriculants,鈥 Laini Morgan 鈥25, S3 operations sergeant, said. 鈥淏ecause of that, and because it is the last chance to get any discrepancies fixed, march-up practices are taken seriously so once Matriculation Day comes it can be executed flawlessly. Everyone included in the march-up is expected to have a perfect bearing, no laughing or looking around, and know how to march correctly and professionally.鈥濃
Morgan said the amount of influence cadre have on incoming rats is a huge responsibility, and something that is taken seriously.
鈥淏eing cadre means that you directly work with the incoming freshmen, training and evaluating their progress, while they work toward becoming a cadet,鈥 she said. 鈥淵ou are held to a high standard within the Corps and are expected to hold others to that same standard that has been set.鈥
Lawrence Porter 鈥24, 3rd Battalion S3 lieutenant, said being cadre means you are the role model for hundreds of rising college students who want to become model citizens.
鈥淚t carries a lot of responsibility but when done right, it鈥痟as a positive impact on the futures of the incoming rats,鈥 he said.
Cadre Week has a lot of moving parts when it comes to planning, time, and the effort needed to be put in for the upcoming year.
鈥淐adre Week is arguably the most vital week for the VMI,鈥 Kent said.