Lt. Col. Cliff Lutz said for the students entering their fourth year at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences the Bushmaster exercise "is immensely important."

Air Force 2nd Lt. Katherine Racicot and Army 2nd Lt. Nicole Miller were finishing up the last day of their first military field exercise as students at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences on an overcast mid-summer Pennsylvania dusk.

“I will tell you that you are joining a family, and that’s a family that takes care of each other … and taking care of families is hugely important to an all-volunteer force,” the Army chief of staff said to over 270 ROTC cadets.

“Our mission in the Junior ROTC program is to motivate young people to be better citizens, to be leaders and  to be better members of their community,” the commanding general of U.S. Army Cadet command said.