Any ROTC Cadets or Officers went through advance camp (LDAC was the older term for it). Any advice and things you wish you knew?

I went in summer 2017... Don't worry too much about the basic soldier skills tasks. If you don't already feel comfortable with it, they give plenty of time to review with your battle buddies. I'd argue the most important thing to focus on is being a good team player. A large portion of your rating comes from peer evaluations and observations from cadre on your ability to help the people around you complete the mission. Volunteer for details, carry the squad's 240b on the second mission of the day, take the shitty fireguard shift, and try not to complain. Display your confidence in the things that you do know how to do. If you don't know how to do something, ac is a good time to learn. There isn't always a black-and-white answer to everything. Since everyone has different experiences, you'll need to be okay with doing things different than you may have learned them. Make some friends. There's a good chance that you'll see some of them again down the road.

I went to Advanced Camp the first year they changed its name to NALC, which was quite a while before it was re-named again to LDAC.

What others wrote here is essentially true; put a lot of effort into being a team player, because if you succeed while others fail, you haven't really succeeded. It's a combined effort, and too many "Armies of One" are not going to get the job done, and the lesson of that is a large part of what you are supposed to learn. It also means learning what skills others are good at and leaning on them (and formally delegating when appropriate) to do those specialized things, which is a good leadership skill in itself. A "Skill" may be something standard like someone who's good at navigating, but it may also be something more likely to be missed unless you stop to think, like using the detail-oriented person to check that everyone has all the gear they're supposed to, or the one who knows knots to help tie things up, etc.

As for everything else, it's a rehashing of what you should have learned from your last few years anyway. There won't be any curveballs of new material. If your ROTC BN adequately covered the fundamentals, you'll be fine. If they floundered on them, you'll find things a bit more difficult.

Now, since you say you're concerned with Land Navigation, take it from the one guy who disproved the old phrase "Can't spell Lost with out the L-T": know how to orient a map properly to your surroundings, check over your points twice when plotting, learn your pace by memory (both road and brush, but also uphill and downhill), learn how to look "through" a point with your compass**, and make prodigious use of attack points. That last one alone will be like magic for getting you where you need to be, as at camp there will almost never be a point beyond 100m from a good road you can use, or more than 300-400m from a road intersection (which then gives you an absolute map location) and if somehow you screw up you know where to quickly return to so you can re-orient and re-try.

(** I've found that most people never learn this, or at least not properly - looking "through" means that when you're lining up your azimuth, you find a near object [anywhere from 20-200m depending on brush, but further distances help your pace stay accurate] on that line and also a far one [the farther out you can cleanly pinpoint the better]. As you walk, focus on keeping those two in line with each other. That will prevent you from wandering sideways and throwing off your pace. Once you get to the near object, you should still have the far object in sight, but double-check your compass and get a new near object to use, then repeat as necessary.)

Trust your instincts.

Your attitude is everything. Your reactions and demenaor under stress will reveal a lot about the cadets around you and that's generally what you're evaluated on.

My PMS had told our group of MSIIIs to take what is said and what is evaluated with a grain of salt. Obviously you should still perform to the best of your ability but also know that a lot of weight is held for the things you do on your campus.

I went to LDAC the first year it moved to Ft. Knox. It was fubar. My advice is to take more uniform odds and ends than is on the packing list. And have a really good, laminated TMK. It rained just about every day while I was there, and almost the entire thing was in the field.

In all honesty, it really doesn’t matter. (I was part of the first group to go when it was moved from JBLM to Fort Knox [that whole move was FUBAR in every sense of the phrase]) Truth be told, it’s a great way to see how people from different programs and experiences go through things just like how the military is. The biggest thing is to always seek out advice on how others go about doing the things you’re weak in i.e. briefing and how you can integrate them into your style to make it your own. Also, do not be afraid to make mistakes and to learn from them. You will learn the most when you actually get to your first unit and experience everything firsthand. Always continue to learn.

I can tell you only from my experience as a cadet and LDAC TAC from 2011-2012.

And it's not super helpful. We experienced two different LDACs. The one we went to had few Recondos and very low "E" rates. Hell, they stopped using LTs to grade PT tests and shipped in DS's (the right thing to do anyway). The one I TAC'd, we had very few N's and I even witnessed some who I feel ought to have been, but I was overruled. They had more Recondos, more "E's".

That is all to say that your mileage may vary. Advice from yesterday may not be the same today.

What I can say that might be helpful is rely on those around you. You might get a slick sleeve in your squad. You might get a Ranger. However, good ideas aren't necessarily measured by time and bad ideas don't become better because someone with experience says it. I was former Enlisted, but I didn't always have the best COA. And I am grateful that others didn't defer to me because of my experience. Doing what's right and tactical can come from anyone.

Your terrain model kit doesn't need to be fancy. Make it functional. A solid, succinct plan kicks the piss out of a pretty one. Keep it simple. Get input. Refine. Execute.

Don't try to befriend your TAC. They've been up before you and will leave after you. They are tired. Be friendly, but an ass kisser sticks out and not in a good way.

If you have a lot of good ideas and your squad keeps picking you, you'll probably die. Before STX, share those thoughts. Write them down if you have to and keep a squad book that guides everyone. You don't want to be the difference between success and failure. Looking smart is good. Getting everyone to do well is better.

Just went this past summer. If you go in a later regiment, there should be plenty of cadet trails leading to points.

Don't try to dead reckon the course; shoot attack points from the road that surrounds the course, and use the known points given to you to to base those attack points.

I went last year to Advance camp. You just have to take one day at a time. You will get about 3 maybe 4 hours of sleep. Some nights they might give you more. Just use the roads during land navigation. The night navigation is more challenging. You won't start until about 2100/actual night time. If you have any questions, you can ask me since I went last year.

I went summer 2017, the test wasn’t that bad and if you didn’t get a GO they would have your battle buddy’s help you so you can retake it. The course is not that hard and the markers are easy to spot. More than likely there will be trails. Study the Ranger Handbook and Advance Camp handbook and you’ll be fine.