Culver Annual Review builds on tradition as cadets strive to master skills

Regimental Cmdr. Juan Urruela ’25 believes the Culver Annual Review is a valuable tool for Culver Military Academy because cadets learn discipline and structure and to manage their time while also developing attention to detail.

“We learn to persevere through challenges and maintain composure under pressure,” Urruela said. “It also promotes personal responsibility because cadets are held responsible for their actions. No one wants to be the guy who brought their unit down because they failed in one of the aspects. So everybody strives for excellence.”

CAR has five components, kicking off in December with an athletic challenge that tests teamwork, strength and stamina. That is followed by two general room inspections months apart and a Dress A uniform inspection in February, with a four-person team from Purdue University serving as inspectors. The cadets underwent a platoon drill competition on Feb. 19. The cadets then took a common knowledge test on Feb. 26. CAR then wrapped up with the final room inspection March 5 and the second athletic challenge on March 12.

The winners of each event were announced at the event and the units were awarded streamers to place on their guidons. There is no official winner of CAR, although if a unit does well enough, such as winning three of the five events, they might claim to have won, Urruela said.

Troop B earned top honors in uniform appearance, precision in platoon drill and room inspections. Company B won the challenge course competition. Band demonstrated the strongest knowledge of the CMA system through standardized testing.  At the battalion level, the Squadron claimed the coveted title as the best battalion for the second consecutive year.

 

CMA uses CAR primarily as a planning and execution tool for the Corps of Cadets leadership and also as a way to check CMA’s training and compliance with its regulations, said Maj. Kevin Green, the deputy commandant of cadets.

CAR also gives cadets a common goal to work toward during the winter months when they can’t take part in parades because of the cold temperatures and snow, said Tim Montgomery, assistant dean of CMA.

Sgt. Andy Plonski, the military leadership mentor for artillery, said it also gives cadets another opportunity to work on leadership.

“We have the older leaders enforcing these standards on the younger cadets,” Plonski said. “Now it’s adults and outside graders that are holding the old men to these standards, too. It’s a good insight into whether we are practicing what we preach.”

Urruela said CAR is valuable because it also enhances teamwork.

“CAR is a lot about working as a team. For example, in platoon drill all members have to move in unison and synchronize their movements with one another, communication is the key for success. All announcements and important information that comes from the adult leaders, the regimental staff, the battalion staff or the military mentors should be communicated to all cadets in a timely manner. If they fail to do that, it will result in failure for all the unit,” Urruela said.

 He said CAR also builds resilience and mental toughness because of its demanding nature and high-pressure environment as cadets also must navigate classes, sports and the numerous other demands at Culver.

“If you’re not ready that day, the evaluation will still take place regardless,” Urruela said. “So you have to learn how to manage your time effectively and maintain a high level of self-control and to be ready when it’s time to be evaluated.”

He said that helps cadets for real-world challenges they will encounter in their academic or professional futures.

““It provides cadets with the skills and the mindset needed to overcome obstacles and achieve goals in the future,” he said. “We learn that if we start to slack off, if we don’t communicate, if we don’t work as a team, if we don’t hold each other accountable, we are going to fail.”

CAR reinforces leadership skills because it provides unit commanders, first sergeants and other key leaders opportunities to practice and redefine their skills. They learn to motivate others, delegate tasks, communication and ensure their team performs to the required standards.

“CAR is a place to put what you’ve learned into action,” Urruela said. “This helps leaders learn how to motivate others and delegate tasks, because there’s a lot to do.”

 

 

Urruela said one thing he’s had to learn is that sometimes he must allow his subordinates to fail.

“One thing I’m learning and I’m still in the process of working on is letting them fail and let them learn from it. If I don’t let them fail, I’m not helping them to get better, , and become the best version of themselves” he said.

Urruela said he believes some cadets look forward to CAR while others do not look forward to the annual event.

“Some cadets get excited about the challenge and there are others who like to stay in their comfort zones and do not look forward to a challenge,” he said. “But many cadets do look forward to it. They want to get better. They want their unit to win. They have fun and learn a lot in the process.”

CAR has a long and storied history at Culver, known by various names including “General Inspection” and “Government Inspection,” the event included assessment of the efficiency of performance and cleanliness and order of living quarters and cadets. It dates back to around 1902, said Jeff Kenney, Culver Academies Museum archives manager.

Under the guidance of Commandant Leigh Gignilliat, Culver, like all military schools of note, was inspected annually by the Army with the goal of earning "Distinguished Institution" status, awarded to the nation’s top six military schools in the country.

Culver achieved that feat for the first time in 1906, opening the door for far greater recognition and appearances at more events. It led to Culver to become one of the few high schools granted ROTC status soon after the program was started in 1916, Kenney said.

Through the Class of 1942, because of Culver’s status as a Senior ROTC unit, Culver graduates were commissioned second lieutenants if they enlisted in the Army.

In November 1946, the Army reclassified all military preparatory schools as “Junior” ROTC, thus denying them the privilege of awarding direct commissions. Under the revised regulations, Culver graduates who had successfully completed its four-year JROTC program and then enrolled in a college ROTC program were given two years credit for their work at Culver and passed directly to the advanced program. With a bachelor’s degree in hand, the individual could be commissioned as a second lieutenant. 

 

 

During those years, until 1988, ROTC officials would visit Culver to inspect the school’s equipment, including its howitzers, its buildings and to make sure the school was following ROTC guidelines, Montgomery said.

“We weren’t competing against anyone in that. The purpose of that was to keep our ROTC charter,” Montgomery said.

At that point in 1988, Culver officials decided that the program had changed enough and shifted far enough away from its former identity, that it made more sense for Culver to create its current Leadership Department rather than continue as a JROTC school, Kenney said. It was basically a one-weekend competition among units, Montgomery said.

The annual inspection has evolved since then. Col. Kelly Jordan, Culver’s commandant of cadets from 2008-2013, created the National Independent Military School Comprehensive Evaluation Program in 2011 that ranked units in class attendance, religious service attendance, formation attendance, personal inspection, general inspection, general knowledge test, school history test and unit specialty test. The Association of Military Colleges and Schools in the United States approved the program, but no other school took part in the program, but Culver each year surpassed the highest designation of scoring at least 96 percent in the combined categories                                       .

In 2014, CAR transitioned into its present form and the events were spread out and took place often on Wednesdays so that athletes weren’t missing out on the opportunity to take part.

“It allowed us to see if the cadets could sustain their performance for a long period of time instead of just a weekend,” Montgomery said.

Urruela said he likes being part of a tradition that’s been ongoing at Culver for more than a century.

“It is an experience that every Culver cadet goes through,” he said. “I think it’s impressive how long this tradition has been going on at Culver.”