Fort Hood, Texas  –   Four Army ROTC nurse cadets spent the past month training alongside military nurses at Carl R. Darnall Army Medical Center, gaining real-world experience and a clearer view of life as an Army Nurse Corps officer.

The Nurse Summer Training Program, or NSTP, is a 28-day clinical immersion designed to prepare future Army nurses through hands-on hospital work. At Carl R. Darnall Army Medical Center, the cadets rotated through several specialties, including labor and delivery, public health, emergency care, and more.

“This is the pinnacle training event for future Army Nurse Leaders,” said Nursing Operations Officer, Capt. Hugh Elsea, who helped lead the program. “It gives them a real sense of what’s possible in the Army—and in nursing.”

CRDAMC usually hosts two separate cadet rotations during the summer, this being the first. Each rotation places cadets in hands-on roles where they observe, plan, make decisions, and are held accountable for patient care outcomes.

For Cadet Reagan Smallwood, a nursing student from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, NSTP brought her closer to her dream of becoming a nurse midwife.

“I graduate in December and hope to get CRDAMC as my first duty station,” Smallwood said. “Then I plan to go on to the Gulf (66G) course and hopefully become a nurse midwife.”

Smallwood said her favorite part of the training was the opportunity to ask questions and learn from experienced nurses in real-time clinical situations.

“I worked with Maj. Fontenot on the labor and delivery floor and loved it,” she said. “Capt. Becker connected me with a nurse midwife, and I spent a day and a half shadowing her. I got to see the whole process from start to finish—triaging moms, getting them admitted, and the birthing process. It was amazing.”

Though she admitted to being nervous at first, Smallwood said the team at CRDAMC made her feel welcome right away.

“Everyone here has been really kind,” she said. “Any nerves I had disappeared as soon as I met my preceptors.”

She said it's normal to struggle at first but encouraged others to keep going until it clicks.

“In the beginning, it was a lot of fake it until you make it,” Smallwood said. “But confidence and persistence really helped me improve. If you want to be a nurse, find what you’re passionate about and run with it.”

Guest speaker Lt. Col. Daniel Fedderson, chief of perioperative nursing services, shared similar advice during a speech to the cadets at the end of the program. Though he once considered medical school, Fedderson said he’s grateful he chose nursing.

“I think I made the right choice,” he said. “I’m very happy with my nursing career.”

Fedderson shared a story about a gray horse named Snowman, a former plow horse who became a champion jumper in the 1950s.

“Why am I telling you about a horse?” he asked. “Because inside everybody, there’s potential. You’re at the beginning of your career and have so much ahead of you. Maybe you’ll find a passion for med-surg, or L&D, or ICU. Once you do, you might even want to pursue a master’s or doctorate. Just find what you’re good at and go after it.”

Elsea echoed that message of exploration and purpose.

“Some of these cadets don’t have a full sense yet of what Army nursing looks like,” he said. “It’s great to bring them here and show them how wide and rewarding the field really is.”

From delivering babies to watching medevac missions take off from Fort Hood, cadets walked away with more than clinical skills—they left with direction.

“Whatever they immerse themselves in, I hope they find a passion for it,” Elsea said. “That’s what guides you to the right path.”