AFIT's Department of Engineering Physics (ENP) hosted two cadets from the United States Military Academy at West Point (USMA) for a month this summer.  The visit was coordinated through the Defense Threat Reduction Agency's (DTRA) Nuclear Science and Education Research Center (NSERC), which is located with the USMA Department of Physics.  Both cadets plan to major in nuclear engineering and volunteered to participate in a USMA-sponsored Academic Individual Advanced Development (AIAD) program at AFIT.

On 2 June, the cadets met with faculty from AFIT's nuclear engineering program and were briefed on several AFIT research projects.  At that time, the requirements of the faculty-research were balanced with the interests and backgrounds of the cadets and several short-term research projects were identified as appropriate for the combined interests of AFIT and the USMA.  The cadets then completed basic safety and radiation safety training and learned to set-up and operate several radiation detectors and the supporting electronics instrumentation.  The cadets have applied their newfound skills and education to two faculty-research projects that involve the examination of novel materials for enhanced radiation detection, and optimization of radiation detector placement.  The lead investigators for the projects are Dr. Tony Kelly (ENP) and Dr. Justin Clinton (ENP).

The cadets returned to West Point at the conclusion of their AIAD to complete four weeks of Cadet Field Training, which introduces cadets to close-ground operational tactics and associated challenges of leading soldiers in a tactical environment at the team and squad level.  They will return to classes at USMA in early-August.