Blowing up a bunker is all in a day's work for a soldier. But what if the bunker was surrounded by minefields, and the two guys assigned to help were out of control, suffering from post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)?

This was just one of the scenarios that Bermudian Charles S. Waters, 22, had to cope with as part of his American army training.

Earlier this year 2nd Lt. Waters — who holds dual Bermudian and American citizenship was named the number one cadet in his Army Royal Officers Training Corps (ROTC) battalion. He placed among the top ten percent of 5,000 army cadets in the United States.

He graduated from Union College in Schenectady, New York in June as a mechanical engineering major.

After passing through a number of further army courses he anticipated being deployed in Afghanistan in 2010.

The bunker exercise was part of an evaluation for his Leadership Development and Assessment Course (LDAC).

"That is the kind of stuff that they do," said 2nd Lt. Waters. "They throw you into these super stressful environments to see how you react. That is the whole methodology behind evaluating what kind of leadership characteristics you have.

"They are looking at whether you are calm under pressure. Do you get frustrated and snap?"

Completing the ROTC programme allows cadets to commission out as second lieutenants.

Second Lt. Waters sees being in the military as more of a calling than a career.

"My father, Col. Sumner H. Waters, was in the army for 27 years," said 2nd Lt. Waters. "He retired when I was 11 years old. I grew up with it. My father raised me to be one. It is like a calling."

2nd Lt. Waters said his ancestors have been in every war going back to the American Revolution.

"I really come from a military family," said 2nd Lt. Waters. "It is in our blood."

His mother is Karin Waters.

He said he initially joined the army hoping to outrank his father.

"When I joined, I joined with the idea that I was going to beat him, do more than he did and outrank him," said 2nd Lt. Waters with a laugh. "I absolutely have a lot more respect for him now.

"We have had a closer connection over the last couple of years because of all this stuff. We share stories, and it is pretty cool. He has been pivotal. He has given me the resources to pursue this. He is really proud too, so that is good."

Second Lt. Waters' ranking of 227th out of 5,000 cadets in the United States allowed him to pick what branch of the army he wanted to join. His first choice was combat engineer.

"Basically, it is a combat arms branch," he said. "You do see action. It will probably be in Afghanistan. They are switching out of Iraq into Afghanistan. It is a pretty heavy engineering area because there aren't too many roads."

He said there are a lot of mobility issues that combat engineers are called on to deal with.

"The funny thing about the army is you have people who trained on a job their whole lives, who are now doing the job of the infantry and kicking doors down and assaulting buildings.

"The army is going through a lot of changes. You have to be really adaptable. You can do anything."

Second Lt. Waters is currently on reserve duty, but will go on active duty in October. This summer he is working with Bermuda Air Conditioning Ltd. (BAC).

He still has to complete several specialised military courses including Basic Officer Leadership Course 2, Engineering Officer Basic Course, and then airborne school and then ranger school.

"A lot of my senior friends from last year and a couple of years ago have gone over to Iraq," said 2nd Lt. Waters. "They have different stories. A lot of them come back to the ROTC programme and talk to the junior officers to give them a run down of what they have experienced. It is a very close-knit community.

"You keep in touch with everyone. A lot of my friends that I commissioned with, right after their officer leadership courses, they are flying to Afghanistan to take command of their platoon.

"They hop on a plane, show up in Afghanistan and take command of a fifty soldier combat unit and conduct tactical operations the next day. It is pretty intense."

He said being deployed for the first time is a bit scary, but he has trained to do a job.

"The more proficient you are at your job, the safer things will be," he said. "As the officer in charge, it is about sacrifice and being the best you can be to maintain control of your men and ensure that they all come home at the end of the day.

"That is the burden of leadership. The better you can make yourself and the more proficient you are, the more chance you will have of coming out okay."

He praised the army training he received.

"I feel more than ready," he said.

Second Lt. Waters has received a number of awards including the George C. Marshall Award. The reward for getting this award was more training.

"The number one cadets in the country get flown out to the Virginia Military Institute (VMI)," he said. "You go and listen to some of the subject matter experts on the most pressing 16 topics in the national security realm.

"They are all there and you have classes for three days straight. It is a 12-person class and you get to talk to people like General George W. Casey Jr. the Joint Chief of Staff of the US Army.

There were five joint chiefs of staff, the prior and present ones, and eight four-star generals. It was a fantastic experience."

Second Lt. Waters attended Saltus Grammar School for two years before going abroad to boarding school.