JROTC cadets discover “real world” teamwork at camp in Germany
By Rick Emert, Bamberg
bureau
Rick Emert / Stars and Stripes
Cadet Alcine Scott, left, seems to be unsure over her level of support from Nicholas
Rendon, a Navy cadet from Naples, Italy during the Junior Reserve Officer Training
Corps camp held at Vilseck and Grafenwöhr, Germany. |
GRAFENWÖHR, Germany — For at least 120 students of Department
of Defense Dependents Schools in Europe, summer vacation hasn’t quite started yet.
The students, cadets in the Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps,
are attending a camp that began just a few days after school let out and runs through
Wednesday at Grafenwöhr and Vilseck.
Although it beats sitting in a classroom or sitting around the house
watching television, the camp is 10 days chock full of challenges for the young green
suiters.
“It’s very challenging,” said Kayla Belcher, who will
be a senior next year at Mannheim High School. “It makes you pull out all the
strength you have within.”
Belcher, slightly hoarse from shouting during Thursday’s Leader
Reaction Course, said she was bonding with the fellow cadets from schools all over Europe.
“This really helps my communication skills,” she said.
“I’m finding that I can connect with people with different personalities. This
helps us learn to deal with the real world.”
It also helps the cadets do the things they never thought they could,
and face fears they never knew they had.
“The hardest thing for me was rappelling,” said Alcine
Scott, who will be a senior next year at Heidelberg High School. “I’m not afraid
of heights, and I had no problem with the rock climbing. But when it came to rappelling, I
just didn’t want to do it. I was crying and everything, but a lot of people helped me
get through that and rappel down.”
That’s what the JROTC camp is all about, said retired 1st Sgt.
Bruce Andrews from Hohenfels High School’s JROTC program.
“The main reason we do this camp, and specifically the Leader
Reaction Course, is to help them learn and fully experience teamwork,” Andrews said.
The course offered several challenges in which the cadets had to work
as a team to cross the obstacles together.
Rick Emert / Stars and Stripes
Ben Arnold from Hanau High School works his away across fellow cadets at the JROTC
camp. During this event, cadets were not allowed to touch the ground. |
Other events throughout the camp include rock climbing and rappelling
at a complex near Pottenstein, sports competitions, an obstacle course, helicopter and
tank static displays and a drill and ceremony competition.
“This is adventure training,” said retired Maj. David
Schwab, from Baumholder High School’s program.
“They have mental challenges while trying to lead their peers in
the leadership positions they have here. There are also physical challenges, they all have
to take a [physical training] test before coming to camp, so we know that they have the
upper body strength and they’re able to keep up with the runs. But we also want them
to have some good, clean, safe fun here.”
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