Junior ROTC cadets participate in a 5-kilometer run as part of the Waynesville Junior ROTC Survival of the Fittest Raider Challenge Competition held Oct. 5 on Fort Leonard Wood.
Angi Betran, Fort Leonard Wood Public Affairs Office
Junior ROTC cadets participate in a 5-kilometer run as part of the Waynesville Junior ROTC Survival of the Fittest Raider Challenge Competition held Oct. 5 on Fort Leonard Wood.
Angi Betran, Fort Leonard Wood Public Affairs Office
More than 300 Junior ROTC cadets from 19 schools visited Oct. 5 at Fort Leonard Wood to compete in the Waynesville JROTC Survival of the Fittest Raider Challenge.
This year’s Raider Challenge, hosted by the 31st Engineer Battalion, was a multi-event competition designed to test the cadets’ physical and mental fitness. This year’s challenges featured a 5-kilometer run, the Physical Endurance Course and a physical team test that included pull-ups, tire-flips and carrying water cans.
“It’s critically important to support the Junior ROTC program — you have the future of the military out there right now,” said Lt. Col. Mike Kaiser, 31st Engineer Battalion commander. “We’re seeing kids who already have the grit and the resiliency. When you look at what they were put through today, I can absolutely see them being future Soldiers, future Airmen, future Sailors, future Marines and future Guardians.”
Retired Col. Charles Williams, the Waynesville High School Junior ROTC senior Army instructor, said he believes it is good to bring the cadets to Fort Leonard Wood because many of the schools competing are not from military communities.
“A lot of these kids are going on to college ROTC or military academy or enlist. During this competition they get to eat breakfast in an Army Warrior Restaurant, meet soldiers and get a window into basic training that most people don’t get,” Williams said.
Waynesville High School senior and JROTC cadet Nathaniel Copeland said he feels competitions like the Raider Challenge are “good motivation” for JROTC cadets.
Copeland has already joined the Army National Guard and spent his summer break completing basic combat training at Fort Moore, Georgia, as part of the Army’s Split Option program.
“We did stuff like this at basic, like the Physical Endurance Course. It’s encouraging to do it with your (JROTC) team and later down the road we can actually do it in the Army,” Copeland said.
After graduation, Copeland plans to return to Fort Moore to attend the U.S. Army Infantry School.
Another cadet, Jacob Hawkins, a senior at Blue Springs South High School in Blue Springs, Missouri, said competing in this challenge at Fort Leonard Wood has given him a glimpse into what life could be like in the Army.
“The Raider Challenge showed me the bonding experience you get with everyone and that there’s always something bigger than yourself — a bigger picture that everyone works together for. It also showed me what day-to-day life in the military is like,” Hawkins said.
Overall winners for team competitions were — first place, Blue Springs South U.S. Air Force JROTC, Blue Springs, Missouri; second place, Camdenton High School U.S. Army JROTC, Camdenton, Missouri; third place, Ozark High School U.S. Army JROTC, Ozark, Missouri; fourth place, Waynesville High School U.S. Army JROTC, Waynesville, Missouri; and fifth place, Junction City High School U.S. Army JROTC, Junction City, Kansas.
The top five winning teams have earned the chance to compete in the U.S. Army Cadet Command’s national competition later this month at Fort Knox, Kentucky.
