Photo By Kaitlin Knauer | Cadets from U.S. Army Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps participate in a rope...... read more read more
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Fort Riley hosted 113 cadets from 5 high school Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps programs for a week of Cadet Leadership Challenge. The cadets, who arrived June 21, were from Junction City, Garden City, Topeka West, Leavenworth High Schools and Booneslick Technical Education Center, Booneslick, Missouri. To build confidence and learn new skills, cadets compete in challenges including the rope bridge, obstacle course, rappel tower and leader reaction course.
The last time JROTC JCLC took place at Fort Riley was in 2012. Though the program migrated to various locations, the most recent iteration, prior to COVID-19 restrictions, was held in Salina.
“Honestly, the resources on Fort Riley are just much greater,” stated retired Lt. Col. Richard R. Hodgson, Senior Army instructor at Junction City High School JROTC. “We have a real obstacle course here which we didn't have there… and obviously a lot more… space. I think we can really do it better here.”
The JROTC program benefits from the support of Fort Riley and other entities including the Kansas National Guard. Master Sgt. Craig A. Jackson, Kansas National Guard senior training and counseling non-commissioned officer, has been a part of the JROTC program since 2009.
“Fort Riley, it’s great, because the barracks are tip-top," Jackson said. “To have the organized support from the base, you know, the MP (military police) Company, it was just great. Some good NCOs (are) out there - from the bus drivers to the medics and everything.”
Susan Husman is a mother of four children who have all attended JROTC programs. After seeing the positive impact, she began volunteering for Topeka West High School.
“After my son graduated, my oldest daughter went through and I started getting more involved with it,” Husman said. “It helped her come out of her quiet shell, especially her first year. She came back and ended up being executive officer of her battalion class (during her) senior year.”
“There are a lot of people within public education, probably society as a whole, who think my job is to provide cannon fodder for the Army,” Hodgson said. “It's not. We do not recruit kids; we're about making them better at whatever path they decide to go. If you were to talk to every one of those kids, you'd find the majority of them probably don't plan on going to (the) military.”
The JCLC was canceled in 2020 due to COVID-19 and the number of participating cadets is lower in 2021 than in previous years.
The plan for future JCLC programs is to grow and exceed pre-COVID-19 cadet participant numbers. Fort Riley is the place to do that said retired Lt. Col. James E. Hall, Senior Army instructor at Topeka West High School JRTOC.
“This is great training,” Hall said. “It's incredible watching these kids learning in a real leadership environment and solving problems. We’re plowing a lot of new ground, getting this in, and the support that we've gotten from Cadet Command and from 97th Military Police Battalion, it's just been phenomenal.”
| Date Taken: | 06.24.2021 |
| Date Posted: | 06.25.2021 15:24 |
| Story ID: | 399778 |
| Location: | FORT RILEY, KS, US |
| Web Views: | 180 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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