GHS cadets get taste of military training

Gaffney High JROTC cadets worked together Sept. 13 to successfully climb over an 8-foot-high wall on an obstacle course at the Clark Hill S.C. National Guard Training Center in McCormick. Crystal Duran's arms were still bruised and sore Tuesday morning from a strenuous weekend of scaling an eight foot wall and helping roll several logs along an obstacle course.

Duran was among 44 Gaffney High Junior ROTC cadets who spent Sept. 13 at the Clark Hill S.C. National Guard Training Center. Located outside McCormick, National Guard members led the cadets through a series of obstacle courses that tested their strength and endurance.

The cadets used ropes to swing across multiple tires in their best impersonation of Tarzan. Another obstacle required cadets to stand on a balance beam for 30 seconds and climb backwards over a ladder.

"This is the first time I've ever done anything like this. Everybody is bruised and sore from going through the obstacle course," Duran said. "We all had to work together as a team. It was a lot of fun. I wish we had an obstacle course like this one nearby so we could do this every weekend."

Local National Guard recruiters Staff Sgt. Grant High and David Olgesby arranged for the Gaffney High JROTC cadets to attend Clark Hill. The students traveled to the national training center Friday after school and spent the night in Vietnam War-style bunkers.

Michael Reynolds is among many Gaffney High JROTC cadets with plans to enter the military after high school. Reynolds has already spoken with a U.S. Marine about enlisting.

Even with his interest in the military, Reynolds said he still wasn't prepared for the challenge of navigating the 3- hour obstacle course or rappelling down a 35 foot tower.

"I got stuck while I was rappelling. I had to pull myself back up and get the harness untangled before I could go back down again," Reynolds said. "The toughest part of the obstacle course was figuring out how to get everybody over the 8-foothigh wall. We had to pull each other over the wall. This took all our strength."

Gaffney High Lt. Col. Morris Miller believes the cadets' ability to overcome these obstacles helped develop teamwork and student leadership skills.

"The cadets learned a lot about each other and themselves," Miller said. "The obstacle course was about our cadets learning to overcome limits and taking the word 'can't' out of their vocabulary."