150 youth challenge selves, each other in fierce annual competition

Danashia Porcher, a freshman at Dimond High School, makes her way through the Run, Dodge and Jump event, an old Army Physical Fitness Test event which requires the runner to weave between wooden dividers and leap over a wide “ditch,” marked with tape, at top speed. (U.S. Air Force photo/Johnathon Green)

150 youth challenge selves, each other in fierce annual competition

Andre Wilson, a junior at East High School, puts on a burst of speed to get up the 14-foot ramp of an inflatable obstacle course at Otter Lake during the Raider Decathlon Friday. More than 150 Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps cadets converged at the lake for an overnight outing of campfires and competitions designed to foster friendships among cadets. (U.S. Air Force photo/Johnathon Green)

150 youth challenge selves, each other in fierce annual competition

Vanessa Dixon, a sophomore at East High School, makes her way through the beginning of the inflatable obstacle course at the Raider Decathlon Friday. The obstacle course required cadets to jump through openings, make their way around obstacles, and climb a 14-foot ramp before sliding down to the bottom and getting entirely off the course in the shortest time possible. (U.S. Air Force photo/Johnathon Green)

150 youth challenge selves, each other in fierce annual competition

Published Sept. 21, 2011
By Chris McCann
JBER Public Affairs

JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska -- High-school students from around the Anchorage area gathered Friday and Saturday for the annual Raider Decathlon at Otter Lake on Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson.

More than 150 Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps cadets from seven schools battled it out as teams, trying to post high scores on a rock-climbing wall, an inflatable obstacle course, a pedal-boat journey out into Otter Lake around a shrimp buoy, and other physical fitness events designed to push them to the limits and inspire teamwork.

Soldiers from the National Guard and the 3rd Maneuver Enhancement Brigade were on hand to help JROTC leadership guide students through events.

"This is the only event on our calendar that's not a drill meet," said Dimond High School senior Army instructor Thomas Shelley. "We're having campfires, s'mores, a cookout - this is competitive, too, but it's less stressful, and with a healthy dose of friendship."
Anders Ogawa, a junior at Dimond High, serves as the cadet battalion commander for his school.

"This builds teamwork - we're basically family," he said. "We push each other. If one person does good, you want to be good like them."

Ogawa wants to join the Marine Corps or Army, he said, but still has time to think about it before graduation.

"I advise people to join up and do (JROTC)," he said. "It's a great way to get into shape and have fun."

Senior Jennifer Howe liked the inflatable obstacle course best, she said.

"That was the best part," she said. "I'm good at it - I've done it before."

The program is a positive in her life, she said.

"I love all the stuff we do - this, or drill team, when we march - it's fun hanging out with other students.

"And the s'mores," she added.