A total of 24 schools from across the state of Georgia brought their JROTC cadets to Dawson County on Saturday, Oct. 15, for a Raider meet that would test each group’s cohesion, discipline and physical strength.
The sounds of marching, chants and teamwork filled the air as hundreds of cadets displayed their skills.
“It takes a lot of hard work and coordination to pull off such a big event,” DCHS JROTC instructor SFC (R) Steve Pamplin said. “Thank you to the Army National Guard, U.S. Army and the UNG Corps of Cadets for sending volunteers to serve as graders and scorers for the Competition. Also, thank you to the DCHS JROTC Cadets and parents that volunteered at the scoring tables and concession stand.”
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Six different events — each with unique individual and collective requirements — awaited the many Raider units, most of which had multiple teams.
That was the case for the DCHS Raiders, whose strongest group proved to be the Mixed A team.
A combination of male and female cadets came together and used their strong communication skills to finish sixth out of 18 mixed teams, highlighted by a third-place finish at the rope bridge competition.
While the main objective of that event was for a certain number of individuals to crawl across a rope bridge within a period of time, the crucial element was the team effort to assemble the bridge, get the person on and off the rope, and then disassemble the bridge.
Other events included the tire flip, obstacle course, sandbag relay, cross country rescue and team run.
The cross country rescue involved the team wearing weighted rucksacks while simulating a rescue through a challenging wooded trail.
For the obstacle course, each team had to first find a way to get all units to clear a wooden wall before embarking on the course. One person had to serve as the stepping stone while the first ones to get over the wall helped pull others up.
By the end of the event, the DCHS Raiders had shown both significant physical exertion and teamwork.
According to Pamplin, the efforts of the DCHS Mixed and Male Raider teams have qualified them for an “All Services” state Raider meet held Saturday, Oct. 22, at Yahoola Creek Park in Dahlonega.