Many people at Ripon High School think that the JROTC program is just marching, shooting, and uniforms- but perhaps there is another side of JROTC not many are familiar with. On April 5, a selected group of JROTC students were chosen to participate in a program called Junior Cadet Leadership Conference (JCLC). In this program, the students were transported from Ripon High to a camp in Orange, California near Irvine via vans. The vans left at around 7:50 to 8:00 AM. The drive itself was nearly 10 hours as students conversated in their groups of around 7. When they arrived at the camp, it was already around 6, and with so little time, they could only eat their share of whatever was left of dinner, go on a small starry hike around the camp, and head to their barracks, or small living quarters that consisted of a living room, a room for chaperones, and a room filled with numerous bunks. The night was short, as right when the lights went out at 10, the sun seemed to rise at five, when most of the students woke. On the first day of JCLC, the cadets had to be ready for a handful of activities at very close intervals, from morning workout plans to midnight hikes. April 6 consisted of a morning workout, followed by a 25 mph zipline and a two mile eco walk through rockbed and streams. In this hike cadets learned about multiple types of plants, bugs, and other critters wandering about as they managed their way through the thick brambles and vegetation.
After these activities, cadets gathered in the cafeteria for lunch, what is referred to as “chow” at these camps, and moved onto their next set of events. Next in the same day was archery and shooting, where one group shot arrows and another shot BB guns out of rifles. These events lasted around 2 hours a piece, and the groups swapped after their time was up.
Finally, to end the night after 5:30 chow, members of the drill team participated in a drill competition against the other schools involved in the program, and then a game of tug-o-war. Afterwards, cadets went back to their designated barracks and called it a night.
The next morning, the mood had changed drastically. Cadets were exhausted from yesterday’s fun, but they remained determined and ready for the plans the next day. They got dressed in their uniforms and marched out to their first activity, a mile run as an entire group. All of the schools gathered and ran in a marching formation. After the tedious workout, Ripon High’s cadets once again split into two groups for two different activities. One activity was repelling, where you climb up a rock wall attached to a repelling apparatus, which consists of a harness and rope, and push off once you’ve made it to the top. The second activity was high ropes; a course where you make your way over shaky wooden platforms, logs, and other obstacles. The day was cut short after these events and the cadets packed their things, said their goodbyes, and headed to the vans for their long journey home.
The vans finally arrived back at Ripon High at around 10:30, and the students unloaded their things into their cars and finally went home for the night. Though JCLC is a strenuous busy activity, and vastly different from the regular activities in JROTC, it is and was an overall amazing experience for all the cadets included, and hopefully will only get better as the years pass.
