During the weekend of March 5, the Mililani High School JROTC Raider team went to Kauai to compete in the Menehune Adventure Challenge. The challenge had an obstacle course that included rope climbing, traversing over cables, tire flips, crawling through tunnels, and a 9ft wall climb. The competition contained a rope bridge, spider cross, knot ties, physical fitness test, paddling, and a 400 meter swim. Our JROTC unit brought two teams; a male team and a mixed team. The male team included two juniors and two sophomores, while the mixed team included one junior and three freshmen. The team stayed in Kauai for 3 days 2 nights. Our mixed team won 1st place in the 400m swim and rope bridge, which brought them closer towards their highest achievement of 2nd place overall. Unfortunately, the male team did not have as much luck as the mixed team, but they still had things they wanted to say about the competition. Cadet First Sergeant (C/1SG) Jayden Rendall, a junior, said “I had a really great time! It was so much fun, tiring, and painful, but it was all worth it in the end. We need some improvements, but other than that we did pretty good! Definitely doing it again next year!” Another response I got was from Cadet First Sergeant (C/1SG) Tyler Busby “Crazy PT with your friends is really fun. Teamwork and the team’s motivation is how we got through the weekend. We embraced the suck.” Our Cadet Sergeant Major (C/CSM), Matthew Leonard said some wise words when asked about his experience “Become infatuated with the suffer-fest, when the mileage adds up and it becomes grim, it helps to become a little cynical. Embrace the suck.” Lastly is Cadet Corporal (C/CPL) Aaron Aytes, one of the few selected freshman to get to go to this competition, said ”This was my first Raiders competition and it was off island on Kauai. It was physically and mentally challenging, but in the end, I learned a lot and made a lot of friends, I hope to go again soon.” I got two more responses that came from the mixed team. The first of them comes from Cadet Corporal (C/CPL) Cyan Tote who said “Start the time with a good mood and no pain, then let both of those things slowly diminish until they get into the negative and the numbers begin to increase again, then you can just ignore the negative. Embrace the suplex,” Lastly Cadet Corporal (C/CPL) Dylan Pitts, “I had a great experience with great people doing astonishing physical tasks.” All members of the teams that went on the trip say they loved it, and that they are really hoping to go next year to Maui Madness, another competition on Maui, sponsored by Baldwin High School Army JROTC.

Story and Photos by Cadet Corporal (C/CPL) Jamie Ross, Assistant Public Affairs Officer, Mililani High School Army JROTC.