Raider Battalion shows grit during major JROTC competition

SANFORD, N.C. — Fifteen JROTC teams from across the Carolinas and Virginia gathered in the early morning hours on Saturday at Lee County High School to participate in an arduous day of events at the Eastern North Carolina Raider Best of the Best Qualifier cadet competition that would test the several hundred cadets on both their physical and mental capabilities.

Richmond Raider Cadet Wyatt Graves runs up the last hill during the five-kilometer run at the Eastern North Carolina Raider Best of the Best Qualifier competition held on March 4, 2023. The event brought 15 teams from the Carolinas and Virginia to Sanford, N.C., to qualify for the next level of competition. (Photo by Mark Bell)

The invite-only regional event would qualify high school JROTC teams for the next level of competition. It brought the best in the area to the day-long event to test cadets on various tasks they trained on at their schools and demonstrate their leadership skills.

As teams gathered on the football practice field, Lt. Col. (ret.) Michael D. Morgan, the Yellow Jackets Senior Army Instructor, warned the JROTC student leadership teams that muddy conditions would play a factor throughout the morning until the sun could dry up the ground.

“We have a great day lined up, but we have to be safe and go home at the end of the day,” he said. “Safety is paramount. We all want to do our best but be smart out there.”

After an overview of the day’s events, Richmond Raider Cadets Waldon Walker and Cadet Luisa Evenes-Lopez briefed the Raider battalion on the five events slated for the day. They reinforced their expectations of a JROTC Cadet representing Richmond County and Richmond Senior High School.

The competition kicked off with an incredibly demanding five-kilometer run over some rough terrain that required the squad of cadets to navigate and remain within a few feet of each other throughout the course that would take them up and down steep hills and through a wooded area littered with exposed roots and water hazards.

“It’s important that we finish together,” Walker told the eight cadets selected to participate in a course that would push them to their limits. “Stay together, and let’s do the best we can.”

They did their best and finished with a time of 28:55, which would put them in seventh place for that event. Exhausted, dehydrated, and muscles sore, the team gathered at the green Raider guidon to change out running shoes for combat Army boots for the next event that was just a few minutes from starting.

Maj. (ret.) Darryl Kelly, Richmond Raider’s Senior Army Instructor, told the young cadets they did better than expected and should be proud of their effort on the run.

“There’s nothing to look down on,” he told the exhausted cadets. “You all did great and stuck together as a team. That’s the most important thing to remember. You were a team.”

With their uniforms soaked with sweat, Raider Cadet James Coicou grabbed the guidon and held it upright to lead the formation to their next event, the truck pull. With hundreds of cadets still recovering from the course, the Raiders were singing cadence as they marched off to the distance to a parking lot at another location on the school campus.

The cadets used two long, heavy ropes to pull a 5,500-pound Humvee across a parking lot. As they lay on their stomachs, the event grader gave them a short countdown before they leaped to their feet and began slowly moving the military vehicle that could transport five combat-loaded soldiers on the battlefield.

“Short choppy steps,” yelled First Sgt. Aaron Light to the Raider team as the Humvee started to move. “Keep going! Don’t stop! You got this!”

Light is a Richmond Raider Assistant Army Instructor at the high school.

The oversized Humvee tires slowly started to rotate, and the momentum of the team working together moved the heavy vehicle across the finish line in 23.5 seconds. That time was good enough for an eleventh-place finish.

With a quick break to rehydrate and snack on energy foods like bananas and oranges, the cadets were off to the most technically difficult event, the rope bridge.

Here, the cadets had to use short ropes to create their seat harnesses to allow them to traverse a large span using a much longer rope tied between two poles to simulate a squad movement across a small river. The cadets had difficulty with the new rules for the event and struggled with some of the small details of the event. They tied for last place.

Maj. (ret.) Darryl Kelly, Richmond Raider’s Senior Army Instructor, talks with the Raider Battalion JROTC Cadets at the Eastern North Carolina Raider Best of the Best Qualifier competition held on March 4, 2023. The event brought 15 teams from the Carolinas and Virginia to Sanford, N.C., to qualify for the next level of competition. (Photo by Mark Bell)

Kelly noticed the cadets were discouraged by the errors in their techniques that cost them valuable points and gathered the cadets in a quiet area to discuss the event.

“Hold your heads up,” he told them. “You did your best on the rope bridge. It’s on me that we were not doing the right thing. We will find out what is right and do better.”

Walker echoed Kelly’s comment and said it was his fault the team missed how the graders wanted the cadets to tie the knots properly.

“It won’t happen again,” he said to reassure the cadets. “We will do it right next time and do it better.”

Kelly told the Raider Battalion that the rope bridge obstacle no longer mattered.

“It’s over,” he said. “It’s time to move forward to the next event. It’s just one event, and nothing we can do about what just happened but learn from our mistakes. It’s going to be all right.”

The cadets were about to face the most physical-demanding team event. The obstacle course would challenge the cadets with every muscle in their bodies. After sprinting 100 yards, they had to go through a small tunnel, then over a tall wall before carrying a long, heavy log, and finally carrying 50-pound water cans. Only to do it all over again to return to the finish line.

Richmond Raider Cadet James Coicou watches as other teams complete the five-kilometer run at the Eastern North Carolina Raider Best of the Best Qualifier competition held on March 4, 2023. The event brought 15 teams from the Carolinas and Virginia to Sanford, N.C., to qualify for the next level of competition. (Photo by Mark Bell)

The Raider Battalion finished in 2 minutes and 42 seconds, which earned them another eleventh-place finish.

Last was the litter carry, in which cadets had to transport a heavy load representing an injured troop in combat. They navigated the litter over and under a variety of obstacles. They finished the time in 3 minutes and 3 seconds for a 13th-place finish. The cadets were docked several points for touching some of the barriers. Mental errors that cost them valuable points.

At the end of the day, the cadets finished in 12th place. Not the best finish, but a proud finish to be able to come out and compete against the best JROTC programs in the state.

“Our cade team consisted of four freshmen competing for the first time, two of whom had never attended a Raider meet at this scale and competing against the best teams in the area who have been competing for the past year together,” Kelly said.

Kelly said that at the end of the day, it’s not about the scores and finishes but more about developing Richmond Raider Cadets to learn and grow as individuals and team members.

“I am extremely proud of our team’s performance on Saturday, as well as the work ethic and commitment each team member demonstrated to prepare for a Best of the Best competition,” he said.

Light and Kelly were proud of the Raiders for what they accomplished at the competition and what they will accomplish in the future as they represent Richmond Senior High School and Richmond County with pride.