FORT JACKSON -- More than 700 high school students from North and South Carolina gathered at Fort Jackson this past week for the Junior ROTC Junior Cadet Leadership Challenge -- also known as Camp Carolina.
Supported by the Army National Guard from North and South Carolina, the camp focuses on team building and adventure training.
A cadre of 120, consisting of retired officers and noncommissioned officers, and 20 chaperones guided the students through an array of field exercises. The students also had some fun in at Knight Swimming Pool.
"The camp has been great," said Richard Underwood, leadership challenge commandant and an instructor at Jack Britt High School in Fayetteville, N.C. Underwood added that the high schoolers participated in a variety of challenges, including ropes, land navigation and water obstacles.
Head chaperone Thelma Luckey, also a retired Army Reservist and a teacher's assistant at a North Carolina high school, said this year's camp has run as smooth as ever.
"They're kids, and you just deal with (what comes along)," said Luckey, who is in her 13th year with the JROTC camp.
Luckey said she and her staff kept the students motivated. All-around teamwork made the camp a success, she said.
Theo Faison and Matthew Blake, both of the Kingstree High School JROTC program, said their participation in the camp is their way of giving back to their community.
"It's a good way to help the community," Blake said of their training future leaders.
Camp Carolina concluded with a graduation ceremony Tuesday morning. The JROTC camp is conducted annually to promote and encourage future leaders in the military.
Delawese.Fulton@us.army.mil
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