Despite the hurricanes the 2nd Annual Florida NJROTC Orienteering Camp was a success; even if we did not camp. With a lot of last minute adjustments and a few frantic phone calls we were able to still accomplish our primary objective, which was a day of training in the Ocala National Forrest. Several schools were unable to attend because of either being hit by Frances or Ivan. Some schools were able to attend one day but not both because of the long drives. But, all in all 8 schools with 83 cadets attended the training on Saturday and 3 schools with 50 competitors attended on Sunday. This could not have happened had Bob Putnam not designed and set up the training and Jonathan Linforth had not stayed up all night printing maps at the last minute.
Saturdays Training could not have been better. We had beautiful weather and eager cadets. Bob designed six courses; 1- Memory-O, 2- Draw your own map-O, 3- Line-O, 4-1K-O, 5- Compass-O, 6-Guided Tour. Each course was designed to take about an hour. Bob made it easy for us by not only giving us a set of instructions but also spending a Saturday marking the control locations. On the Friday prior to training I took six of my experienced cadets and assigned one to each course and had them place the markers. I don’t know how long it took Bob, but it took me nearly 3 hours with six cadets. The training started with the guided map tour. Cadet Taylor and Alicia Padrick took groups and pointed out terrain features on about a 500m loop. From there they went to the compass/pace course, where cadets Horn and Keys M. instructed cadets on how to follow an azimuth and convert a pace to meters. Cadets then followed Bob’s course through the woods. The next course was the 1k, instructed by cadet Keys and George Riquelme (Fingers). The cadets then went to one of the slightly more challenging courses depending on availability. Cadet Odermatt instructed the Draw-Your-Own-O, the Memory-O instructed by cadet Secosh and the Line-O instructed by cadet Johnson B. Feedback indicated that the learning curve was very steep. After such a long day of training, I am sure that the instructors had a quiet peaceful ride home. I know I did. Completion times for some of the courses are posted below. A lot of teams/groups did not turn in/or complete their cards. We have been unable to locate the 1k and to be quit honest, keeping times was not a priority. Training/learning was the objective.
Although only three schools competed on Sunday, the competition was spirited. Nease and Mandarin High Schools both had over 20 cadets and Boone returned with 5 cadets. Once again the weather was great and the cadets were eager. Only a handful of cadets tackled the challenging green course designed by Ray Bruneau. The cadets were up to the challenge with 6 of 8 completing the course. A slightly larger group tackled the orange course. They were not quite as successful and only had a 50% completion rate. The Yellow course was where the action was. Even with the majority competing for the first time we had over 60% success rate. Trophy’s were handed out to the fastest teams on the yellow course. Mandarin took 1st, Nease 2nd, and Boone 3rd. Individual medals were handed out to the top three on each course. See scores posted below.
Without a doubt, the most appreciated group of individuals were my parent volunteers/chaperones/cooks/taxis/DI’s etc. Kevin Taylor was our head cook/storekeeper with Cheryl Whalen and Mike and Ann Shimer to assist. They served up some awesome burgers, fries and hot dogs with all the trimmings. The logistics required to feed and water over 100 hungry cadets in the middle of the woods with no facilities was not an easy task. Finally, thanks to all of my O-Team cadets, who I worked like slaves to put this all together.
I will again try to look into the crystal ball and schedule next years camp in-between hurricanes. Thanks to all those schools that participated and made this camp a success.
1st Sgt Toby Henson
| Name | School | Time |
| TANG,H | NEASE | 0:36:33 |
| GAYLORD,S | MANDARIN | 0:38:00 |
| WRIGHT,B | MANDARIN | 0:44:28 |
| MILES,M | MANDARIN | 0:46:17 |
| PEARCH,E | MANDARIN | 0:46:44 |
| LABOY,A | MANDARIN | 0:49:30 |
| GUTIERREZ,M | BOONE | 0:52:22 |
| RICE,R | MANDARIN | 0:52:32 |
| WIGGINS,R | MANDARIN | 0:53:35 |
| GONZALEZ,J | BOONE | 0:56:54 |
| MOORE,J | MANDARIN | 1:03:56 |
| GERMAIN,R | NEASE | 1:09:50 |
| GARRETT,J | MANDARIN | 1:09:54 |
| MUNOZ,C | BOONE | 1:15:11 |
| OUELLETTE,C | NEASE | 1:28:19 |
| CORREA,L | MANDARIN | 1:34:30 |
| GIANFORTI,J | NEASE | 1:36:52 |
| CLERE,K | NEASE | DNF |
| HENDERSON,B | MANDARIN | DNF |
| CRINER,B | BOONE | DNF |
| DOLLAR,J | MANDARIN | DNF |
| FREDA,J | MANDARIN | DNF |
| RETEGUIZ,F | MANDARIN | DQ |
| REESE,A | NEASE | DQ |
| GAMBILL,J | NEASE | DQ |
| GWYN,B | NEASE | DQ |
| MARGUEZ,D | NEASE | DQ |
| BRANDON,S | NEASE | DQ |
| GREEN,C | BOONE | WP |
| BELL,B | MANDARIN | WP |
| Name | School | Time |
| REYNOLDS,A | MANDARIN | 1:08:13 |
| REED,J | MANDARIN | 1:09:41 |
| CUNDIFF | MANDARIN | 1:25:05 |
| BURTON,S | MANDARIN | 1:26:41 |
| SPOONER,T | MANDARIN | 1:28:30 |
| SMITH,M | NEASE | 1:42:51 |
| COCHRANE,S | NEASE | DNF |
| ROSENBAUM,B | MANDARIN | DNF |
| BECCARD,J | NEASE | DNF |
| McMURRAY,M | NEASE | DNF |
| CALLIS,B | NEASE | DNF |
| EDELEN | MANDARIN | WP |
| Name | School | Time |
| WANG,K | NEASE | 1:56:28 |
| GREENE,T | NEASE | 2:12:48 |
| DARTY,J | NEASE | 2:16:30 |
| THOMPSON,K | NEASE | 2:30:00 |
| BETHEL,J | NEASE | 2:33:30 |
| THOMPSON,D | NEASE | 2:42:15 |
| BARKET,A | NEASE | DNF |
| SEYMORE,J | NEASE | DNF |
| Name | School | Time |
| Group 1 | Bayside | 0:36:12 |
| #1 | Bayside | 0:44:20 |
| Group 1 | Robinson | 0:45:47 |
| Group 2 | Robinson | 0:49:05 |
| Group 1 | Brunswick | 0:56:00 |
| Boone | Boone | 0:59:01 |
| Group 1 | Nease | 1:26:35 |
| Group 2 | Nease | DNF |
| Group 3 | Nease | DNF |
| Group 4 | Nease | DNF |
| Wang | Nease | DNF |
| Flip & Sicco | Bayside | DNF |
| Name | School | Time |
| Group 4 | Nease | 0:26:00 |
| Group 3 | Crystal River | 0:30:00 |
| Boone | Boone | 0:36:00 |
| Bayside | Bayside | DNF |
| Group 5 | Nease | DNF |
| Group 1 | Nease | DNF |
| Group 2 | Nease | DNF |
| Brunswick | Brunswick | DNF |
| Bayside 2 | Bayside | DNF |
| Group 2 | Crystal River | DQ |
| Flip & Sicco | Bayside | DQ |
| Baker | ? | DQ |
| Robinson | Robinson | DQ |
| Group 2 | THS | DQ |
| Group 1 | Crystal River | DQ |
| DNF | Did Not Finish |
| DQ | Disqualified (Missed Controls) |
| WP | ? |