Ranger Challenge focuses on training

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The 28 members of the Ranger Challenge know what hard work is about.

They wake up at 6 a.m. every weekday and endure rigorous daily training.

The ROTC club specializes in hands-on military training, which
includes physical training, grenade throwing, M-16 assembly, rope
bridges and six-mile runs in full dress wearing a ruck sack, which
weighs between 25 and 35 pounds.

“Every morning, Ranger Challenge members do more activity before 8
a.m. than most people will do all week,” said Ranger Challenge club
captain Caitlin Hinterman, Davison senior. “The dedication to this team
and the effort that goes into all the training is amazing.”

The main focus of the club is the Ranger Challenge Competition. The
competition tests cadets’ endurance and skill in weapon assembly and
disassembly, hand grenade accuracy and a 10-kilometer run.  

The Chippewa Battalion will send two nine-member teams and one
five-member team to this year’s competition from Oct. 24 to Oct. 26 at
Camp Atterbury in Indiana.

The increased enrollment in the ROTC program has strengthened the
participation in the Ranger Challenge club, more than doubling to 28
this year, up from 12 last year.

“The increase has added a great number of cadets to our club,” said
Amber Lohmann, Niles junior. “Now we are able to have three strong
teams, unlike last year when we only had enough cadets to have one
team.”

With their extensive training, Newaygo freshman Aaron Roehrig said he is confident in his team’s ability to win.

“All the training we’ve completed prepares us for the annual
competition, where we will compete with teams from other universities
from around the region,” Roehrig said. “Our teams are looking strong
this year and we should be bringing home first place.”

The club also makes appearances at Mary McGuire Elementary School to
teach the kids how to read a map and land orienteering with hands-on
and classroom lessons. The club leads the Chippewa Battalion in morning
training sessions.

“The Ranger Challenge is a great team and leadership building club.
Cadets gain numerous qualities while also learning different valuable
training aspects of the United States Army,” Lohmann said.