The only time I remember waking my cadets up at 0700 was on the last day. Other than that we woke them up at 0500, 0530, 0600, and one day 0330. I can't blame the cadets for not knowing the time. As I believe most of them probably had their watches taken. But 0700 is pretty light out at Cherry Point. The time we woke them up at 0330 we had to do it quietly as to not wake up the Marines who were going to be deployed later that day. As well as, yes the PT was limited. Seeing the PT was scheduled later on in the evening with Marines. But the Marines do their PT in the morning because it's so intense. They don’t want anyone to pass out from the heat. Here are some of the things we did at the NCWG Encampment: Drill with Marines, O-Course (All of it, unlike Fort Bragg), Martial Arts demonstrations, K-9 demonstrations, Rifle simulation, combat pool, and compass course. Heck, they should be appreciative we even had a place to have this year’s encampment. We didn't go to Fort Bragg because they had their own guys in tents in the field and were swamped with deployments. The Marines were gracious enough to allow us to utilize their sea huts. When we first arrived the Marines there were like, "Oh great, not another bunch of JROTC cadets." But after a few days they knew who we were. Many of the Marines I spoke with loved to speak with the cadets because they were so respectful. The Marines who helped us with the O-Course and drill were thrilled to give up there free time and spend it helping us. Those cadets at your squadron need to look at the whole picture and not a few minor details. Tell those cadets at your squadron Chief Boyd (Sierra Flight Sgt. Honor Flight '05) said to be grateful there was an encampment this year. If they ask why, tell them what I posted here.
