JOSEPH HESLINGA/Arizona Daily Wildcat Aerospace engineering junior Garrett Mitchell, left, and business management senior Jamie Ventre tie themselves into rope harnesses last week outside ROTC South Hall. They are training for a grueling two-day competition against ROTC programs from around the West.

On a cool, quiet Veterans day, members of the ROTC military science Ranger Challenge class did not take the day off. They continued to train for a grueling two-day, eight-event competition challenging their physical and mental abilities.

The team began the day with a 10k (6.2 miles) rucksack march, in which each cadet carried a load of about 50 pounds (30 pounds for female team members). Peter Kim, a political science senior, played music from an MP3 player attached to his rucksack for motivation.

The team will leave for the ROTC Ranger Challenge tomorrow, and the competition starts at Ft. Hunter-Ligget in California on Friday. The team will compete against ROTC programs from other schools around the west.

Sgt. First Class Mark Trees, U.S. Army, said the first day of the competition will consist of six events.

JOSEPH HESLINGA/Arizona Daily Wildcat Journalism junior Blake Tilker pulls a line taught between two poles that will be used as a one-rope bridge.

The cadets will complete the Army physical fitness test, measuring how many push-ups and sit-ups each team member can do in two minutes and how fast they complete a two-mile run. They then move onto marksmanship, repelling, patrolling, an obstacle course, and the one-rope bridge.

The goal of the one-rope bridge is speed and efficiency and these cadets have it. The cadets pull a rope tight between two poles and then clip their harness to the rope. They pull themselves across, hanging with their backs to the ground, as quickly as possible. If any part of their body or equipment touches the ground, the team is penalized.

Jamie Ventre, a business management senior and captain of the team, said each team member will eventually carry a weapon while participating in the one-rope bridge, adding to the difficulty.

The second day of the competition is the most grueling, Trees said. There are only two events, but one is the rucksack march. The other is a land navigation course, Trees said.

Trees said the team did fair in last year's competition.

"We didn't do as well as we thought," Trees said, which he attributed to the limited amount of training time the cadets get.

Team members must maintain a focus on studies, and are limited to only 1 1/2 hours of practice time per day. Trees said he felt the team has improved greatly from last year.

"We decided this year to focus on one event," said Trees. With the amount of work the team is able to put in, they will concentrate most of their energy on the 0K rucksack march.

Ventre described the march as the most mentally and physically challenging event of the competition.

Ventre, 28, has six years' experience in the army and has been on the team for the past three years.

The team, which meets Monday through Friday from 5:30 to 7 a.m., has gradually worked up to the level it is at now, said Daniel Werho, team member.

"He (Sgt. Trees) raises the bar throughout the semester," said Werho, a family studies and human development junior.

As the semester progresses, Werho said the team does more, and works harder. He said they even started training at 5 a.m. one day.

Above all, these cadets are enthusiastic, and have fun while learning to work as a team.