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'Sustained intensity'

Arizona Daily Wildcat

Last weekend, 80 UA students set aside their textbooks, put on military uniforms and were pushed to their physical limits.

The students, members of the UA Army ROTC Battalion, traveled to Fort Huachuca Army base in southern Arizona. They camped in knee-high grass, ate prepackaged food or MREs, and ran, low-crawled and climbed their way to their physical and mental limits.

"I know some active Army units that don't have the sustained intensity for (this) amount of time," said Army Lt. Col. Mark W. Jones, battalion commander. During the 48-hour exercise students built their self-confidence and were exposed to aspects of Army training, Jones said.

Cadets were presented with obstacles and given minimal tools and instruction. One such obstacle presented cadets with a challenge: figure out how to get a simulated missile - a 5-foot telephone pole section - across a pool of water with only two planks and their ingenuity. Most students figured it out.

Global exchange student Christian Dahms, a sports management senior from Germany said, "It was fun to see how a team worked together for one goal."

The exercise provided students with a snapshot of the intensity of Army life, said exercise commander William Griffin, a sociology senior and former enlisted Army member. "We looked at our weaknesses and went beyond those points," said Griffin as the battalion began its march back to the waiting busses for the trip home. "Now its back to school."