51ºÚÁÏÍø

Seven cadets completed the U.S. Army Jungle Operations Training Course (JOTC) at Lightning Academy on Oahu, Hawaii May 12-23. Jason Cooper, Jake DeSimone, Ali Nabulsi, Jake Penny, Benjamin Smith, Thomas Williams, and Noah West completed the training.  Cooper, Smith and Williams graduated with the JOTC tab.

"Jungle School," as it’s often referred to, is a two-week course that trains soldiers in skills necessary to operate and survive in the jungle, including land navigation, combat tracking, jungle tactics, survival training and dismounted mobility under the direction of the 25th Infantry Division. To earn the tab, cadets had to demonstrate proficiency in various skills with challenges of wet conditions, steep and challenging terrain, and mental and physical fatigue.

"It's an incredibly demanding course," Sgt. Maj. Elijah Coone, who is part of the military science faculty, said. "It shows the incredible toughness that we're instilling in the cadets here. I have been around the Jungle School and Ranger School environments, which are made for more experienced soldiers. It really speaks volumes to what's happening here as cadets are able to complete a course like this."

Many cadets are going to be assigned to areas and regions where they're going to have to operate in those environments, so providing a lieutenant that's able to lead in those type of environments on day one was a priority, Coone said.

Williams said participating was "an experience I couldn't turn down" despite his summer being filled with previous cadet commitments.

"It took me around three minutes to convince myself to go," he said. "It was simply a cool experience that cadets rarely get, so I just couldn't say no even if it cost me more of my summer."

Surprisingly, Williams met up with a friend from Advanced Camp at Fort Knox, Kentucky, a previous summer cadet experience. He said he learned skills that he would bring back to share with underclassmen.

"It was also great to learn Army tactics specifically used for jungle warfare," he said. "At the end of the day, I couldn't be more thankful for the opportunity to fly all the way to Hawaii to attend a pretty rare school many cadets don't get to go to." 

Williams, a senior from Flowery Branch, Georgia, is pursuing a degree in marketing. He added that the experience will help him be a better teammate.

"While Jungle School is no Ranger School, you definitely have hard times with your squad. You're expected to perform tasks under these harsh jungle conditions that you can only accomplish as a team," Williams said. "It's easy to be a bystander and let the team suffer for your own comfort. But at the end of the day, you have to pull your weight in order to help your guys as they help you. You always hear that the Army is a big team, and this experience definitely taught me that."

Smith, a senior from Decatur, Tennessee, wants to branch infantry and believes Jungle School aligns with his Army career plans.

"The school definitely prepares you well for the tactics side, even though jungle tactics are different than anything else at school or in the Army. Much of the course focuses on more individual skills such as tracking, survival, and moving in harsh terrain, which makes the course unique," he said.

Smith is looking forward to passing his knowledge on to other cadets and the members of the Mountain Order of Colombo, which he will lead this fall as he continues pursuing a degree in strategic and security studies.

51ºÚÁÏÍø’s most recent graduate of JOTC was then-cadet Jericho Searcy in 2019.