News

Last Saturday a group of 11 cadets woke up well before the sunrise to travel to and compete in the Bixby Spartan Challenge! This is a competition between 10 local High Schools JROTC programs.  Our teams competed in 6 intense challenges as the temperature reached triple digits, they powered through all the obstacles in their way.

They started the day by selecting 6 members to participate in a 2.5-mile run. The rules of the run? Stay together, work as a team and finish within 10 seconds of one another. 

After the run we traveled over to the football field to perform the Maneuver Under Fire obstacle course, once again with a team of 6, our cadets, sprinted, low crawled, fireman carried another cadet, carried two 30lb packed ammo cases, threw a “grenade” into a tire and then sprinted back to the starting line while carrying those packed ammo boxes. Our cadets earned second place in this event.

The next event was the Ammo Pass. Once again our cadets powered through a series of obstacles, the goal was to complete as many reps as possible in 2 minutes. These obstacles included, elevated push-ups performed with their feet on the ammo box, overhead presses, and 90-degree squats, followed up with a 100-yard dash while carrying the ammo boxes. 

After a quick break for hydration and rest our cadets were set up on the track for the Mogadishu Mile. The goal of this event. Work as a team to carry the following items. 8 Drill Rifles weighing 8.5 lbs. a rifle, two backpacks with 40 lbs. of weight in them, and a medical litter with a 100 lb. punching bag on it.  Our cadets started out strong completing the first two laps of the mile with record time. However, on lap 3 they stumbled and the litter fell to the ground. Our cadets scrambled to gather up the items and place them back on the litter. As soon as the items were back on the litter they did a quick switch out of the members carrying the litter and off they went again with their last lap actually being the fastest lap they completed so far. Our cadets finished the mile in 14 minutes and 50 seconds, earning them the third-place trophy for this event. 

Next our cadets competed in the Ammo Carry Obstacle course, we ran into a familiar face here, a graduate from Thunderbird and current member of the Bixby JROTC ran the event.  During this event, our cadets raced to carry ammo boxes down the football field and then dropped right in to a 50 yd low crawl and then hopped back up to jump through tires. They then pushed a weighted canoe down the football field till they reached the next station where a 380 lb tire was waiting for them. Three of our cadets flipped the tire 20 yds the football field and then they had to do the whole course again on their way back to the finish line. Once again, they were judged on their teamwork as well as completion of tasks. They had to finish the course within 10 seconds of one another to have a qualifying score.

The final event of the day was the Obstacle course. Our cadets jumped, climbed, and crawled their way through the Spartan Obstacle course with grit and determination. They cheered each other on when they saw the other struggling and were encouraged by members of other JROTC groups as they completed the course. 

The day was finished with a well-deserved meal and a wonderful awards ceremony where our cadets were congratulated by other schools and were able to answer questions that the other students had about Thunderbird. 

Congratulations Cadets on all your hard work during the Bixby Spartan Challenge. It was a great day to be out there representing Thunderbird Challenge.