With today’s technology, most have steered away from using an atlas or map to plan the quickest and most efficient way to get to a location. Our generation is dependent on a GPS or Google Maps to generate a route, with little to no thought involved.

With this dependency, many do not acquire the skills to navigate, and when technology fails or disappoints, they find themselves unprepared to find their way.

The Shippensburg University Army Reserve Officer Training Corps Ranger Challenge team and contracted junior and sophomore cadets began land navigation training in Letterkenny’s mountains on Sept. 13 at 3 a.m. For most, this was only their first or second time applying the skills taught in class.

Sophomore Brandon Krehling said he “expected the worst but hoped for the best.” Krehling, like most of his class, was doing this for the first time.

The junior class had completed land navigation training in pairs one other time, which was last spring. However, last time was during the daylight and there was little to no vegetation. This made keeping a pace count and direction more manageable.

“I feel well prepared with what I learned and experienced from our training in the spring,” junior Mike Rycyzyn said.

The sophomores were in pairs and the juniors were by themselves to complete the course. For three and a half hours there was complete darkness, with only cadets’ red lens lights for visibility.

When the cadets arrived at the start point, they were given eight points to plot. They then had to determine the distance between each and the degree of travel. They also had to plan the best route to take.

Despite the darkness, the cadets were doing well with the challenge. The groups of red lights could be seen heading up a road and then dispersing and disappearing into a tree line.

What seemed like a somewhat simple, manageable task became nerve-wracking and frustrating for most. As the cadets progressed into the mountain, the vegetation grew thicker and fallen trees became more and more common.

In some areas entire tree roots were pulled out, creating massive ditches. Overgrown thorn bushes and vines covered parts of the mountain, making it impossible to avoid them. Cadets hoped that the sound of breaking limbs was made by another cadet nearby.

The darkness threw people off course, disorienting some, and as the sun began to rise, cadets rushed to make up for lost time. They recognized places they had been and realized they walked right by a location they had spent hours looking for.

As the exercise ended, each cadet returned with mixed emotions. Some did very well or better than they expected and some were very disappointed with their performance.

“I can see now that I need a lot more practice,” Rycyzyn said, a thought shared by many others.

Sophomore Alex Fata thought of it as “a great learning and bonding experience.”

Every cadet gained something out of the training, whether it was the realization of his or her skill level, learning to work with others in stressful situations, overcoming personal fears or keeping composure when challenges arose. 

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