Thursday, October 1, 2026
Early-morning formations, obstacle courses, land navigation and a rope descent down the side of a tower pushed 10 Uniondale High School Army Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps cadets well beyond their comfort zones during a five-day leadership camp at Fort Devens, Mass.
The annual Junior ROTC Leadership Challenge Camp, June 22 to 26, challenged nearly 200 cadets from schools throughout New York both physically and mentally while teaching them teamwork, communication and leadership.
Maj. Anthony Telesca, who helps oversee Uniondale High’s Army JROTC program, said the camp is designed to challenge students as they learn to lead and work together under pressure.
“They come from all different schools within the tristate area and even Albany,” Telesca said. “We intermingle them together so they’re not just sticking with the kids they know from their school. They get to meet new friends and work together as a team.”
Similar immersive-leadership events are held at military installations across the globe, where cadets build confidence and discipline.
“I think they really enjoy overcoming the obstacles they’ve put in their minds,” Telesca said. “They’re proud of themselves once they’ve completed an obstacle, because they’ve realized the only thing limiting them was themselves.”
Throughout the five-day camp, cadets rotated through leadership and team-building exercises including land navigation, using maps and compasses; obstacle courses; and the Field Leadership Reaction Course, in which teams transported equipment and a simulated injured person across obstacles without touching the ground.
Cadets also took part in swimming, basketball, soccer and other recreational activities before taking on one of the camp’s signature challenges — rappelling from a 60-foot-tall training tower, which necessitated confronting their fears while relying on proper technique and teamwork.
“These are things that we try to make them understand — that life is going to throw challenges at you,” Telesca said. “But it’s not anything you can’t handle. You just have to think through it and go through the process.”
Rappelling from the tower, which is roughly equivalent to a six-story building, proved to be one of the biggest challenges, and made an impact on incoming senior Dany Alvarez and junior Alessandra Magana. Despite their initial hesitation, they completed the exercise, with encouragement from instructors and fellow cadets.
“I have a really big fear of heights, and being able to be motivated to do that really pushed me,” Magana said. “It made me feel better and helped me get over my fear.”
Alvarez said he also had a fear of heights, but found that stepping off the tower helped him overcome it. By the time he reached the ground, he said, the fear had faded and been replaced by a sense of accomplishment.
During the Field Leadership Reaction Course, cadets were presented with a series of problem-solving scenarios that could only be completed through teamwork, forcing them to communicate, delegate responsibilities and develop strategies under pressure.
“It’s teamwork that makes everything possible,” incoming junior Douglas Tejada said. “It just can’t be yourself doing all the work — everyone has to put their mind into it, and then you have to execute it.”
This was Tejada’s second year the camp, and the biggest challenge, he said, was waking up 3 a.m. for drills. “You have to wake up early, to be out in formation — that teaches you to fix your sleep schedule pretty quick, or else you’re going fall asleep.”
For many of the cadets, another challenge was learning to work alongside students they had never met. Participants were assigned to teams made up of cadets from schools across the region, forcing them to communicate, solve problems and build trust with strangers.
Magana said that stepping outside her comfort zone ultimately became one of the most rewarding parts of the experience. Working with students from different schools gave her the opportunity to hear new perspectives while building friendships that extended beyond the Uniondale JROTC program.
In addition to the physical challenges, cadets said the experience taught them lessons they expect to carry with them long after high school. Whether they pursue military service or civilian careers, they said, the camp reinforced the importance of communication, teamwork and gaining confidence under pressure.
“I really love to see the kids’ smiles on their face,” Telesca said. “The excitement they get out of overcoming something, that they thought was so difficult that they couldn’t overcome.”
