By OCdt. J.T. Lewis, 2968 RCACC – Cadets of RCACC’s 2968 Red Star program have been focusing their train­ing around safely navigat­ing the great outdoors for the past couple of months.

The Red Star program is for the younger cadets, many of them in their first year of the program.

Through classroom dis­cussions and interactive activities, the cadets have covered a wide range of subjects including pre­paring for a hike in the woods, how to orientate a map, setting up an emer­gency shelter, building a fire, bush first aid to carry a casualty to safety, and how to take compass readings.

“I think learning these skills is necessary,” said Cdt. Jack Nicefroro. “If you ever get lost in the middle of nowhere you may have to rely on these skills to survive.”

Part of the training in­volved discussions around planning treks to help reduce the risk of having to employ survival skills when trekking in the woods.

“I find this very interest­ing to me,” Nicefroro said. “I don’t think everyone wants to do it, but it’s defi­nitely interesting to me.”

He expressed a little more confidence in himself should he wish to go out on a trek in the woods the next time he is home.

Cdt. Brian Brown has been with the cadet pro­gram for two months, he only arrived at the acade­my in February this year.

“The program is really fun,” Brown said.

As far as the current training goes, he recog­nizes the significance of what he is learning.

“This is really good to know,” he said. “It’s really important, what we’ve been learning, in case you are out in the wilderness, and you get lost or some­one with you gets hurt.”

He mentions a couple of highlights of the training he has been doing.

“I learned how to prop­erly piggyback someone,” he said.

If someone was hurt and you had to carry them for a way, piggybacking is one of the options.

“I also learned how to make a makeshift tent out of rope and tarp,” he said.

This is important for someone who is lost to be able to shelter from the elements.

Training will soon be wrapping up for the year as the corps prepares for their annual inspection on Saturday, June 3, 2023.