By Terry Heifetz
Staff writer
The clock read 10:30 a.m. But June 18, it looked more like nighttime as ominous clouds and thunderstorms rolled into
This wasn’t the first time the weather interrupted training at this year’s Leader’s Training Course. Many say it feels like it’s raining every day. And while that’s not completely accurate, it’s close.
It has been unusually stormy this June, said Tim Deely, assistant site manager at the post’s weather office. Thunderstorms were reported on seven days of the first two weeks of LTC, he said. Nearly as much rain fell during that time as normally falls during the entire month.
“It’s not unusual to get rain in June,” Deely said. “But to get this severe weather, that’s usually confined to April and May.”
The strong storms are more than an inconvenience. They are having an impact on the training.
When thunderstorms move in, the LTC staff moves to its severe weather procedures, said Maj. Donald Green, an LTC planner.
“We have backup plans in case the weather goes south,” he said. “If something is going to be interrupted, we make the calls to keep everyone safe.”
That is what happened June 18. Green said the LTC staff watched the development and progress of the storms and made sure all of the companies and committees knew they were coming.
When the storms hit, most events, including Call of the Wild and Where Eagles Dare, came to a halt. Combat water survival training stopped, even though that event is indoors.
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| Clouds roll in Monday over Dunnagan Team Development Course, heavy rains postponed Co. C 1/46th Inf.'s training exercises until after lunch. So far in June there has been 3.91 inches of rain, already above June's monthly average. Photo by Ryan Stone |
Green says the plan works. No Cadets are known to have been hurt because of the weather.
While severe weather has postponed several exercises, no events have been canceled. The delays usually end when the thunderstorms pass. That can sometimes take hours.
Alpha Co. Cadet Adam Parker, a junior at
“We’re set on a certain goal, and the rain messes it up,” he said. “We had to totally transition to something else.”
The Cadets transitioned to other training that did not require dry conditions.
“We had to stop a couple of times and sit down,” said Staff Sgt. Nicholas Furia, a drill sergeant with Alpha Co. “But we taught them other things. We taught them hand signals and stuff like that. We aren’t just sitting down doing nothing.”
Once the thunderstorms pass and it’s safe to be outside, the training resumes, even if it is still raining.
“Like they say, if it ain’t raining, you ain’t training,” said Alpha Co. Cadet Nicole Basile, a junior at
Basile doesn’t let the rain bother her.
“You have mud everywhere, it’s on your pants, there’s like three inches of mud on the bottom of your boots,” she said. “It’s not bad, it’s pretty fun actually.”
Cadet Richard Nora, an
“It’s been muddy,” he said. “But that’s all part of the fun. I like the rain but the humidity afterwards isn’t so nice.”
The humidity and the heat are the next challenges Cadets face, Deely said. Some days will feel like it’s the middle of summer. The average high temperature for July is 87 degrees. Forecasters predict temperatures will be at least that high for the next several days.
“It’ll be more like August when there are days you pray for rain, where lately people have been praying for it to stop,” Deely said.