FORT KNOX, Ky. — Thousands of Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps cadets are competing in rigorous competition at Fort Knox.

The JRTOC National Raider Challenge is drew thousands of people from all over the world.

What You Need To Know

  • The JRTOC National Raider Challenge drew thousands of people from all over the world to Fort Knox

  • The Raider Challenge features a one-rope bridge, a 5k run, obstacle courses, and more

  •  Over 300 teams competed over the weekend

  • The winning team is award a full ride scholarship

The Raider Challenge featured a one rope bridge, a 5k run, obstacle courses and more.

“It’s pretty great because we’ve been trying to come here for a couple years, and this is the first year we’ve actually been able to come. So I’m excited that I get to, be here before I graduate,” said Destiny Hurt, Battalion Commander, Bronco Raider Team.

Destiny Hurt is the battalion commander for her team from Western Brown High School in Ohio. The team practices at its own obstacle course four to five times a week.

“It’s challenging just because being the one that has to push everybody physically while you’re pushing yourself physically too, is always hard. But we all we tried hard to be pretty good,” the 17-year-old said.

But for Destiny, it’s more than just about the competition; it’s about getting experience in the military career field.

“I’ve always really wanted to join, but then I joined JROTC when I got to high school, and just with my instructors mentoring me and everything else, I realize it really is the career path I wanted to take,” she said.

This event draws over 300 teams and over 6,000 spectators from around the world. Event officials say it’s the Super Bowl for Army JROTC.

“We get to give them an opportunity to kind of see what it’s like. I like to describe it as kind of a day in the life of, or a weekend in the life of, soldiers. We do a lot of things here to show them what it is that their army is all about,” said Colonel Kenneth Jones, director of the U.S. Army Cadet Command and Army JROTC.

It’s a jump in the right direction for destiny who is applying to service academics in hopes of being commissioned as an officer.

“West Point, ideally, but I’m also applying for the air force academy and if the academies just, don’t work out for me because it happens, I plan to go the ROTC route,” Hurt said.

The winning team will be given full ride scholarships to any school with ROTC that they are accepted to.

The competition continues Sunday where the winner will be crowned.

This is the second time the competition has been held at Fort Knox and event officials expect it to be back next year.

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