ULTIMATE TEST: 332 campers battle obstacles at MMA camp

HARLINGEN — As summer campers completed the second week at Marine Military Academy in Harlingen, the changes they’ve gone through are apparent to their supervisors and themselves.

“It’s amazing to see them two weeks into it — how much they’ve grown,” Sgt. Maj. Ford Kinsley said.

MMA holds the four-week camp each summer and hosts campers from across the United States and other countries, public information officer Debbie Wieland said.

“There’s always change,” Cadet Instructor Nathaniel Keegan, 17, of Arizona, said. “It’s usually into the second week when you really notice it.”

This year, MMA hosted 332 young men from around the country and Canada, Argentina, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Taiwan, Saudi Arabia and Dominican Republic.

Campers made their way over, under and through obstacles Saturday, including the inverted climb, the stairway to heaven, the island hopper and the hand and arm walk.

Others made their way through a mud course before being hosed down at the end and going indoors to shower and change.

Cadet instructors and campers yelled words of encouragement and praise to each other along the way.

Kinsley, who’s also the commandant of cadets, said the obstacles are part of the campus’ Leadership Enhancement and Development Complex, designed to build the campers’ confidence.

“You basically learn how to use more teamwork and use the people around you,” 13-year-old Martin Esparza of Sugarland said.

This is Esparza’s second time at MMA Summer Camp, and he said it’s helped him to participate in physical activity for longer time durations.

“I’m able to physical train every day and I’m able to get up every morning and do it,” Esparza said.

Cody Fuller, 13, of West Palm, Fla., is attending the camp for the first time, he said.

He never thought he’d be able to climb the stairway to heaven, a tall wooden structure similar to an oversized ladder, in the confidence course, he said.

“I’ve overcome my fear of heights — fear altogether,” Fuller said.

Each camper is also required to venture to the top of the 30-foot-tall climbing and rappelling tower, where they take part in Australian rappelling, military-style rappelling and zooming down a zip line.

“This is one of the things that from day one of the summer camp they want to know, ‘When are we going to do the zip line?’” MMA Superintendent Col. Glenn Hill said.

The staff and cadet instructors stress the importance of hydration and the use of sun block to the campers, especially those who aren’t from Texas, Hill said.

“We’re very, very conscious that we are in South Texas with heat and high humidity,” Hill said.

Cadet instructors, who are 16- and 17-year-olds and attend MMA during the school year, are constantly on the lookout for signs of overheating, Hill said.

“We also teach the campers themselves to watch out for each other,” Hill said.

While the camp is designed to teach confidence and campers are encouraged to participate in the activities, they are never forced, Hill said.

Usually, after a camper decides he can’t go through an activity and then sees other campers completing it, he will muster up the courage to complete it, Hill said.

The campers are scheduled to graduate July 28, Wieland said.