Marching Activity (but not for a medal)

[baronet68]

McChord Squadron in WAWG has been doing an marching activity since 2006 where members march 20 miles in two days.  The march covers 11 miles on the first day (mostly at route step), then an overnight bivouac and evening of activities, and finishing up with 9 miles on the second day.

The activity is a "supported road march" so members aren't required to carry all of their equipment.  The only items that must be carried by marchers are their uniform, a water bottle, and the guidons for each participating unit (if available).  The marchers are accompanied by support units in CAP vans which (in addition to running interference to slow traffic where needed) carry everything else.  Tents, sleeping bags, athletic shoes, first aid equipment, food, water, etc. are all in the vans and made available during regular rest intervals. 

Whenever possible the dates, routes, and overnight locations are selected to take advantage of other public or high-visibility activities or to provide other unique opportunities along the way.  Some examples over the years include assisting with an antique aircraft restoration, introductory marksmanship training, marching over a new suspension bridge at grand opening (which netted new members), overnighting at a public "night at the park" event (also netting new members), as well as many BBQs and general fun social time.

While there aren't any participation medals, McChord started making t-shirts a few years ago to commemorate the marches.  Also, outstanding cadets and seniors are often receive CAP Achievement Awards.

Interested in doing something similar?  Don't hesitate to ask questions... I'm the weirdo that started this McChord tradition so probably have useful answers.

Here's a collage of pictures over the years:


http://www.mcchord.org/temp/roadmarch_collage.png

[Jester]

I've taken cadets to a Bataan memorial march in Kentucky before.  Only 6.6 miles but they had a blast. 

Cheap Walmart backpacks loaded with sand or rice works well.

[Capt Thompson]

When I was a Cadet, I was also in Army JROTC, and they have a physical competition called the Raider Challenge, which is a precursor to college ROTC's Ranger Challenge. Once a year we would do tryouts for the team, which were held at a local Boy Scout Ranch, and one of the requirements was to complete the 9 mile trail at the ranch in a certain time, while carrying 6 liters of liquid in your pack in addition to your drinking supply. It was a very challenging activity, the trail itself was a huge challenge even without time constraints and weight on your back due to the topography of the trail. It was a teamwork activity, so the point wasn't for you to finish the trail in the allotted timeframe, but for everyone to finish in that timeframe, nobody was left behind so sometimes you had to motivate others on the team, at other parts you needed the motivation, at one point I ended up carrying a team member's pack, but everyone finished no matter what.

I've often thought about bringing my ground team members to the ranch to do something similar.

Edit to fix spelling error.

[TheSkyHornet]

Sounds like a good opportunity for challenge coin distribution (if there are any).

While not everyone gets a trophy, a good pat on the back and something to show off is always nice.

I love opportunities like this.