Hundreds of Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (JROTC) cadets from across the country converged in Daytona Beach, Florida, for the 2025 National JROTC Fitness Challenge on May 3, 2025. With more than 75 teams representing every U.S. state and multiple territories, the Fitness Challenge fosters camaraderie among cadets and offers participants the opportunity to demonstrate the benefits of their training in a spirited and supportive environment.
Hosted by the U.S. Army Cadet Command, the annual Fitness Challenge is one of the most anticipated events in the JROTC calendar, bringing together high school cadets from all branches of the military’s JROTC programs to compete in grueling team-based physical events that test strength, endurance, agility, and teamwork.
The two-day event featured a series of physically demanding challenges, including timed runs, obstacle courses, tire flips, and a team relay on the beach. Teams are judged on speed, coordination, and overall team cohesion, emphasizing the core principles of JROTC: leadership, responsibility, and service.
The Granbury MCJROTC Pirate Nation Team distinguished themselves in the Physical Team Test (PTT) and placed 3rd out of a field of twenty-five teams. The PTT consisted of numerous obstacles that require individual/team agility, strength, power, balance and stamina over a half mile course on the beach. The cadets were required to maintain positive control of a thirty-pound ammunition can filled with sand while navigating each obstacle. The team was also required to pull a cadet on the sled for half of the course.
Pictured are the Pirate Nation Team members: Marucs Hadaway, Sean Kim, James Barber, Baker Mercado, Brantley Thrasher, Connor Gardner, Viola Allen, Ainsley Milligan, Brady Furr, Makinsey Scott, Fiona Doss, Jina Kim, and 1stSgt Johnny Rositas