Choctawhatchee High School senior Dean Ferguson spent about two-thirds of his summer break building an obstacle course for the school’s Air Force JROTC unit on what used to be bare grass behind the school.
- The course, Dean’s Eagle Scout project, officially opened with a ribbon cutting after school Wednesday, Oct. 28, with his family, instructors, fellow cadets and school resource officers on hand. It didn’t take long for the cadets to put it to use. Still in uniform in the afternoon heat, they kept lining up to run it again until they were called back inside.
Dean, a member of Troop 52, is also the unit’s Cadet Corps Commander. Retired Lt. Col. Eric Lazenby, the school’s Senior Aerospace Science Instructor, said Dean handled the project from start to finish, from the planning and coordination to the build itself.
“This was all just completely barren,” Dean said of the space before his build.
The course starts under an archway bearing the JROTC unit’s name, with Dean’s Eagle Scout project sign standing next to it. From there, cadets work through a low crawl, a tire run and monkey bars. Past the obstacles, about 200 feet of sand pathway sits open for whoever builds next, bringing the full course to roughly 250 feet.
Dean didn’t stop at the obstacles. He also placed 11 markers around the practice fields for an orienteering course, where cadets can practice with a map and compass, work toward their orienteering ribbon and pick up a skill he said they can use in life.
The idea started during Dean’s sophomore year, when the JROTC unit brought back its Raiders team. The team lead at the time thought the unit needed an obstacle course, Dean said, and the original plan was just one obstacle, maybe a small wall to climb over.
- “And then on my ideas throughout the year, it expanded to a 250-foot-long area that can be used by pretty much anyone in the school,” Dean said. “And then any future Scouters or anyone that wants to help out with JROTC can build more courses here.”
Getting it built took a while. Dean said he started planning in the first semester of his sophomore year, then set it aside as other parts of life took his focus. Toward the end of the school year, he picked it back up, finished the framework for the course and got his fundraising approved.
Then some of the money he had been counting on fell through at the last minute. Dean said that delayed the project and pushed the build into the summer, when fellow ROTC cadets would have had more chances to earn community service hours helping during the school year.
The summer build had to fit around a full schedule. Dean also attended the U.S. Air Force Academy’s summer seminar program and spent three weeks in Oregon for a family wedding.
Dean said his original plan, with all its bits and pieces, came in at an estimated $18,000 to $22,000. He was able to trim it to around $15,000, and the sand and some smaller items were donated.
- A sign at the school thanks the project’s sponsors. Gold sponsors were Helms Hauling, which donated the sand, Florida Power & Light and Home Depot. Shalimar Fence was a silver sponsor, and bronze sponsors were A World of Signs, the Broxson Family, U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Corey Maier and G&J Tires, which provided the tires.
Dean said that support helped make up for the lost funds and still get the entire course built. Lazenby said an FPL grant funded the course, and he credited Bernard Johnson, who recently retired from FPL and was at Wednesday’s ribbon cutting.
“Mr. Johnson is a great friend to the program, a great friend to us,” Lazenby said. “And it’s just great to have that relationship built with FPL and Mr. Johnson. Very grateful for that.”
For Dean, the course is about the cadets who come after him.
“I feel like what I’ve done here for the JROTC unit is I have been able to build up a legacy I can leave behind that will impact future generations of cadets here and just everyone at Choctawhatchee High School,” he said.
Building the Raiders program
Raiders, Dean explained, is a physical fitness and teamwork team. Members learn orienteering, search and rescue and first aid, and when it rains, practice moves indoors for first aid and emergency preparedness lessons.
The overlap with Scouting isn’t lost on him. Dean said the skills taught in Raiders line up almost one-for-one with what Boy Scouts learn.
“I believe that it is really important that Raiders can expand a lot more into JROTC, since I know Boy Scouts has given me skills that have built my entire foundation and allowed me to excel in JROTC and hopefully to the U.S. Air Force,” Dean said.
He also hopes the course helps bring back some of what the program used to have. About 10 years ago, Dean said, ROTC cadets did specialized exercises every Friday, but that faded over the years. The course has already drawn more interest in the Raiders team and in fitness overall, he said, and he would like to see it lead to competitions against other units with established Raiders teams.
Lazenby said that fits right into what the program teaches. Health and wellness is a cornerstone of the curriculum, he said, alongside leadership and character development and aerospace education.
“To push themselves athletically, to push themselves in competition, that obstacle course allows them that opportunity to do that,” Lazenby said.
He welcomed the friendly competition the course has stirred up among cadets, saying it gets them ready for life after high school.
- “As they’ll find out when they get into the real world, competition is a thing,” Lazenby said. “You have to compete for things. You have to work hard for things, and that is a leadership laboratory, an example of that.”
The Raiders practice Wednesday afternoons, and Lazenby said the cadets want to be out there using the new equipment.
“I’m incredibly proud of Cadet Ferguson,” Lazenby said. “I love his initiative, I love the fact that his Eagle Scout project will serve our ROTC unit. It takes a great deal of leadership to get that thing done. It takes a great deal of project management to get that up and running.”
Four years together
Dean and Lazenby have come up through the program together. Dean only learned about ROTC at the end of eighth grade, and when he signed up for the class, Lazenby was starting his first year at Choctawhatchee, too.
Dean moved up quickly. He said he became a flight lead almost right away and reached the rank of cadet senior airman before joining the color guard, where he eventually became officer in charge. His GPA and the community service hours he earned through ROTC helped carry him to a squadron commander position, and now, as a senior, he leads the entire unit.
Lazenby is in his fourth year of teaching, and Dean’s class was his first group of students.
- “Goosebumps thinking about it,” Lazenby said. “This is my first group of students. We started together. This is my fourth year teaching. This is their fourth year in high school.”
He still remembers meeting Dean on the school’s patio area. Dean, who loved airplanes, wanted to show him drawings he had made of an F-4 and an AWACS.
“Just seeing that young kid develop into the corps commander, into the Eagle Scout that he is, it’s amazing to see it and very proud to be a part of that,” Lazenby said.
Dean is now applying to the U.S. Air Force Academy, and Lazenby said what he has learned in ROTC will set him up for great things.
“Shaping and guiding our nation’s greatest treasure, our youth, there’s no greater honor,” Lazenby said. “Their journey starts here. The things that are going to set them up for the rest of their lives start here, inside of our walls.”
As for the course itself, Lazenby said Dean left the program plenty of room to keep building.
“There’s plenty of room for expansion,” Lazenby said. “What Cadet Ferguson has started, it will just continue to build. So he has built a legacy for this unit. There’s no doubt about it.”
