Teens converge on Cheney for winter survival training

By BECKY THOMAS

Staff Reporter

As snow blanketed Cheney last Tuesday night, a group of young people were outside, huddled together in tents, braving the weather by choice.

They were taking part in Operation SnowWall, a winter survival training co-hosted by the Civil Air Patrol and Naval Sea Cadet Corps. The training took place at Camp Comia, just north of Cheney on S. Antonian Road, and on top of Mount Spokane.

Camp Comia director Rande Lindner is the commander of the Spokane Civil Air Patrol squadron and said he hosted the training because he enjoys teaching children life skills.

“They have an adventure, they have a challenge, they have fun doing this stuff,” Lindner said.

Thirty one youth ranging in age from 12-18 completed the training Dec. 27-31. They spent the week learning about building shelters, cooking food, and staying safe out in the winter elements.

The Civil Air Patrol is the civilian auxiliary of the Air Force and the Sea Cadet Corps is a youth program to foster leadership and knowledge of naval functions. Cadets attend basic training and boot camp training before choosing to attend different classes like Operation SnowWall.

“The purpose of the entire organization is not to recruit people to the military as much as it is to teach kids leadership skills that they need and pride in their U.S. citizenship or whatever nationality they're a part of,” Sea Cadet instructor Brooke Coty said.

CAP instructor Brolin Graham said the training teaches young people practical skills for being outdoors in the winter as well as lessons that carry over into daily life.

“What we teach are just some basic principles that can be carried out all throughout any outdoor situation, but it also helps them out later on in life,” Graham said. “A lot of this is life skills, like paying attention to the bigger picture—what's going on as a whole—keeping a positive mental attitude and teamwork, leadership.”

When the cadets arrived at camp Monday, Dec. 27 they spent the day in the classroom with the instructors learning the basics about building different shelters, staying warm, essential supplies and food preparation.

Then on Tuesday they ventured outdoors, setting up their shelters as rain fell and trying to sleep as the rain turned to snow. While most of the cadets were able to get some sleep, it wasn't the most comfortable experience.

“My worst experience was waking up buried in snow,” said 14-year-old Sea Cadet Colton Coty. “I slept and it was nice and warm, but getting out is cold.”

Coty, instructor Coty's son, said he camped in far colder conditions, so he didn't mind too much.

“I like to camp out and I don't really mind the snow and I live in Montana so I'm used to the cold weather anyway,” he said. “I guess I was just in it for the experience.”

Coty said he plans to join the Coast Guard or the Marines. His mother said that while many youth in the program want to join the military, it's not pushed on them. Another cadet, Stephanie Strong, said she joined because she wanted to learn more about the Navy, where her father served for many years. But now she's thinking about going into music or the medical field. Strong, a Spokane resident, said she enjoyed trainings like these because she gets to spend time with friends and learn interesting things. Plus, as one of only seven girls at the training, she planned to show up the boys a bit as well.

“The girls are going to have the best snow cave,” she assured. ““Sometimes it's fun to get competitive with the boys.”

The cadets and instructors spent Thursday and Friday atop Mount Spokane, where they cooked meals and slept in snow caves before departing Friday afternoon.

Lindner said the training was fun as well as being beneficial for youth and the community as a whole.

“I believe that if we don't take the time to provide educational opportunities to our youth, we'll lose them,” he said.

Camp Comia has been under construction for the past several years. Lindner said any profits from cadets' fees go back into the buildings and he hopes to host more youth and community events at the camp in the future.

Becky Thomas can be reached at [email protected].