Military summer camp teaches leadership, life lessons

Junior Anna Dutro stood at the end of a field in Indiana’s oppressive summer heat, the sweat beading on the back of her neck as she squinted into the parched abyss. Spectators stared as she maneuvered the yellow and red flags she held in each hand to signal letters to her reader, who waited at the other end of the field. As the other groups finished relaying their messages, the weight of the competition bore down on Dutro’s shoulders, and the beads of sweat grew larger and heavier.

In this intense round of semaphore of the camp’s final competition, Dutro was determined not to let her team’s usual success be tainted by a last-place finish.

Participating in a mix of summer camp activities and military drills, Dutro has spent her past three summers at Culver Military Academy’s Summer Upper Camp in Culver, Indiana. About 450 boys and 250 girls 14 years and older attend the camp annually.

Dutro’s first exposure to Culver was through her cousin, who attended and graduated from the school. Later, when she heard about the academy’s summer school from her other relatives, she decided to try the program and attended the summer before her freshman year, becoming the first girl in her family to go.

Dutro liked it and especially enjoyed spending time with other campers from across the country.

Since then, Dutro has returned to Indiana for the last three summers and graduated from the program this past year.

In her last year, Dutro held the head leader position in her group, also known as a deck. Each deck, consisting of 30 girls, lived in the same building, marched together and participated in most of the activities together. The girls bonded quickly.

“Everyone is so nice there,” Dutro said. “Of course, if you have 30 girls all living in the same building for six weeks, there has to be a little drama. But other than that, it was a great experience.”

As the head leader, Dutro led her group everywhere and called out different commands, such as “forward march,” “deck attention” and “half-step march,” as they marched to their next destination.

On most days, Dutro and the other campers woke up between 6:30 and 7 a.m. Each deck’s first item of business was to prepare for the daily room check that occurred before class on alternate days or during their classes for the rest of the week. If the beds were not made properly or the floors were dirty, the deck would receive a “gig,” which meant the deck would have to return to its building 15 minutes earlier than usual that evening.

“It's impossible for a deck not to receive any gigs. [They] aren't that big of [a] deal, really,” Dutro said. “I don't remember the first gig I got. It was probably about my room or something. I'm sure I was upset with myself, but it made me clean my room super well.”

At 8:30 a.m., the girls’ six classes for the day began, each lasting 45 minutes.

After classes, campers had a recreational period in which they could play intramural sports, relax or use the facilities at the camp like the ice rink, tennis courts and golf course. During these times Dutro enjoyed playing volleyball and lacrosse with her deck.

Tuesday and Thursday nights concluded with Retreat, during which campers would meet for 15 minutes after dinner to listen to staff announcements. The weekly Saturday Parade, a 45-minute ceremony similar to Retreat, gave the campers’ parents an opportunity to watch the campers march and represent Culver.

“[As part of a traditional ceremony,] we weren’t allowed to move [around], so it was kind of hard,” Dutro said. “But other than that, it was awesome.”

One particularly memorable end-of-camp tradition for Dutro was the Great Race. In this activity, the seven 30-girl decks would don their deck colors, face paint and bows and compete in an ultimate relay race across the school campus that included naval activities like sailing, signaling with flags and peer walking.

In the sailing portion, the girls had to navigate their boats through a course in the lake. Signaling with flags required one partner to signal a message to a reader, while pier walking was essentially speed walking down a pier.

The spirited decks, the new friendships and welcoming environment helped make Dutro’s time away from home an “amazing” experience.

“You could be anyone you wanted and you wouldn’t be judged,” Dutro said. “In Culver, I was friends with people all over the world whom I never thought I would even talk to.”

Dutro’s growth as a person throughout her years at the camp was also noted by one of her deck counselors from the past three years, Juliana Gomez.

“She can be a leader and also a follower,” Gomez said. “She respects every position she had and owned it. Everyone loved her and everyone could rely on her, even the counselors. Dutro developed a better sense as a leader and a teammate, and she plans on working at the camp as a staff member in the future.”

While she does not plan on joining the military, Dutro values all the friendships she has made from her camp experiences at Culver.

“Culver, to me, is much more than just [a] military [camp]. I came back because of all the friends I made there,” Dutro said. “You create a family, and that’s my favorite part about it.”