lye
Outing Club at French Creek rark
On Friday, October 13th, four cars
carrying twelve people, sleeping bags,
food and other assorted gear left this
campus for a weckend in the wilder-
ness. ell, not quite the wilderness,
The Outing Club went to French Creek
State Park which is about .an hour
away from the school. ile had a camp-
site vhich had a lodge with two fire-
places, one inside and oner=-you guessed
jt=--outside, There were a few cabins ..
and we even had an outhouse=--we didn't
have to rough it. :
The ease and tranquility of the
outdoors gave us a hit of energy when
we got there. After unloading the
gear and collecting firewood we went
out for a walk. Not only did we get
acquainted with French Creek, we also
got acquainted with the people we
were spending our weekend with, That
nizht we sat around the fire outside.
Dean Linder arrived with his portable.
T.V. and the Jorld Series == which
was an extra treat for those who ..
wanted to catch the orld Series game.
The next day was for activity.
There was a hike through the woods
and around the lake to Hopewell
Village=--which is a restored colonial
iron forge. The trout were abundant,
so the fishermen in the.group cast
their lines and caught plenty of
perch. There were even a few bow
hunting enthusiasts who tried their
luck on opening weekend. ‘Unfortunately
they didn't catch anything. That
night there was another Yorld Series
Game. = :
How could anyone complain? The
auturin scenery was pretty, the air was
clean and brisk. There was an all
around good feeling between everyone
and everything was under control. The
only complaint? It was over too soon.
Any Epstein
Ranger Recruit Training Cycle Ends
As Fall Term winds down, this year's
Penn State Delco Ranger Recruit
Training is rapidly drawing to a close.
On Saturday October 23, the new -
~ recruits faced .their final test: The
Ranger Doards. The Ranger Boards
consist of five skill performance tests
which each Ranger Recruit must
successfully complete in order to earn.
the right to wear a black: ‘beret, ‘the
symbol of a fully qualified Delco
Ranger. The five skill tests include
executing an Australian cliff rappel,
constructing and crossing a one and
two rope bridge, demonstrating pro-
ficiency in knot tying skills, and
finally, successfully completing a
timed land navigation course,
To prepare themselves for these tests;
the Delco Ranger Recruits have spent
each Saturday. since the term began
participating in a variety of Ranger
Training activities, Each new recruit
learned basic rappelling techniques,
first by going off the school wall here
on campus, later by going off a 60
foot cliff, and finally by going off
an eighty foot helicopter simulator
at Fort Indiantown Gap iiilitary
Reservation.
During the course of his training,
the recruit was also taught how to tie
a variety of useful knots and how to
construct a transport tightening suspen-
sion system, that permits him to cross
deep ravines or streams using a rope
bridze. Furthermore each recruit par-
ticipated in a three day bivouac and
field training exercise that tasked
the recruits with the difficult mission
of escaping enemy capture, locating a
food cache (the only rations available
to the recruits during the three day
exercise), and then returning to a
friendly base camp without being recap-
tured by the agressors..lo make the
Escape, Evasion and Survival Training
more realistic, each recruit was first
stripped of all food and equipment aids,
then blindfolded and led to a remote
part of the training area where he was
to make good his escape and begin his
search for the food cache, It had.
been many hours since he had been per-
mitted to eat, so each recruit had a
real incentive to locate the food
cache, To make matters worse, the
recruit had no idea of where his
captors had taken him, and had to
constantly avoid aggressor patrols
which pursued and harrassed him as
he attempted to return to his friend-
ly base. :
This past Saturday 13 recruits
passed their Ranger Training program
0 earn their black berets-- the
symbol of the Qualified Delco Ranger.
Anyone interested in finding out more
about Delco Rangers may contact Cpt
Jlilson or SFC Fitzgerald in Rm AA-D