CAMP MURRAY, Wash. – When he decided to join the Washington National Guard, 1st Lt. Jenner Sapienza set out to pursue challenging opportunities.
While serving as the training officer at the 205th Regional Training Institute, Sapienza discussed career progression with Command Sgt. Maj. Alton Huckaby, who wears the coveted Ram’s Head badge. During the conversation, Sapienza asked about the badge and expressed interest in any demanding opportunities that might become available.
Huckaby remembered that discussion. When an email surfaced seeking Guard members for the Jungle Operations Training Course, or JOTC, he immediately thought of Sapienza and put his name forward.
“He brought it to me and put me in the chute,” Sapienza said. “Next thing I knew, I was headed to go play in the jungle for twelve days.”
JOTC, located near Schofield Barracks outside Wahiawa, Hawaii, trains military personnel to survive and fight in tropical environments. The course focuses on jungle mobility, waterborne operations, combat tracking, survival skills and small-unit tactics. Students are challenged both physically and mentally through events such as knot-tying, land navigation and combat water survival.
“Knot tying was the thing that disqualified a lot of people,” Sapienza said.
Phase one of JOTC builds individual foundational skills required to operate effectively in a jungle environment. Students must pass a combat water survival assessment, complete a 5-kilometer jungle run in under 40 minutes, pass a timed land navigation assessment and demonstrate proficiency in five critical knots, two non-critical knots and two rope systems.
“Before leaving Washington, I studied and practiced the knots,” Sapienza said. “I didn’t want to get to Hawaii and fail. The Washington Army National Guard was investing in me by sending me to this course, and I didn’t want to let them down.”
After completing phase one, students advance to phase two, which builds on those fundamentals. Training includes advanced jungle mobility, waterborne operations, survival, tracking and tactical movement. The phase culminates in a three-day field training exercise, ending with the “Green Mile,” an unknown-distance squad-level movement through dense jungle terrain.
“The jungle doesn’t mess around, it’s unforgiving,” Sapienza said. “You’re constantly wet, carrying heavy gear and fighting the environment as much as anything else.”
Sapienza credited his squadmates for helping him push through the most demanding portions of the course.
“We kept each other motivated and supported one another through the hardest events,” he said. “The course pushes you mentally and physically, and you have to rely on your team.”
Sapienza graduated just before Christmas, earning his Jungle tab.
“It wasn’t until the flight home, after a hot shower, shaving my itchy face and finally getting some real sleep, that it really hit me what I had accomplished,” he said.