Fort Simpson (Aug 29/03) - While many of their friends were likely sleeping in at home, three Fort Simpson cadets were being roused from bed before 7 a.m.

They spent Aug. 2-15 at cadet camp in Whitehorse.

After climbing out of their barrack bunks, they went outside for physical training -- plenty of running, push ups, sit ups, chin ups and long jumps.

"I didn't mind..." said cadet Alex Elleze, who then paused, "well, just a little bit."

A 6:45 a.m. wake up call? No problem, said Cpl. Anthony Roche.

"I like getting up early," he said. "On Sundays we could sleep in 'till 12 (noon) but I got up for breakfast at 7 (a.m.)."

After their morning meal, the cadets practiced drill. Then they went into the classrooms for lessons on radio operations and the phonetic alphabet (A is alpha, B is bravo, C is Charlie, and so on). Other instruction was based on protecting oneself from bears and how to react in a fire situation.

The young troops spent a fair amount of time in the field too: camping, firing air rifles to improve marksmanship, and riding horseback.

For Alex, rappelling down a hill on a "zip line" into the cold water of a lake below was daunting, but she did it.

"I was the last one to go. I was scared," she said. "It was mandatory so I had to do it."

Her sister, Andrea, said she actually enjoyed that challenge. She also liked marching, she added.

Roche said going on patrol in the bush was his favourite part of the camp. He said he didn't mind having to hike up to 3.5 kilometres in combat boots either.

Joining more than 50 other cadets from across Canada and even from England, they made quite a few new friends as well. There were social functions, like dances, for them to unwind.

All three Fort Simpson army cadets, who have only been enroled for about eight months, said they are eager to return to camp again next summer.