LEWISTON — Long after the sports teams have left the practice field behind Lewiston High School and the sun begins to set, the sounds of feet pounding on the turf, grunts of teens sprinting and loud shouts of “slacker” and other “words of encouragement” can still be heard.

However, unlike the football team that just left the field, a group of Army cadets practice for a day when the outcome might not be to win or lose a game, but to live or die.

“Some of these kids will never serve in the military, but they are here to be part of a team, share in the camaraderie, get some physical exercise and learn discipline,” retired Marine Corps Chief Warrant Officer 2 Terry Waite said. He has been coordinator of the cadets for the past four years.

“We have a really good group this year, including five girls,” he said. 

There is plenty of discipline and training in the Lewiston High School Army Cadet program. Incessant drilling and attention to detail — the uniform they must wear to school a certain number of days per month and the way they must act, react and serve the community — sets them apart from the average high school student.  

Dressed in Army camouflage, these students take pride in the way they present themselves. Their shoes are shined, shirts and pants pressed. Yes ma’am, no sir and good eye contact are musts when a cadet is carrying on a conversation.

Community involvement and volunteering are a staple. Whether it’s volunteering for a veterans’ function or working crowd control at the Great Falls Balloon Festival from sunup to sundown, many weekends find them involved.

On a recent weekend, two dozen piled into two school vans and traveled to Bog Brook training facility in Gilead to spend a cold fall weekend running obstacle courses, doing calisthenics, marching and playing war games. Sleeping in cold bunkhouses helps build character. Waking up before dawn and going for a jog in the dark, the young adults motivate each other to push themselves and work together as a team.  

The program is not without rewards: field trips to Washington, D.C., and West Point and two weeks at the National Cadet Training Center in Kentucky.

The Maine program was started by Lewiston High School Principal Gus LeBlanc. While he still participates in many of the exercises, he lets Waite assume most of the day-to-day operations.

“She is extremely dedicated and spends far more time and does much more with the cadets than she is expected to,” LeBlanc said.

In addition to Waite, other volunteers integral to the program are Dan Gish, Jim Horn, Dan Pruitt and Edmund Waite.