Bakersfield Life

SUMMER’S ‘CAMP CADET’ Youths experience 10 days of life-changing days of adventure

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       That faint, familiar sound of crickets and crackling campfires you hear off in the distance is the seasonal bugle call that will send youngsters from sea to shining sea marching off to summer camps in the weeks and months ahead. Some will fish, others will craft, and for a select few, including a couple of dozen from Kern County, camp will rival boot camp in the brisk tradition of the military.
       This is not your typical roasting-marshmallows camp.  More like “The Parent Trap” meets “An Officer and a Gentleman,” though you aren’t likely to find white-gloved Lindsay Lohans or rough-around-the edges Richard Geres at Devil Pups summer camp.
        Devil Pulps Inc. is a nonprofit organization formed in 1954 as a result of a flag-burning incident witnessed by Marine reservists at a Los Angeles area high school. “Officers decided when that happened that there had to be a better way for kids to spend their time and their summers,” recounts Dick Taylor, a former Marine who has been the program’s Bakersfield liaison for three years.  
       For 10 days over two encampment sessions, 600 young men and women between the ages of 14 and 17 from California, Nevada, Arizona and New Mexico learn life lessons of responsibility and character development in the military environment of Camp Pendleton. “Everyone has a voice inside that only they can hear. It is a challenge. This is something I am passionate about, something where I can make a difference,” he said. “Who hasn’t thought, ‘our nation is done’?  Then you see these kids and watch the transformation and you realize there really is hope.”
      Joseph Armijo was one of those campers last summer. The 17-year-old, who recently graduated from Centennial High School, saw it as an opportunity to get a better feel for what military life would be like. “I had heard through the recruiters this was sort of like a boot camp,” said Armijo, who still hasn’t ruled out enlisting in the Marine Corps after college. “Everyone was there for different reasons,” he said, alluding to some of his campmates who had parental pressure to attend. “I am blessed to have two loving and supportive parents. I chose to be there.”  
    At the conclusion of the camp, Armijo was recognized for his exceptionally high fitness score and honored with a leadership award. “Whether or not you go into the military, the experience teaches you about character and doing things the right way, even when no one is looking.” Between now and the end of July, when Kern’s first Devil Pups campers depart, Armijo will help Taylor screen applicants and prepare those accepted for their session.
     Devil Pups is not unlike regular camp. Participants are up at the crack of dawn, making beds, and meeting in the mess hall for chow. Instead of uniforms, these campers wear jeans, the Devil Pups-issued white T-shirt, baseball cap and neckerchief. From there it’s off to a class on etiquette, five-mile hikes, and training exercises involving the swimming pool. Along the way, the kids begin to both bend and yield, and toughen up, as their hardened teachers, active duty Marines, put them through the paces. “We use proven motivational and inspirational activities to teach responsibility, respect of country and leadership that are a lot of the same principles their parents try to teach them,” said Taylor. “By the time they are done they are running 5 ½ miles in formation. Kids thrive on challenge and they grow through meeting challenges successfully.”
      By camp’s end, the kids are physically and emotionally spent. Their sunset hike to the top of “Ole Smokey,” a mountain overlooking the base’s School of Infantry and the Pacific is as symbolic as it is triumphant. “A ceremony takes place as the sun is setting on the Pacific. The kids receive the Devil Pups coin emblazoned with the logo and the words ‘growth through challenge,’” Taylor said. “The experience is one they will never forget for the rest of their lives.”
      The 53-year-old Bakersfield native knows of what he speaks. He lived at Camp Pendleton and was a member of the 1st Marine Division.  “There is that spark within every kid. The challenge for us is to challenge them to dig deep down inside and challenge themselves. I want a kid at the precipice getting ready to fall into the abyss.”
    During World War I, U.S. Marines were referred to as “Devil Dogs” by the enemy for their battlefield success and indomitable spirit. Devil Pups was born of that tough military spirit and bravado. Since the summer of 1954, more than 46,000 teenagers have graduated from the unique summer program, paid for by Devil Pups. The program now typically receives three to four times more applications than it has spots available.  They come from all walks of life and neither an applicant’s financial nor social circumstance pre-dispose them. “We’re not looking for the best or the brightest necessarily,” Taylor said. “We are looking for somebody who has the desire and drive to go and accept the challenge.”
 
For more information, visit devilpups.com.