The still air is broken with chants of encouragement and applause as the 11-year-old girl jumps from a 40-foot platform, safely connected to a zip line. In that moment, the fear on her face is replaced with an ear-to-ear smile. For the children at the Drug Education For Youth (DEFY) camp, which ran from July 13-16 at a camp south of the base on Raleigh Millington road, this was a regular occurrence.

Twenty-one Sailors and one Marine, ranging in rank from E-3 to O-3, all stationed at Naval Support Activity (NSA) Mid-South, spent five days and four nights educating and mentoring children ranging in ages from eight to 12. Their goal is simply stated: to empower military youth to build positive, healthy lifestyles as drug-free, successful citizens.

The camp is open to all Department of Defense (DOD) affiliated children, including children of active duty military, retirees and DOD employees.

"What we want these kids to get out of this camp is a sense of belonging," said Marine Sgt. Phil Brockamp, the camp operations coordinator. "We want them to form relationships and step out of their comfort zone."

Each cabin houses five campers and two coaches. All of the coaches are active duty service members. The week-long camp gives the coaches time to really get to know the campers, and vice-versa.

As far as trying something new, there is plenty of opportunity to get out of the comfort zone. The sprawling camp hosts two zip lines, a rock wall and a "leap of faith" tower where the campers put on a harness, climb up a telephone pole about 30 feet and jump off and attempt to grab a bar suspended over the pole. Less intimidating, the camp also offers canoes, swimming, disc golf, basketball and volleyball, just to name a few.

"Watching the kids grow in such a short amount of time is incredibly rewarding," said Chief Logistics Specialist Kim Connelly, the camp's local program coordinator. "A lot of the kids did not want to do much of anything when they got here. They didn't know anyone and were scared to do anything different. Once they see the other kids and coaches having fun they will come out of their shell and start to form friendships."

The camp is not all zip lines and rock climbing though. A large portion of the camp is dedicated to drug education and teaching the campers the dangers of drugs and how to avoid peer pressure.

"My favorite part of the camp was learning," said 11-year-old camper Bella. "We learned why drugs are bad and how to say no when people are telling you to try drugs or anything that you shouldn't."

Although the camp was only a handful of days, the activities of the week left an impact on the campers.
As Brockamp finished going over the program for their graduation from the camp, the realization that the camp was coming to an end sunk in. "We're going to miss you all so much," shouted one of the campers.

"I can't wait to go back to school and tell my friends about everything I learned here, everyone needs to know," said Bella.

For more information about DEFY, contact LSC Kim Connelly at 901-874-2099.

For more news from Naval Support Activity, Mid-South, visit www.navy.mil/.