For Triton duo, boot camp to training camp

James Bartleson says there's a big difference between low crawling through mud in full military gear with a rifle in your hands and running around the football field in pads.

He would know.

His Triton High School teammate and close friend, Paul Mueller, also appreciates the difference between boot camp with the National Guard and training camp with a high school football team.

But the remarkable thing about what the two squared-away seniors did this summer was their willingness and ability to embrace both: to sign up for the National Guard, endure 10 weeks of intensive training, come to celebrate the military lifestyle, and still set their sights on a successful senior season with the Mustangs.

"I've been around high school football for 22 years, and I've never heard of this before," Triton coach Pete Goetz said the other day, as Bartleson, Mueller, and the rest of the Mustangs prepared for Friday night's opener against WJFL Constitution Division rival Cherry Hill West.

Bartleson, a tight end/defensive end, and Mueller, a running back/linebacker, have been buddies since elementary school. They were intrigued when a National Guard recruiter came to Triton and explained the military branch's Split Training Option program, which allows students to sign up when still in high school.

"We both had been looking toward the military," Mueller said. "It just seemed like a great opportunity because we could join and still stay home."

Bartleson spent 10 weeks this summer at Fort Benning, Ga. Mueller spent 10 weeks at Fort Jackson in Columbia, S.C.

They were allowed one phone call when they arrived - "Hi, Mom. I'm here" - and no further contact with the outside world.

They said the mental and physical demands of boot camp were as grueling as they imagined - and then some.

"I wasn't sure what I was walking into," Bartleson said. "There were a lot of mind games, air horns every hour, making you run outside with barely any clothes on, all kinds of stuff.

"They say they spend three weeks breaking you down, three weeks building you back up, and then they make you a soldier."

The 6-foot-4 Bartleson lost 30 pounds, from 235 to 205. He's back around 210 now.

The 5-foot-10 Mueller gained 10 pounds, from 160 to 170.

"They say the big guys lose it [weight] and the little guys find it," Bartleson said.

Mueller said the experience challenged him and changed him.

"They want you at your worst," Mueller said. "They want you cranky, hungry, tired from not sleeping. They don't want you to crack under pressure."

Both youngsters returned home in late August. Both said they were different from the guys who finished their junior year - and not just in terms of their high-and-tight haircuts.

"It's weird, but I'm not complacent anymore," Bartleson said. "I'm serious now. I'm grown. I want to take care of things the right away."

Said Mueller: "It's culture shock when you go and culture shock when you get back. You're just different."

Goetz said Mueller and Bartleson have displayed remarkable "maturity" upon their return to the team. The coach expects both to serve as leaders for the Mustangs, both on the field and off.

Triton senior linebacker/running back Kevin Bucceroni, perhaps the team's top all-around player, has noticed a difference in his friends.

"Last year, they did some trash talking," Bucceroni said. "This year, nothing like that. They left as high schoolers. They came back as men. I'm really proud of them."

Bartleson and Mueller have signed up for a six-year commitment. They will be obligated to serve one weekend a month and two weeks in the summer, mostly with a unit in Woodbury once they complete their job training next summer.

They both plan to attend college, with the National Guard paying their way if they attend a New Jersey state school. They both hope to play college football, likely at the Division III level with a program such as Rowan or the College of New Jersey.

They both say the lessons learned during their 10 weeks of training will apply to the final season of their high school football careers.

"It's the discipline," Bartleson said. "You learn to focus, concentrate, take care of things. It carries over to everything in your life. Including football."