Penn Hills NJROTC Drill Competition

By MIDN 2/C Liam Flynn

Naval Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (NJROTC) is an introductory program to Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) for high school students.  In this environment, students develop their ability to learn and lead in a military setting.  They attend normal high school, but will wear a uniform occasionally and participate in after school activities tailored to ROTC.  One of those activities is close order drill.  The students practice three times a week, around two hours each occurrence.  They then take those skills and compete against other JROTC units.

On February 28, 2009, Penn Hills NJROTC held a drill competition where seven schools participated in the fallowing: (1) armed platoon drill, (2) unarmed platoon drill, (3) squad drill, (4) exhibition drill, (5) 1st year exhibition drill, (6) color guard, and (7) 1st year color guard.  There were five Midshipmen (MIDN) judges for this competition from the Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) NROTC unit and three enlisted Marines form Recruiting Station Pittsburgh.  MIDN first class (1/C) Ralph Roe and Michael Boggs, second class (2/C) Liam Flynn, and fourth class (4/C) Sean Brodarick and Eric Schafer attended the drill competition as the MIDN judges.  This competition provided a chance for the experienced college MIDN to work with the younger high school Cadets.

Judging this event afforded the college MIDN leadership experience and the chance to provide comments and suggestions to the drill commanders of the NJROTC units.  It was a great opportunity for the younger Cadets and older Midshipmen to work with each other, which builds a bond between the high school JROTC units and the college ROTC MIDN attending.