Villanova University Drill/MEC Meet

By MIDN 3/C Jonathan Licht

Each year our unit participates in a military competition held by Villanova’s NROTC unit at Villanova University.  The competition includes various drill events, Military Excellence Competition (MEC) events, and a basketball tournament.  Over twenty units located along the East Coast come to compete in the event.  Among them are esteemed units such as the Naval Academy, The Merchant Marine Academy, and Pennsylvania State University.  Despite the fierce competition, our unit has high expectations for our Midshipmen (MIDN) competing. 

Our drill commander, MIDN Second Class (2/C) Flynn, has high aspirations for his drill team and expects to place in the top five at the competition.  Our color guard commander, MIDN 2/C Werner, also has high expectations.  Our color guard detail placed third last year, and MIDN Werner aims to surpass that mark in this year’s competition.  Our MEC coordinator, MIDN Third Class (3/C) Roe, has a weekly training schedule for our unit in order to prepare for the competition at Villanova.  MIDN Roe expects a big performance from several returning winners: MIDN first class (1/C) Lethbridge, MIDN 2/C Giger, MIDN 2/C Whitmore, MIDN 3/C Talarico, MIDN fourth class (4/C) Brocavich, MIDN 4/C Molinari,  and MIDN 4/C Van Arsdale.

This year we have a total of forty-two MIDN competing in the event. The 1/C MIDN attending the event are Zack Lethbridge and Ralph Roe.  The 2/C MIDN attending are Liam Flynn, Logan Giger, Christopher Werner, and Thomas Whitmore.  The 3/C MIDN attending are Taylor Brauns, Chris Cavanaugh, Brian Cortell, James Derr, Paul Ellison, Danielle Head, Jonathan Licht, Joshua Roe, and Phillip Talarico.  The 4/C MIDN attending are Benjamin Anderson, David Boring,  Charles Brand,  Ron Brocavich,  Sean Brodarick,  Paul Brown,  Matthew Bunting,  Michelle Corso,  Kelley Colopietro,  Mark Denote,  Erin Dowling,  Tara Dowling,  Christopher Gorham,  Jasen Kim,  Lauren Kwak,  Virginia Lee,  Emily LeRoy,  Sean McCann,  Jessica Meyer,  James Molinari,  Emma Pannepacker,  Dennis Redmond,  Eric Schafer,  Benjamin Strassmann,  Brandon Telatovich,  Devon Van Arsdale, and  Ben Kitka.

All the MIDN competing in the tournament at Villanova University continue to train year-round so that they may maintain their peak performance for the competition.  We compete at Villanova, despite our relatively small size (around eighty MIDN); to demonstrate and compare our caliber of student, training regimen, and commitment to physical fitness, with some of the best and largest ROTC’s in the country.  The event takes place on March 28, 2009, so come out and show your support by watching our unit perform.