Boca Raton High School crowned NJROTC National Champions
The Commander of Naval Education and Training Command (NETC), Rear Adm. Michael S. White, present Boca Raton High School NJROTC Cadet Captains, Jake Woods and Jennifer Menke the top trophy for being named the overall winner of the 2015 Navy Junior ROTC Nationals Academic, Athletic and Drill Championship during the Awards Night at the National Museum of Naval Aviation at Naval Air Station Pensacola (U.S. Navy photo by Scott A. Thornbloom/Released)
By: Scott A. Thornbloom
Florida’s Boca Raton High School outlasted 24 other teams to capture the 2015 Navy Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps (NJROTC) National Academic, Athletic and Drill Championship on board Naval Air Station (NAS) Pensacola April 10-11.
The 25 NJROTC units, representing 15 states from coast-to-coast, were challenged on their athleticism, tested in academics and evaluated on the drill deck during competition held at the Naval Air Technical Training Center’s (NATTC) Charles Taylor Hangar and on the NAS Pensacola track and parade field.
The Commander of Naval Education and Training Command (NETC), Rear Adm. Michael S. White, presented participation certificates to all 25 schools and then presented overall trophies to the top five units at an awards ceremony at the National Museum of Naval Aviation after the competition was finished.
“We’re so excited to have the (NJROTC) Nationals back here at Pensacola,” said White, who also observed the drill events and visited with units during the competition “As you watch these young men and women compete, it gives you great faith in the future of our nation. Whatever leadership role they pick, they are ready.”
NJROTC is a citizenship development program that instills in high school students and in U.S. secondary educational institutions the value of citizenship and service to the United States.
The NJROTC Nationals remain the most comprehensive test of overall JROTC training and performance in existence today. This year, many of the nation’s finest NJROTC units from each of the eleven Navy areas were part of this exciting, two-day academic, athletic and drill competition.
According to the website, Sport Network International, “No competition in the world of JROTC provides a better test of all-around program quality and esprit-de-corps than the Navy Nationals.”
“This is the best possible feeling I could have imagined,” said Cadet Capt. Jake Woods, 18, a senior and the cadet regimental commander of the Boca Raton NJROTC unit. “I know that there is no higher goal for any cadet in this unit ever than to win this national championship. What drives us all year long every year is coming to this place and winning this championship and we are so glad we were able to pull it off.”
This was Boca Raton’s first return to the national championship held on NAS Pensacola, since 2011. This year the unit piled up 5,215 points to capture the title. Troy High School (Fullerton, Calif.) came in second with 5,084 points. Centennial High School (Las Vegas), the 2009 and 2010 national champion, placed third with 4,900 points; Westview High School (San Diego) was fourth with 4,862; and Shawnee Mission North High School (Kansas) finished fifth with 4,815 points.
“It was their hard work as a unit,” said retired Navy Lt. Cmdr. Ken Bingham, the senior Naval Science Instructor (NSI) of the Boca Raton Bobcat regiment. “Every day they were practicing on something. I am so proud how well they all did in all the events, especially the academic competition.
Bingham, who has commanded Boca Raton for 21 years and will be retiring as NSI at the end of the school year, said he has always stressed academics to all his cadets. This year the emphasis on academics was a key for the unit as they scored 889 points and took first place in the academic competition. Cadet Woods, who is entering the U. S. Naval Academy next year, took the top individual academic honors.
Boca Raton’s executive officer, Cadet Capt. Jennifer Menke, 18, said having the Nationals at NAS Pensacola is always a motivation for her unit.
“It’s fantastic to be on this Navy base and it really motivates the unit. It’s so exciting to be able to meet face-to-face and compete against all these great teams from across the nation.”
While Boca Raton returned to the top spot at the Nationals, Troy, Centennial and Shawnee Mission North are all perennial top-five finishers. Westview High cracked the top five for the first time in several years.
Approximately 25 of more than 580 NJROTC units worldwide qualify for the national competition annually.
“It’s been unbelievable to see these kids and these units perform so well and dedicate themselves to this competition,” said Dr. J. D. Smith, director and NJROTC Program Manager. “The cadets are performing at an extremely high level and we couldn’t be happier with this year’s competition.”
Smith said it was important having Nationals on NAS Pensacola. “It gives the schools from the north and west an opportunity to come to Florida. We hope we can continue this competition live each year here. Each year that the competition is held here the performance of the cadets seems more enhanced and it’s really amazing to see.”
