Longtime Commander of Boca High’s JROTC Bids Farewell

NJROTC Commander Bringham final speech

BOCA RATON – Lieutenant Commander Kenneth “Ken” Bingham, who led Boca Raton High School’s Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps to seven state titles and two national championships, will soon bid farewell to the program after 21 years.

Bingham, who will retire in the fall, announced at the beginning of the 2015 school year that this would be his last as the school’s naval science instructor.  He took his ceremonial “crossing the bridge” at the program’s Change of Command ceremony on April 29.

In 2011, Bingham’s squad won the school’s first ever national title, and last month, he won his second.

“Winning a national championship, what a way to go out,” he said at last week’s Change of Command ceremony. “Not in my wildest dreams.”

The former Navy pilot and flight instructor retired after a 22-year naval career and almost immediately launched a new career-building America’s future.  In 1994, he helped establish the Boca Raton Community High School NJROTC program with 39 cadets after working as a chaperone for his niece’s NJROTC in Pasco County.

Upon his return, he learned that the Navy was considering starting a ROTC unit at Boca Raton High and he applied.

NJROTC Departing Seniors

Today, the program is 180 cadets strong – nearly 800 to date – and has earned national acclaim. The more than 150 trophies, ribbons, and awards are a testament to the hard work of his students and Bingham’s dedication to young Americans every day.

Bingham’s classroom is not the traditional with the average high school students.  His students come to him from all walks of life.  Some arrive with 4.0 grade point averages determined to pursue a military career.  And there are those who reluctantly show up or were sent to the program as a last resort.

Regardless of their situation, Bingham gives them his best effort and the results are proof.

Bingham credits his father, a former police officer, for the values and principles, which are the cornerstone of his success.

“My father believed in living an honest and accomplished life,” Bingham said in a 2014 interview. “He instilled in us knowledge, skills, and integrity believes those attributes gave him the opportunity to accomplish many things in my life.”

Because of those experiences, he wanted to “pay it forward” to today’s youth. His goals are best expressed in the mission statement of his NJROTC unit: To instill in students the value of citizenship, service to the United States, personal responsibility, and a sense of accomplishment.