JROTC competes in the 2013 Eagle Classic

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Ashlin Federick
  • 436th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del. --  Seven teams competed in the 2013 Eagle Classic Delaware State Military Drill Championship April 20, 2013, at the 436th Logistics Readiness Squadron warehouse on Dover Air Force Base, Del.

This is an annual competition for all of the Junior Reserve Officer Training Corp detachments in the state of Delaware. The JROTC includes Air Force units, Marine units, Navy units and Army units. Dover AFB hosts the drill competition every year.

"This is an awesome event for us," said Senior Master Sgt. Carrie Thomas, 436th Logistics Readiness Squadron maintenance support superintendent. "These are possibly the new and upcoming members of the military. It shows camaraderie and team work which is what the Air Force is all about."

Col. (Ret.) Mitch Berger, state drill competition coordinator, said the purpose of the event is to meet up and have a friendly competition to see who is better at drill every year.

"It is a positive influence on the school and teaches children to work as a team even if they don't like each other," said Berger.
The teams participated in events such as inspections, the unarmed and armed exhibitions, the unarmed and armed regulations and color guard.

Judges for the competition consist of Airmen from the Air Force Honor Guard, Airmen from the Dover AFB Honor Guard and cadets who have been in JROTC previously and are now either Guard or Reserve. The judging is based on how well the teams move as a whole.

Berger said if someone is out of place or out of step the judges will know. He said it is a way of building up camaraderie for the drill teams which is very important in JROTC

"It is easy to get out of bed and do my job because you have kids that want to do more than the average student with things such as community service, drill and be leaders in the corps itself. It is a great thing to see someone come in as a new student, progress through the program and gain some of that confidence."

Only 25 to 30 percent of students in JROTC ever enlist or go on to ROTC program in college.

"The mission of JROTC is to build better citizens not soldiers," said Berger. "We are not here to recruit but if someone is interested we have the resources to answer their questions or point them in the right direction."
The teams competing in the competition were Middletown High School from Middletown, Del., Christiana High School from Newark, Del., Seaford Senior High School from Seaford, Del., Sussex Technical High School from Georgetown, Del., Dover High School from Dover, Del., Caesar Rodney High School from Camden, Del., and William Penn High School from New Castle, Del.

Caesar Rodney took home the win for the 2013 Eagle Classic.