By PETER ATKINSON, Deputy Editor
The Navy League has long been involved with supporting and recognizing outstanding Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps (JROTC) cadets and units around the country. In recent years, the organization has stepped up its efforts on behalf of the Navy JROTC’s two major national competitions: the NJROTC National Academics, Athletics & Drill Championships held each year in Pensacola, Fla., and the NJROTC area managers’ evaluation of the overall performance of the units in their 11 respective areas from which the “Most Outstanding in Nation” and “Most Improved in Nation” units are ultimately chosen.
The Navy League provides all of the various awards (more than 100 in all) for both competitions, and Navy Leaguers are actively involved in making the presentations of the area manager evaluation awards.
The Southern Region, and the Pensacola Council in particular, also maintains a significant presence at the Academics, Athletics & Drill Championships, which are held at Naval Air Station Pensacola, said Joseph J. Daigneault Jr., chairman of the Navy League JROTC Subcommittee and a national director from the Clearwater, Fla., Council.
“These events mean an awful lot to the kids involved, and they provide great visibility for the Navy League,” he said. “It’s a unique opportunity and an honor for us to be involved.”
The Navy League began its active participation in the Academics, Athletics & Drill Championships about a decade ago, and has been providing and presenting the awards ever since, according to Southern Region President Hans H. Krucke, who retired as NJROTC program manager on the staff of the Chief of Naval Education and Training in Pensacola in 2002. It has been providing the NJROTC area managers’ evaluation awards for almost as long.
The Navy League also has established a “Youth Medal,” designed by Bruce Kamp from the Clearwater Council, to recognize outstanding NJROTC/Marine Corps JROTC cadets in units or schools sponsored by a Navy League council. Councils sponsor approximately 300 Navy and Marine Corps JROTC programs and another 52 ROTC programs at colleges and universities, according to Navy League statistics.
The NJROTC National Academics, Athletics & Drill Championships, which takes place in April, is scheduled by the Navy and run by Sports Network International under a contract with the Navy. The three-day event is a comprehensive test of NJROTC training and performance that includes a 100-question academic exam, athletic events, drills and a unit personnel inspection.
Units are selected for the national competition by the 11 area managers based on similar competitions in their respective areas — up to three units can be selected from each area. At last April’s competition, 23 units and about 900 cadets participated, Krucke said.
Awards are provided for each event in the competition, as well as for overall first-, second- and third-place winners — a total of 66 trophies and 24 personalized plaques in 2006, all of which were provided by the Navy League and presented by representatives from the Pensacola Council and the Southern Region.
“We were there in force,” Daigneault said.
Krucke, Michael Vuksta, past president of the Pensacola Council, and Walter Reese, a national director and past president of the Santa Rosa County, Fla., Council, were among those who presented the awards.
At this year’s competition, Flour Bluff High School, Corpus Christi, Texas, won its 10th consecutive overall championship. Boca Raton High School, Boca Raton, Fla., was second overall, with Centennial High School of Las Vegas taking third.
The NJROTC area managers’ evaluation competition also takes place during the spring. One unit is chosen as “Most Outstanding in Area” and another as “Most Improved in Area” for each of the 11 NJROTC areas.
The names of these units and supporting documentation — which includes a report on, among other things, unit activities and training, achievements, school and community service projects and recruitment efforts — are forwarded to Naval Education and Training Command headquarters in Pensacola. There, a board evaluates them and determines first-, second- and third-place winners for “Most Outstanding in Nation” along with one “Most Improved in Nation.”
The Navy League provides trophies for the “Most Outstanding in Nation” category and a large plaque for “Most Improved in Nation,” Daigneault said. It recognizes and awards units from the area competitions with a trophy for “Most Outstanding in Area” and a plaque for “Most Improved in Area,” for a total of 11 trophies and 11 plaques.
During the past year, several changes were initiated by the Navy League for the area managers evaluation competition, according to Daigneault, including a switch from plaques to trophies for the “Most Outstanding in Area” recipients.
The announcements of the “Most Outstanding in Nation” and “Most Improved in Nation” selections were moved from May to April to allow the senior cadet leaders to be recognized before the school year ended and they graduated.
And in an effort to highlight the recognition of these units, Navy League National Vice President J. Michael McGrath, a national director from the Florida Region, sent e-mails to all region presidents urging that either they, an area president or a national director be on hand to present the awards.
“It’s the least we can do to honor the achievements of these kids,” Daigneault. “They’re doing some remarkable things and they deserve all the recognition we can give them.”
This spring, Daigneault and Robert Silah, president of the Florida Region, presented the “Most Outstanding in Area” trophy to the Central High School NJROTC unit in Brooksville, Fla. Daigneault then returned a few days later to present the first-place “Most Outstanding in Nation” trophy to Central High.
Junipero Serra High School in San Diego was the second-place “Most Outstanding” unit and third place went to Pearl River Central High School, Carriere, Miss.
“Most Improved In Nation” was Central High School, Phoenix City, Ala.
For information on the NJROTC National Championships, go to: www.thenationals.net/navynats.htm.
