Saipan Tribune

Monday, May 20, 2013

Tuesday, March 05, 2013

PSS cadets up for 5-day Spring Camp this month

JROTC elated with success of annual drill competitions

After successfully holding the CNMI Public School System's annual drill competitions, JROTC director of army instruction Lt. Col. (retired) Bob Gay announced that the islands' cadets are gearing up another big event this month.

Gay said the annual Spring Camp is scheduled for 150 cadets from all public high schools on Saipan, Tinian, and Rota on March 22 through 26, to be held at the back of Saipan Southern High School.

During the five-day activity, participants will build a campsite where all cadets will participate in the traditional JROTC Cadet Leadership Challenge Encampment.

According Gay, the battalions will be provided the opportunity to meet new people, make new friends and compete in a positive environment. Besides the high-spirited competitions, cadets will join in a multitude of activities that included physical training, rappelling, leadership reaction course, obstacle course, platoon drill, rope bridge construction, knot tying, land navigation, first aid, and many others.

The JROTC Program's annual drill competition was recently held at the Marianas High School campus. This event, Gay said, showcased the hard work and technical skills of all five CNMI JROTC high school drill teams.

The competition involved two divisions of drill expertise: unarmed and armed. Within each division, the drill teams would execute four specific categories of drill. These included inspection, regulation drill, exhibition drill, and color guard.

The JROTC cadre met in October 2012 and delineated the procedural aspects and guidelines for the competition. Gay brought in evaluators from Guam JROTC and University of Guam SROTC to evaluate the drill meet. Gay also designated Sgt. Maj. (retired) Jack Kiyoshi, who attended last year's National Drill Championships, to train the CNMI JROTC cadres on the nuances of that evaluation.

“All of the drill teams performed at a high level and deserve much credit. The JROTC cadre deserves a lot of credit as well for the long hours they dedicated to their cadets to ready them for the competition,” he told Saipan Tribune Friday.

In the armed category, Marianas High School won the Armed Regulation and Armed Color Guard. Saipan Southern High School won the Armed Exhibition Drill and Armed Inspection. SSHS finished first overall in the Armed Division followed by MHS and KHS.

In the unarmed division, Rota High School won Inspection, Regulation Drill, Color Guard, and Exhibition Drill. RHS finished first in the Unarmed Category followed by Tinian High School.

Gay said that a lot of people contributed to the success of the drill meet, including the MHS JROTC Cadre: Capt. Ernest Torres, Command Sgt. Maj. Leo Rabago, and 1st Sgt. Gene Guzman for hosting the competition. He also thanked MHS principal Cherlyn Cabrera and her staff for their support. Gay also recognized the DAI PSS JROTC Multiple School Staff for their great job providing logistical and operational support.

Also recognized were the effective coordination of the air support for the Rota and Tinian cadets; parents and the family members; Education Commissioner Dr. Rita A. Sablan, Ed.D., Board of Education members, and Delegate Gregorio Kilili C. Sablan (Ind-MP) for their support.

Gay said that he would enter the SSHS and RHS JROTC Drill Teams with the U.S. Army Cadet Command JROTC Drill Championship Committee to gain admittance to the National Drill Meet scheduled for April 6, 2013, in Louisville, Kentucky.