Reservist judges JROTC Drill Meet

  • Published
  • By Charlie Miller
  • 445 Airlift Wing
3/10/2007 - NEW CARLISLE, Ohio --  All I could see was a huge wave of blue. Blue fabric, that is. And it was adorning some 650 Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps (JROTC) cadets. They had come to Tecumseh High School, New Carlisle, Ohio, for the 18th Annual "All Air Force" Regional Drill Meet on March 10.

From as far away as Missouri and Maryland, seven states in all, 21 high schools were represented at Tecumseh, the host school, which is about 10 miles from Wright-Patterson AFB. The 445th Airlift Wing, 88th Air Base Wing and the Wright-State University Air Force ROTC program again were actively involved supplying judges and support people as they have for a number of years.

Master Sgt. Mark Lyle, Superintendent of the 445th Airlift Wing Honor Guard served as one of the volunteer judges again at the drill meet. This year was his fourth.

"I always enjoy being in this atmosphere," the sergeant said. "I'm glad some the Honor Guard members could be here to help with the judging."

I ran into Sergeant Lyle in the hallway outside the main gym. It was highly congested with blue suited participants waiting for their turns to perform. It was loud. The sergeant cradled two cell phones in his service cap as he knifed his way to the main floor entrance. His second stint as a judge was about to begin.

"I have 10 funerals today and six tomorrow," Sgt. Lyle said as he squeezed past a team from Wisconsin, all sporting matching berets of kids. The sergeant had gathered a group of his Honor Guard members to serve as judges at the drill meet. But a few were placed on stand-by for Honor Guard duty in case they were needed at any of the funerals.

Senior Master Sgt. Dani Peters, 88th Medical Support Squadron, spent several hours scrutinizing teams. "This is my first time judging," the sergeant said. Sgt. Peters and Sgt. Lyle switched off being head judges and had an active duty Navy petty officer and a Wright State University ROTC cadet on their crew.

There are 869 Air Force Junior ROTC units with 105,000 cadets in high schools across the United States and selected Department of Defense Dependent Schools world wide. Air Force Junior ROTC staff includes more than 1,800 retired Air Force military instructors and headquarters staff.

"These young people are our future; the future of America," said Master Sgt. Antonio Ruiz (ret), the enlisted advisor at Tecumseh. He's got 11 years in and says he's been a perfectionist since day one. "It's all part of JROTC. I give them a hard time but they need that sense of responsibility and camaraderie to steer them in the right direction. They won't take everything away we teach them but hopefully they will take away the good."

The parents of the cadets are an interesting lot. Some have sons or daughters following in either mom or dad's military footsteps. Others parents are witnessing a form of military life for the first time and seeing changes they see in their sons and daughters. A few of the parents are scared stiff that, ultimately, their child will end up on the front lines in Iraq.

Craig and Evvie Moore of Dayton were at the meet to support their granddaughter Alyssa Shaffer who is a 9th grader at Tecumseh. Alyssa's mom, grandparents and great grand parents all served in the military.

"Freedom is not free," said Evvie Moore, who served as a surgical nurse during the Vietnam Conflict. "Not every child is going to be a cheerleader or a jock." The Moore's said they have absolutely zero reservations about their granddaughter enlisting in the Air Force.

Former Air Force Reservist and C-141 pilot Col. Fred Schuster (ret) is the Senior Aerospace Science Instructor at Tecumseh High School. The colonel, a Vietnam veteran, was in charge of the drill meet.

"This JROTC program gives one a renewed sense of confidence in our young people," Colonel Schuster said. "I believe this program helps them to succeed in life, to learn and be ready for life. I think that it's important for senior Air Force leadership to see what's happening down here. We don't grow them to be in the military, we grow them to be citizens."

When the drill competition was complete, judges put down their grading pens and handed in their score sheets to be tallied. The top teams were handed a trophy by Lt. Gen. Terry L. Gabreski, Vice Commander, Air Force Materiel Command from Wright-Patt. Even though there was only one over all winner, they were all winners in my eyes.