Photo By Sandy Owens | The top eight NJROTC teams across North Texas, Oklahoma and Colorado come together at...... read more read more
NAS JRB FORT WORTH, TEXAS –Naval Air Station (NAS) Joint Reserve Base (JRB) Fort Worth hosted its inaugural Navy Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (NJROTC) Area 19 Championship Field and Drill Meet on Feb. 14 -15, 2025. The top eight teams across North Texas, Oklahoma, and Colorado who succeeded in multiple drill meet qualifiers during the school year earned invitations to compete in this event. The competition featured about 250 cadets and 20 instructors coming together to showcase their dedication, teamwork and the values instilled in them by the NJROTC program.
The competition included a wide range of events. On the first day Cadets participated in Personnel Inspection and Academics, held at the Navy Reserve Center on base. Athletic events, including curl-ups, pushups, and a 16x100 relay were held on the base football field. The following day featured Armed and Unarmed Regulation Drill, Armed and Unarmed Exhibition Drill, and Color Guard competitions. These events tested the cadets’ physical fitness, precision, and teamwork judged by Sailors, Marines, and ROTC students from various branches.
The hard work and commitment of NJROTC cadets and their instructors were proven throughout the competition.
Sehana Hampton, a cadet from Princeton NJROTC, expressed the importance of the camaraderie that develops during such events. “It feels great to be here. We’ve worked really hard to make it to where we are today. We’ve built each other up, made connections, and knowing everyone here makes them feel like family,” said Hampton.
The NJROTC program is known for encouraging students to excel in physical fitness, drill competitions, academics and leadership.
“Not only do we promote leadership, citizenship and community involvement in our program, but academics are equally as important,” shared retired Lt. Trevor Smalls from Nimitz NJROTC. “These kids are our future. It’s a huge honor as a retired Lt. who once served our country, to now serving our community through this program.”
The location of the event added a special dimension to the championship, as many spectators have never had the chance to visit a military base.
Scott Hanna, a retired Naval officer and former JROTC Senior Naval Science Instructor, JROTC Area 19 Manager, expressed how impactful the experience was for everyone involved. “Our parents, guardians, and high school administrators don’t often get to visit military bases, so they were really excited for the opportunity to see all the aircraft and facilities, to get a taste of what the local military community is about.”
Hanna also shared that it takes collaboration to put an event like this together. “I can’t say enough about the support provided by the local commands, Sailors, Marines and Soldiers that made this competition successful. Between the event judges and command leadership around the base, we couldn’t have done it without them.”
After two days of intense competition, Nimitz-Irving, Texas JROTC emerged as the grand champion, earning the honor of representing Area 19 at the All-Service National Drill Team Championships in Daytona, Florida on May 3-4. Faith Family Academy from Oak Cliff, Texas, claimed second place overall champion. They will represent Area 19 at the Navy Nationals Championship in Pensacola, Florida on April 4-5.
NAS JRB Fort Worth is the first and finest joint reserve base, known for training and equipping air crews and aviation ground support personnel, while supporting missions such as airlift, aerial refueling, and global mobility, making it an integral part of national defense infrastructure.
| Date Taken: | 02.19.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 02.19.2025 16:20 |
| Story ID: | 491054 |
| Location: | FORT WORTH, TEXAS, US |
| Web Views: | 136 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, NAS JRB Fort Worth Hosts Inaugural NJROTC Area 19 Championship Field and Drill Meet, by Staci Dunston, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
