Photo By Sgt. Zaid Dannsa | Sgt. Jeanette Ponce Benjamin, an administrative clerk at Marine Forces Reserve,...... read more read more
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NEW ORLEANS — Sixteen Marines from Marine Forces Reserve and six Navy ROTC midshipmen from Tulane University judged a Marine Corps Junior ROTC competition at Jesuit High School in New Orleans, Jan. 29.
Teams of cadets from 18 high schools across Louisiana, Texas and Mississippi competed in the 23rd Annual Jesuit High School Marine Corps JROTC Drill and Physical Fitness Competition.
The competition is a measuring stick for schools to see how they fare against other schools in the region when it comes to basic Marine Corps activities such as drill and physical fitness, said competition coordinator and retired Master Gunnery Sgt. Johnny Piseno.
With scorecards in hand, the judges evaluated as teams of cadets performed a series of drill events and a physical fitness test.
“What can separate the winning team from the others is bearing, appearance and knowledge,” said Cpl. Warren M. Ory, a Marine Corps Integrated Material Management System clerk with MarForRes logistics.
The first drill event was a color guard, in which four students marched with the American and Marine Corps flags. Students then performed an armed drill routine utilizing demilitarized rifles and an unarmed drill routine.
The Marines inspected the formations and observed the student executing various manuevers. The armed and unarmed drill teams then proceeded to show off some of their creativity in an exhibition round.
“They get five to eight minutes to show how creative they are,” said Piseno. “During the exhibition, every team is different from the moves they attempt to tossing their rifles.”
During the exhibition drill, cadences were sung, rifles were spun and marchers were attentively choreographed as the detail commanders attempted to impress the Marine judges.
Meanwhile, in a parking lot across from the drill field, cadets were cheering on teammates dressed in olive-green shirts and shorts as they forced out a maximum set of pull-ups.
“I feel real hyped up considering that our drill team did totally amazing and seeing them perform like that makes me want to do my best, and give it all I have and then some,” said one cadet from Houston’s Willowridge High School as he prepared to contribute his set of pull-ups for his team.
Pull-ups, crunches and a 300-yard run were the events of the physical fitness test.
Marine scorekeepers averaged together points from each of the cadets in the five member PFT teams to determine the winning school.
The top three teams emerging out of each event as well as the top three from the overall competition received trophies.
“They put a lot of time and practice into this competition,” said Ory. “Their knowledge and volume was on point, but they could do better with bearing. With encouragement, some of the older kids could be ready for the Marine Corps in no time.”
| Date Taken: | 01.29.2011 |
| Date Posted: | 02.10.2011 17:42 |
| Story ID: | 65194 |
| Location: | NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA, US |
| Web Views: | 393 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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