Oxford High NJROTC Cadets Make History Again

At Nation’s Largest Drill Competition in Montgomery, Alabama!

Pirates Capture 3^rd Place Overall and Earn Six New 2007 National Titles

At American Legion National JROTC Drill Tournament

 Oxford High School students once again made history as a small band of 14 Oxford Naval Junior ROTC cadets, the smallest team participating at the nation’s largest drill competition, the 2007 American Legion National Junior ROTC Drill Team and Color Guard Tournament.  There they faced intense competition from over 4500 peers from JROTC units representing all the services and over seventy schools representing over 20 states.  Cadet expectations of themselves going into the competition proved to fall short of some of spectacular performances that the small team delivered to once again shock several national powerhouse drill teams from across the South.   The fourteen Oxford High Naval Junior ROTC cadets, joined by Air Force Junior ROTC Cadet Christopher Moran from Bartlett High School, a fellow competitor in the Southern New England Drill League, their two instructors and five parents almost saw the intrepid Pirates achieve another impossible dream in what the tournament hosts described as the most competitive and tightest competition seen at the Nationals in the past ten years.  Throughout the Closing Awards Ceremony, it was apparent that there were four powerhouse teams placing in almost all twelve  of the standard events of the competition.  Oxford’s Pirates found themselves being called forward for nine trophies – six of which were for first place and new national titles,  When the final tallies were announced, it was reported that another Navy JROTC unit, Union Grove High School outside Atlanta, Georgia was the new 2007 Overall Tournament Champion and 2007 Best of Service Navy National Champion.   To realize how close the competition really was one need only look at the standings.  Tournament host officials report that of a possible 3400 total available points for all twelve events, NJROTC Unit Union Grove with a 40 member team amassed 3154 points.  Air Force JROTC Unit from Klein Collins High School in Houston, Texas and an 80 member contingent placed second with 3152 points and the 14 member Oxford NJROTC team placed third overall with 3135.5 points – a mere nineteen points away from winning a fourth straight overall national championship.  Given that there were at least five judges scrutinizing and scoring each of the twelve events (over 60 total judges), it was clear each judge only saw a difference among the top three teams by less than a third of a point apiece on average!   While initially disappointed, Oxford’s Pirates saw videotapes of their performances, most of which were the best they delivered all season, and took pride in how they performed as a team and what they accomplished in earning six new national titles.  Additionally, Oxford’s Pirate Cadets made history in one area again with the smaller select team led by three senior girls and five underclassmen who were veterans of the tournament, and six cadets who had no prior experience at the “Nationals.”   The Nationals Team performed that day while the remaining drill team members back home in Oxford simultaneously covered participation at the 5^th and final meet of the 2006 –2007 season at Springfield, Massachusetts in the Southern New England Drill League (covered in a separate article).

            The group touched down at a frigid Worcester Airport the following Monday a Navy C-9B jet piloted by the “Globemasters” of VR-52 Squadron from Willow Grove, Pennsylvania and the weary but elated competitors expressed amazement at what they experienced in the previous forty eight hours.   As their bus approached Oxford High, many friends and peers from the Springfield Drill Team braved the low wind chills to welcome them home.  Superintendent of Schools Ernest L. Boss, Principal David Grenier and School Committee Members Marc Peterson and Laura Coonan also joined over 60 family members, local friends, students, current cadets and past NJROTC graduates who themselves were part of previous National Championship Teams.  All were applauding and cheering as the bus stopped at the back of the high school where classroom windows and halls were adorned with American flags, banners, posters, greeting cards and balloons as the fourteen cadets stepped out of the bus bringing back 11 new 2007 National Tournament trophies back to Oxford High School.

            Two days earlier, the dauntless Pirate teams competed in the 2007 American Legion National Junior ROTC Drill Team and Color Guard National Tournament on Saturday February 3^rd held at the Garrett Coliseum in Montgomery, Alabama.  While not winning a fourth consecutive overall Grand National title, the Pirates were justifiably proud at tournament’s end - making history once again.  For the twelve basic tourney events (four each in the Armed, Unarmed and Facsimile Divisions), the Pirates earned trophy awards in nine of the events – two-fifth, two-fourth, and five first place finishes. Three first place finishes made a Lady Pirate Oxford team commanded by Senior Breeyn Green, leading senior Siobhan Bennett and juniors Amy Fish and Katelyn Hebden, the first all female JROTC Color Guard of any service in the 29 year history of the tournament to capture all three 2007 National Championship Color Guard titles in all three divisions at the single day tournament.  This team was also only the second team in tournament history to sweep all first places - matching Oxford’s record sweep of all Color Guard Titles last year.  Oxford also became the only Navy Junior ROTC Unit in the history of the tournament to not only sweep all three national titles twice but the Pirates are the first school to earn back to back repeats with an entirely different team.  The Lady Pirates earned these special accolades despite competing against predominately all male teams.   As the awards ceremony progressed, Oxford’s cadets discovered they also earned event National Titles for both Armed and Unarmed Team Inspections, and were awarded additional trophies as both the 2007 Second Place Overall National Finalist in the Armed Division and as the 2007 Overall National Champion in the Unarmed Division. 

            The Pirate’s ninth appearance at the nation’s biggest drill tournament began earlier in the week as they departed Worcester Municipal airport aboard another Navy C-9B jet also flown by the “Eagles” of VR-46 Squadron from Naval Air Station Norfolk, Atlanta.  The flights on both legs of the trip were coordinated by the Navy Air Logistics Office in New Orleans, LA and ultimately approved and tasked by the US Transportation Command and Joint Operational Support Airlift Center at Scott Air Force Base in Illinois.  Upon arrival at Maxwell Air Force Base, the Oxford teams moved to their hotel and immediately set to preparing their uniforms and practicing during the remaining time on Wednesday night.  Thursday and Friday each contained multiple 3-4 hour practice shifts in preparation for an intense day of competition on Saturday.  The cadets’ schedule provided them with time in Montgomery for practices, team equipment preparations as well as educational activities and even time for homework – some of which was emailed back to teachers in Oxford.  Maxwell Air Force Base once again hosted practice, meal, and recreational facilities, all coordinated for the ninth year by Ms. Amy Brown, the Special Events Coordinator for the 42^nd Air Base Wing Commander.   On Thursday morning temperatures hovered in the low 40’s with rain making raw conditions for several of the four hour practices conducted in a special hangar on the base reserved solely for the Pirate teams.  Friday morning and early afternoon saw the cadets in more extended dress rehearsals for the next day’s big competition. 

            Oxford’s cadets had the opportunity to use Friday afternoon to tour local sites in Montgomery for an educational experience few tournament participants enjoy.  The educational excursion opened with a tour of the Alabama State Capital that included visits to the old and new Senate Chambers, the impressive capital dome with its huge special murals depicting significant events from the history of the state, and several special areas of the building.  Oxford’s cadets saw the site where Jefferson Davis took the oath of office to assume presidency of the Confederacy, then stood on the steps of the capital where Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered the first of many special Civil Rights speeches in the 1960’s during the Freedom marches from Selma and other Alabama cities to the capital.  The state house steps atop Old Goat Hill provided a panoramic vista of Montgomery where they could see much of the city, many state memorials, including an eternal flame burning in memory of all Alabama veterans and a massive, newly restored Civil War Memorial dedicated to fallen Confederate soldiers, sailors, cavalrymen and officer, a gallery of flags and special stones from every state in the Union, and marble statues – including one to the first woman ever elected governor in the United States – Arleen Wallace - the wife of former Governor George Wallace.  The students, chaperones and parents then toured the First White House of the Confederacy where President Jefferson Davis resided after taking the oath of office before the Confederate capital was moved to Richmond, Virginia.  The house was completely adorned in Antebellum and Civil War era furnishings, linens, curtains and artifacts from clothes sets, crystal chandeliers and dining place settings complete with silver and authentic china from the era.  The cadets next roamed the Alabama State Archives and several floors of exhibits.  The were able to view artifacts on display ranging from prehistoric archeological finds to displays of items from the Spanish, French, English, and Revolutionary War periods through to current day history displays, including special Black History Month displays focusing on Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and his Civil Rights marches from Selma to Montgomery in Alabama during the 1960’s.  An entire new exhibit displayed all the Native American Indian tribes and their history of living in the Alabama region, complete with newly discovered arrowheads, pottery, jewelry, chieftains’ bands and the presentation of the first Seminole Alphabet.  Entire floors of paintings and exhibits depicted the military history of the state, with superb displays of Civil War uniforms, equipment, swords (including the sword used to surrender the Confederate Army and end the Civil War), Alabama units’ battle flags and banners, and other special memorabilia. 

            The following morning, after a very early breakfast and team meeting and distribution of the unit’s good luck pins, Oxford’s teams commenced their ninth appearance at the tournament.  They were again the only team from Massachusetts or the Northeast portion of the country to compete in all twelve events in the tournament.  Only academically eligible cadets on the drill teams with no failing grades were selected for this trip.  With only fourteen cadets on the nationals team, and faced with tournament requirements to put 13 cadets on the floor in nine of the twelve team events (Color Guard only requires 4 per team), many Pirates found themselves performing in at least nine events while the four members of the Lady Pirate Color Guard competed in all twelve events in the tournament.   

            At the end of a grueling fifteen hour day that started at 5:30 a.m., and with thousands of cadets and schools on the floor for awards presentations, Oxford’s cadets, cheering parents, chaperones and instructors were beaming when the eleven trophy awards began to pile up.  This was another truly remarkable outcome for a national tournament of this caliber and for a young Oxford team with nearly fifty percent of its members being novices at the national tournament.   In addition to the team accolades, Bartlett Cadet Christopher Moran, who was invited by the unit to participate on the trip and gain experience to bring back to his own drill team and color guard, won 1 of the 50 individual national knockout medals up for grabs among the attending cadets in Individual Drill Regulation (IDR) competition events.   Chris then competed in the final national ranking round of the IDR, ultimately departing the field of 50 competitors in 8^th place while his Oxford Navy counterparts were cheering his performance. 

            Members of the 2007 National Tournament and Championship Teams were Seniors Siobhan G. Bennett, Rebecca L. Gaddis, Breeyn D. Green, Staci M. MacGregor and Justin D. Manzello; juniors Amy L. Fish, Amy E. Gaddis, Katelyn E. Hebden and Michael P. Iudiciani; sophomores Joshua G. Boucher, Kathleen E. Coonan and John M. Holmes and freshmen Nicholas A. Comstock and Jason A. Green.       

            Since entering the American Legion National JROTC Drill and Color Guard tournament nine years ago with the approval of the Oxford School Committee, Oxford’s cadets have earned thirty-nine national championship titles in drill and color guard competitions for Oxford High School.