“The students performed well. They worked hard and really improved. They all did great,” said LTC Farson.

On Thursday, January 12th, Pine Grove Area JROTC (Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps) cadets attended a Drill Competition at Wilson High School. Pine Grove Area took an Armed Drill team, Unarmed Drill team, and Color Guard team. These teams are made up of cadets who option to join either Drill, Color Guard, or both. Pine Grove Area competed against Wilson, Shikellamy, and Panther Valley. During competitions, cadets in Armed (with rifles) and Unarmed (without rifles) Drill march in platoons of twelve. Each platoon is commanded by another cadet in the program. Color Guard is a team of four cadets that compete with two rifles, a Pennsylvania state flag, and a United States flag. The Color Guard team is commanded by the person with the United States flag. Each team has a set routine to follow and is judged on how well this routine is executed. Each team also sends six cadets to participate in an inspection portion of the competition. Wilson received first in every category. Pine Grove Area got second in Armed and Unarmed drill, Color Guard got fourth place, and the inspection was not graded for this event.

“I think the team did really well. We made mistakes but we got through it,” said Faith McDevitt, freshman and member of both Armed and Unarmed Drill.

These teams practice one to two days a week in the mornings before school starts. This is all done so that cadets can perfect each routine. In Drill, cadets have to learn how to properly march, stationary movements, and keep uniform with one another. In Drill this is done both with or without rifles, referred to as unarmed and armed. Cadets in Color Guard also work on marching, rifle movements, and flag movements. All of this is done to prepare for the Brigade Competition at Redland High School on January 28th.

“This competition gave us first hand learning experience with inspection. We had never done it before but now we know what to expect for Redland. It was nice to prepare ourselves properly. That way we won’t be going into the competition blind,” said Bailey Drake, junior and Armed Drill Commander.

Competitions such as the one held at Wilson High School allow cadets to get more experience commanding before the Brigade Competition at the end of January. The cadets recognize this and put their all into every competition that they attend with their teams. This is done in the hopes of placing well at the Brigade Competition at Redland High School.