AJROTC Participates in Interflight Competition
The TX-861st performs their parade.
Every year, Westwood’s AJROTC unit holds their interflight competition, where each “flight” (separated by cadets’ grade level and class periods) competes against one another in drill and uniform inspection. The cadets were inspected by two ROTC cadets from the University of Texas who volunteered to help for the compet
Neikole Nelson ’18 is briefed by Kevin Huang ’17 and David Lee ’17 after marching her flight.
Ethan Brown ’19, Nick Short ’18, and Nathalia Martinez ’18 salute during the parade.
Alpha flight is inspected by a University of Texas cadet.
ition.
Each flight had their uniforms checked for discrepancies first by the two inspectors, who checked for ] shined shoes, hanging threads alignment of the belt, shirt, and pants, and cut hair. In addition, as cadets were inspected, each one was asked a question concerning their JROTC knowledge to measure their knowledge. . Afterwards, the flights were moved on to the drill pad where the flight commanders ran their flight through a series of drill movements to measure their drill abilities.
“Commanding my flight was somewhat difficult during the drill evaluation, as many of the cadets in my flight hadn’t practiced their drill much before interflight,” Samantha Tarafdar ‘18 said.
Each flight was commanded by the flight commander through the same series of drill movements, and judged by the senior cadets in the unit. Commanders were judged on consistency, loudness, snap, and audibility, while cadets marching were judged on following their commander and sharpness of movement.
In the end, Delta flight pulled ahead under the outstanding leadership of Toran Degen ‘18, with Charlie flight coming in second, followed by Echo and Alpha flight.
“It was stressful for most of us first year cadets, but we did our best to compete and have our uniforms polished,” Jeffrey Hobbs ‘20 said.
After the inspection and drill, the competition was topped off by a parade at the end. The cadets had been practicing for weeks prior to the parade,and pulled off a stunning performance that impressed both parents and inspectors alike.
“There were some technical difficulties before the parade started, but once it started it was perfection and everyone performed well,” Joshua Douglass ‘17 said.
Once the parade ended, cadets and parents attending were invited to a potluck and barbecue. There was also a fundraiser where one could pay a dollar to pie the senior cadets in the face. Overall, the competition was an important part of the year for every cadet involved to celebrate their success.
Hello, my name is Donatella and I am a photographer for the 2016-2017 school year. This will be my second year of being in yearbook and third year of being...
