What’s New with the Blue Devil Battalion?
By PAO Cadet Katherine Plavetzky
JROTC sees a lot of new changes
This year JROTC has its first top-3 all-female leadership! This includes our Battalion Commander Cadet Lieutenant Colonel Milne, our Executive Officer Cadet Major Miranda, and our Command Sergeant Major Cadet Rentas. These 3 will go down in history as the Battalion’s first all-female top 3 ever. Along with the change in leadership comes the change in staff positions, including the addition of S-6, a brand-new staff position. The staff includes our S-1 (Adjutant Officer) Cadet Kubic, our S-2 (Security Officer) Cadet Nino, our S-3 (Operations & Training Officer) Cadet Smith, our S-4 (Logistics Officer) Cadet Philogene, our S-5 (Public Affairs Officer) Cadet Plavetzky, and our S-6 (Communications Officer) Cadet Craft. Each staff member has their own duties/responsibilities to make sure everything gets accomplished. JROTC has other upcoming events this year. This includes the JROTC Program Accreditation (JPA). JPA is our 5-year evaluation in which the 6th brigade comes down to inspect our program. A lot of planning and preparation goes into this evaluation. It can be a nerve-racking time for our cadets and leadership. Especially if we want to maintain our gold star, which has never been lost.
Commander Cadet Lieutenant Colonel Milne, Executive Officer Cadet Major Miranda, and Command Sergeant Major Cadet Rentas.
Raiders Season Begins and drill practice starts
With the new year, comes new Raiders. The Raiders team is a group of cadets who go out and compete in multiple physically challenging events. The events are a 5K run, cross country rescue, rope bridge, tire flip, and obstacle course. So far this year Raiders have competed in two competitions, one was a scholarship opportunity and the most recent was a pre-season meet. The first meet was at USF and only a male/mixed team went. The second meet was at Tenoroc, in which we took three teams this time. An all-female, all-male, and a male/mixed team. From this meet the female team placed 1st on Rope bridge, 3rd on the Fitness challenge, and 3rd on tire flip. Additionally, the male team took 2nd on rope bridge. During all their competitions the Raiders practice the 7 Army values of loyalty, duty, respect, selfless service, honor, integrity, and personal courage and most importantly is TEAMWORK. “As the captain of the female Raider team, I use the 7 army values as the foundation of my team. Respect is very important for our team chemistry. Personal courage is what we use to pass our limits and face difficulties to improve. Integrity is used when I put trust into my team, and they put trust in me to succeed.” (Female Raider Commander Ruby Miranda). Though the Raiders are the only team who has competed so far, the drill team has started practice. “Drill team consists of several different matching routines including: armed and unarmed, female and male/mixed, squads and platoons, and color guard. We compete from November-April. We spend so much time together going through ups and downs that we quickly become a big family.” as stated by the Drill Team Captain Lieutenant Colonel Milne.
Male/Mixed, Female, and Male Raider Teams
Support JROTC
I am excited to announce that we have launched our Mega Blast Fundraiser with Winter Haven High School JROTC, your generous support of our groups fundraiser will help us provide the best possible experience for our cadets. Each year, we budget for new equipment, uniform cost and help offset our annual award banquet. By meeting our financial foal, we will continue to develop as leaders and as a unit. Thank you in advance for your support!
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