Letter to the Editor

In praise of ROTC

Thursday, February 28, 2008

Dear editor,

I am writing this letter to let our community know of the accomplishments of the Nevada Air Force Junior ROTC unit. This is second year in a row that they have qualified to attend National Competition and we are off to Texas in March.

I have been a parent supporter of the ROTC for nine years now and the pride I have for each of these cadets, cannot be put into words. I have attended nearly every drill meet every year and their performances this year is near perfect. They have come in first place in nearly every drill meet they have competed in this year. They qualified at the very first meet in Lee's Summit, and have been continuing to win ever since.

These young people practice their routines and work hard as a team. Other schools that they compete against try to emulate the Nevada teams and they video tape Nevada routines to try and be as good.

Most people do not know a lot about the ROTC. They see them do a color guard at the parades, pass out poppies for veterans, and they have a drill-a thon at Wal-Mart in November to raise funds for the corps. The average person does not realize that ROTC is pretty much a year-around commitment from these cadets. They start practicing for the drill teams in the summer. There is summer leadership training at Whiteman Air Force base and a summer camp at Camp Clark. They perform honor detail for military veterans funerals. They do color guards for all kinds of events, including Memorial Day. They have highway clean up on the highway in front of 3M. Once the school years starts, the drill team's practices continue after school. They hold a Veterans Day ceremony. The first drill meet is in early December at Marshfleld. They decorate a nursing home at Christmas time. When January starts, nearly every Saturday thru March is out of town at a very early hour to drill meets. These drill meets start at 7a.m. and they usually do not get home until 6 or 7p.m. Now I ask you, can you find anyone more dedicated than that? These kids put in long hours practicing and drill meets days. They host Nevada's drill meet in January. They also have a military ball, learn water survival, learn to repel, and in the spring they get a ride on a Black Hawk. So you see there is a lot of activity that pretty much goes unnoticed in regards to the ROTC. It has pretty much always been that way. This is why I have wanted to share with you their wonderful news.

Of course these cadets are what they are due to the coaching of Sgt. Pete Quinlan. Sarge has been with the ROTC 10 years now and he has taken a mildly average team to be National Competition level, repeatedly. Sarge also deserves recognition for his dedication and leadership of these cadets.

Last, but certainly not least, is Col. Patrick Giunta. He has been with Nevada since 2004 and again his leadership skills are also what have molded these kids to be who and where they are today. I just hope that if an ROTC cadet comes to your door asking for a donation for different fundraisers, that you will remember that these kids are not a cadet just an hour or two a day. They are a cadet pretty much every hour of every day. I hope that you will be as proud of our cadets', as I am, and there is no way I could be any prouder. I feel honored to be a part of the ROTC program and a part of our cadets success stories. If you know an ROTC cadet, please congratulate them. They get so little recognition, that is greatly deserved.

Rowann Bastow

Nevada

ROTC parent supporter