By Willoe Phillips.
JROTC receives “Meets Standards” designation after Headquarters Air Force JROTC inspection on Feb. 2, 2024 giving the program the ability to continue next year.
“It’s basically a time for the cadets to shine,” Lt. Col. Robert Davidson said. “We have stuff as instructors that we have to do in order to make sure we are following the rules, but it’s really showing how the cadets lead and run the program.”
Headquarters inspected the height and weight of the instructors, as well as core logistics, uniform storage and accountability, replica weapon storage and accountability, textbook storage and accountability and much more.
“It was very tense,” senior JROTC member Leanna Vasquez said. “We were all nervous because it was everyones first inspection since COVID.”
With this inspection Headquarters would have decided if the Corps would have enough members to continue the class next year, as the minimum number of students, called cadets, in JROTC is 100. The program only has 82 cadets.
“I was pretty nervous,” freshman JROTC member Cuauhtemoc Guevara said. “This can determine if you have JROTC or not next year.”
The Corps members prepared in a multitude of ways, the men shaving their face, and making sure their hair was in regulation, the women, making sure their hair was put up correctly and if they had nails they needed to make sure they weren’t too long. Group Commander Walker Hilbrich made a presentation to show the inspectors the day of the inspection.
“The inspector from the Air Force got here about seven a.m.,” Hilbrich said. “We showed him around campus and gave him the information about our Corps, the presentation I made took two months to complete.”
The inspections happen in order to make sure rules and regulations are followed as they need to be.
“These inspections happen so that they can ensure that our Corps is elbow linked,” Guevara said. “They hold us accountable for what we’re doing.”
After all the preparations were complete the inspector came and inspected the Corps from top to bottom and hair to laces.
“Other than not having enough cadets right now, we’re doing a really good job with the program,” Davidson said. “The kids are doing a really good job.”
