During the month of January, schools from North and South Carolina, who are members of Navy Junior ROTC’s Area Six, took an online test and submitted videos of their cadets executing drill routines to a central website at Pisgah High School. On Saturday, January 30th, recruiters from the Army, Navy, and Marine Corps gathered at Pisgah high to review the videos and determine who performed the best routines.

The cadets could not get on buses and compete in-person at Pisgah High because of the COVID pandemic, so they did the next best thing; “They mailed it in!” All of the schools who competed did very well, especially since many of them could only hold limited practices. The process was the virtual version of a JROTC drill meet. Schools also took an online academic test throughout the month and the best grades won the contest.  Trophies and medals were presented to winners.

We are proud to announce the winners of the competition:

Pisgah’s Navy JROTC is off to a chilly start in 2021.  A couple of snow events have delayed our classes in the first few days of school, but students have begun to show up on campus ready to get the next semester going.

After a successful Virtual Area Manager’s Inspection in November 2020, the motivation level is high in the unit.  We are ready to dive into some competitions with other schools.  However, because of the COVID environment, we must participate in these competitions virtually.  This means that we will take our academic tests here in our school and mail our answers to the competition headquarters.  Likewise, we will perform our drill routines in front of a camera, and record our physical training events on our own practice field and track.  Then we will submit these results to the sponsoring unit.

The virtual environment allows us to compete and test our skills, and most importantly, keeps us safer during the pandemic, but it also takes a lot of the fun our of JROTC.  The travel, camaraderie, and the face-to-face competition is what drives Pisgah’s program.

Nevertheless, the students here at Pisgah High are very resilient, and are working hard to continue their streak of successful performances.  Our goal is to make 2021 a great year for our unit!

2020/2021 NJROTC Staff Members

Unfortunately due to Covid, this year has been a difficult year for showing off our amazing unit! First off we would like to thank all the cadets for continuing to stay strong and dedicated to the unit and we encourage you to stay  safe and follow guidelines to keep yourself, your unit, your friends and family safe and healthy.

Now let’s get the ball rolling and move into the list of cadets that have been elected Staff of 2020/2021!…

Cadet Commanding Officer

This year the position of cadet CO (commanding officer)  has been passed to Will Hodge! Cadet Hodge, is a Lieutenant Commander. He is a senior this year and after graduation he will go into the Marine Corps Reserves and begin attending college after basic training.

Cadet Hodge, is on our NJROTC’s Drill team, Academic team, PT team, and is our Color Guard Commander. He enjoys swimming and working. During the summer he is a lifeguard at the Canton pool. Even though Cadet Hodge has a lot on his plate, since being CO is a large responsibility, he always finds time to do the things he enjoys and spends time with his friends and family.

Executive Officer

This year Jacob Parish will fill the position of  XO (Executive Officer). Cadet Parish, is a Lieutenant. He is a senior this year and plans to pursue an Air Force scholarship and major in construction engineering. Cadet Parish is on our NJROTC’s Academic team, PT team, Drill team and Color Guard. He enjoys swimming, hiking, and his job working for Brasfield and Gorrie. XO is the CO’s right hand assistant and must work very hard as well ! Cadet Parish makes this job look like a stroll in the park… Being able to find the time to handle all his work and taking time to serve as XO would seem like a lot, but  Cadet Parish handles it all with pride and a smile!

Command Master Chief

This year the position of CMCPO (Command Master Chief Petty Officer) has been passed to  McRae Robb! Cadet Robb is a Master Chief Petty Officer. He is a senior this year and after high school plans to join the Marine Corps Reserves as he attends college. After college he plans to continue his military career. Cadet Robb is on our NJROTC’s  PT and Academic team. He enjoys spending quality time with his friends and family, riding around the wonderful town of Canton, fishing, and visiting the lake and the beach. He is also on Pisgah High School’s Wrestling team! CMCPO is a very important job. He is like the right hand man for both the CO and the XO! Cadet Robb is a very hardworking Cadet and an exceptional addition to the unit. He contributes a lot and we recognize and appreciate all of it.

Operations Officer

This year the position of Ops (Operations Officer) has been passed to Starling Inabnitt! Cadet Inabnitt is a Lieutenant junior grade. She is on our NJROTC’s PT team, Color Guard, Drill team and is our Armed Regulation commander. Cadet Inabnitt enjoys spending time with her friends, going on runs, and playing soccer on Pisgah High School’s Varsity women’s soccer team! Cadet Inabnitt’s job can become very busy. She has a lot to keep track of event wise and cadet wise. She handles this job very well and puts forth a lot of effort to the unit and her school work as well. She has the determination and confidence to get the job done with time to spare!

Supply Officer

This year the position of  SuppO (Supply Officer) has been passed to Julianna Garza! Cadet Garza is an Ensign. She is on our NJROTC’s  PT,  Academic and Drill team. Cadet Garza enjoys spending time making awesome memories with her close friends and family. Cadet Garza’s job isn’t an easy one. She has a lot to keep track of and must take a lot of time to double check many things inside of supply! She has to make sure that we have the right amount of  shirts, trousers, shoes, covers, relax fit jackets and many, many more. It doesn’t sound like much at first but Cadet Garza has a lot on her plate when it comes to this job. Don’t underestimate her however, she can manage every bit of it.

Admin Officer

This year the position of Admin officer  has been passed to Aaliyah Moore! Cadet Moore is an Ensign. She is on our NJROTC’s Drill team, commanding our Unarmed Exhibition unit. Cadet Moore enjoys writing. playing her guitar and photography. As Admin, Cadet Moore takes care of all the paper and data sheets so we as a unit can receive Distinguished Unit. Cadet Moore spends a lot of time working on the computer to make sure the hard work of the unit gets the credit and recognition it deserves! Cadet Moore is also the Unit Chaplain. She always gives a very wholesome and needed prayer to our cadets and others around us for a safe event and great sportsmanship.

Public Affairs Officer

This year Alexis Lipe takes the position of PAO (Public Affairs Officer). Cadet Lipe is an Ensign. She is on our NJROTC’s  PT and Drill team. She enjoys writing, coaching tumblers, and competing in Ballroom Dancing.  As Public Affairs Officer, Cadet Lipe takes care of our social media and writing about our amazing unit and the teamwork and leadership skills behind the door of the classroom. This can be a difficult job and a lot to balance on a busy schedule. but with the help of other staff members, leadership figures and cadets the job gets done with extra flare.

Drill Commander

James Pace is this year’s Drill Commander. Cadet Pace is an Ensign. He is a senior this year and plans to join the Navy. Afterwards he plans to attend Police Academy to become an officer. He is on our NJROTC’s PT and Drill team. He enjoys going hunting, fishing, and having exploring adventures on beautiful hiking trails and other places around North Carolina. As the Drill team commander, he oversees everything that goes on with the people who are on the team, and he has a specific routine that he commands himself.  He has to be able to work with the cadets inside of the drill team and be a good leader and a good example. This is a big leadership role and requires patience and cooperation.

Our Unit Is A Family

Pisgah High School’s Navy JROTC unit is a Family. No matter the rank, the job, the age, the grade, etc, we are a team, we all have a role in this unit and we work together to get the job done. One job can not get done without the team work of other cadets helping and supporting their other team mates. We’re all friends and spend time together sharing laughs and good memories outside and inside of this wonderful program, offering a warm and safe environment to those around us to show that everyone is welcome. We’re all treated with the same amount of respect and give the same amount of respect to other cadets, faculty members, instructors and our peers.

These are just some of the hard working cadets in this program and hopefully as the year goes on we will have the pleasure and ability to share more memories with you! As always it is a pleasure writing for this amazing program.

Go Navy & Semper Fidelis…. From your Navy/Marine Corps    NJROTC team!

Distance learning has some challenges, but the Pisgah Bear Navy JROTC unit has excelled in the online learning environment. One fun event the Pisgah unit sponsored was the “Mountain Mental Madness” online academic competition. The unit posted an online quiz based on Naval Science 2 curriculum and invited the Navy JROTC schools in North and South Carolina to participate. Eleven schools signed up for the challenge and the results will be finalized on Saturday May 16 when the competition period closes. The top 3 schools will receive trophies, but everyone is a winner when cadets flex their mental muscle in friendly competition.