NJROTC Unit Benjamin Russell High School 225 Heard Blvd Alexander City, AL 35010
Wildcat cadet family members, Welcome to the 2018-2019 academic year and another exciting year here at the NJROTC Unit. The BRHS NJROTC Unit is looking forward to an exciting year of academics, competitions, and travel. We are expecting over 60 cadets to participate, and we’re excited about this growth over last year. The mission of the NJROTC program is “to instill in cadets a value of citizenship, service to the United States, personal responsibility, and a sense of accomplishment.” Our academic curriculum, uniform wear, leadership development, participation in extra-curricular competitive teams, community service, and involvement with Veterans associations all support the NJROTC mission and will develop your cadet morally, mentally, and physically. Per governing Navy instruction, we will wear our uniforms once a week. The cadets are formally inspected for a uniform grade weekly and must ensure their uniforms are clean and presentable. We realize that your families incur the cost of maintaining the uniforms, but it is very important to take care of the uniforms as they will be used by cadets for multiple years. Please assist us in reminding your student to wear his/her uniform with pride and precision weekly. You and your cadet will sign an agreement form to repay the US Navy for the approximately $330 value of the uniforms that are issued, and we will recover this amount from you if your cadet fails to return his/her uniform at the end of the semester. The first week of school we will cover unit rules and regulations, start academic work, and issue both uniforms and PT gear to all cadets. We will begin practicing close-order formation marching (“drill”) as we plan to march in the Benjamin Russell Homecoming Parade in late September, other civic celebrations throughout the year, and possibly NJROTC drill competitions. Our Color Guard recently presented the national colors at the educators’ In-Service event and will perform at all BRHS home football games and other upcoming civic events. We will meet our Life PE curriculum requirement by executing group Physical Training (PT) to increase cadet physical fitness and prepare for future PT testing and unit competitions. Your cadet will need to change out for PT into a Navy-issued PT gear uniform each week. Second-year cadets, and those more senior, will guiding and mentoring the first-year cadets throughout all of the above activities. We are daily developing the future leaders of our school, city, state, and nation here at NJROTC. While we have academic and physical training requirements, the most important thing that we do for our cadets is to develop leadership skills, character, and discipline that will ensure that they succeed regardless of what their future holds. Petty Officer Rowe and I are additionally planning an exciting year of events for your cadets. Already in work is an over-night field trip to Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida to compete in the Escambia High School NJROTC sponsored “Gator Games” field competition that is normally held in September. The unit will form and compete in Air Rifle competitions through the Civilian Marksmanship Program Air Rifle Team, an Orienteering Team, a Drill Team, and an Academic Team. Most of these teams will compete locally through self-evaluated competitions and throughout the state in competitions with other high school JROTC units. We are also planning trips to Birmingham for the Junior Leadership Development Conference, orienteering training and competitions at Wind Creek State Park and Oak Mountain State Park, air rifle competitions at the Civilian Marksmanship Program headquarters in Anniston, campus and NROTC unit visits to Auburn University and Tuskegee University, participation in the Disabled American Veterans’ association Car Show at the Bill Nichols Veterans Home, volunteering in the Alabama Power “Renew our Rivers” cleanup of Lake Martin, and much more. All of these activities require funding that will need to be raised in the future. We will ask your cadets to help raise funds for the unit throughout the year. Petty Officer Rowe and I would like to meet you and your family in the future. I hope that we will see you at home football games and other civic events when our Color Guard or other units are participating. Please visit our unit website at brhsnavyjrotc.weebly.com and feel free to email me with questions at [email protected]. Sincerely,
LCDR Ben Smith, USN (Ret) Here are some important academic links: