Washington High School’s NJROTC/NNDCC (Naval Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps/Navy National Defense Cadet Corps) Unit has been awarded the Unit Achievement Award from the NJROTC Area Nine Manager, CDR Merv Dial, US Navy (retired) for the second consecutive year and third time in its six-year history.
Area Nine represents all NJROTC and NNDCC units in the states of New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, and Tennessee.
Unit Achievement status is determined by the Area Manager, and is awarded only to those units that demonstrate exceptional performance during the school year.
Regulations allows the Area Manager to recognize 50 percent or 27 of 53 total assigned units with 16 Distinguished Units and 11 Unit Achievements.
“The unit ranked between 17 and 27 out of 53 units. Twenty-five of those 27 units are fully funded by the Navy. All of the credit goes to the cadets. When presented with an opportunity to participate in a competition or to assist an organization in the community, they are eager to do so", said WHS NJROTC/NNDCC instructor MSgt Tim Gates.
“The cadets in the program during the year will be able to wear a special ribbon on their uniform in recognition of the unit’s accomplishment. It was a great year. We met the 100 minimum cadet enrollment for the first time and it looks as though we will meet that number again in 2020-21. In the past three years, eight cadets have gone to college on scholarship with the Army or the Air Force in addition to having 21 cadets enlist in different branches of the military. The rifle team has become competitive and is earning invitations to national events. It's a great time to be a member of the Washington NJROTC/NNDCC unit.”