The cadets of the Washington NJROTC (Naval Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps) have been recognized as a Distinguished Unit With Academic Honors for the 2020-2021 school year by the NJROTC Program Office and the Area Nine Manager.
Area Nine is comprised of 50 NJROTC units from Tennessee, Kansas, Oklahoma, Western Texas, New Mexico and Missouri. This is the first Distinguished Unit award for the program, which is completing its seventh year of existence.
Only 30 percent of the areas units can earn the Distinguished Unit award with two-thirds of those being designated as an Academic Honor Unit. The following 20 percent of units can earn Unit Achievement awards and the bottom 50 percent receive no special awards. The Washington NJROTC unit has previously earned Unit Achievement awards in the 16-17, 18-19 and 19-20 school years.
"This is an absolutely incredible award for the cadets to earn. They’ve had their eyes on it for the past four years. To do it in a year when competitions and community service opportunities were severely curtailed by the COVID pandemic is remarkable. It shows the creativity and perseverance of the cadet leadership in finding alternate ways of competing and providing service to others," said MSgt Tim Gates, Washington Naval Science Instructor for the unit. "The Distinguished Unit has been our goal since the day I arrived. To receive it with Academic Honors is just extra icing on the cake. This school year was built for the Navy and Marine Corps' Core Values of Honor, Courage and Commitment and the cadets grasped the opportunity, performed and reaped the reward. To say I am proud of their efforts is an understatement.”
Distinguished Unit with Academic Honors
The cadets of the Washington NJROTC (Naval Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps) have been recognized as a Distinguished Unit with Academic Honors for the 2020-2021 school year by the NJROTC Program Office and the Area Nine Manager.