Next Thursday night, September 2nd, Hiram High School’s JROTC will be holding a parent night. This event is held annually and is hosted primarily by the three JROTC instructors: Sergeant First Class Mark Burgwald, First Sergeant Louis Dinkins, and Lieutenant Colonel Michael Lindsey. The purpose of the event is to educate the parents of the first-year cadets about JROTC and to lightly demonstrate a few of the various teams within the program. The demonstrations are performed by returning cadets that have experience on the teams. The five teams for which examples will be shown are the Raider Challenge team, rifle team, drill team, color guard, and chorus.
The Raider Challenge team is coached by Sergeant First Class Mark Burgwald. The activities normally executed at Raider Challenge competitions are a physical fitness test, map reading, a cross-country rescue obstacle course, a team run, and a rope bridge. The rope bridge is the only category that will be demonstrated at parent night. Ten cadets will use one rope to build a bridge between two poles that are about thirty feet apart. The cadets will tie their own rope “Swiss seats,” will be clipped to the rope, and will pull themselves across to the other pole.
The rifle team is coached by Lieutenant Colonel Michael Lindsey. Three cadets from the varsity team will be used, each showing a different shooting position. The prone position requires the cadet to shoot the rifle while lying on their stomach. The kneeling position is executed on one knee, resting the elbow of the arm holding the rifle on the knee. In the standing position, the cadet positions themselves facing towards the left or right wall, (depending on which hand they shoot with). Two types of rifles will be used: the precision and the sporter. The cadets will be shooting lead pellets.
The drill team and color guard are coached by First Sergeant Louis Dinkins. On the drill team, cadets compete while marching in multiple types of formations. At parent night a cadet will command a squad of other cadets. Various commands will be called, including column left, column right, and rear march. (These commands change the direction in which the formation is marching). During the color guard, four cadets will present the state and national flag. (Two cadets will be holding a flag, while the other two act as guards, holding drill rifles).
The smallest team in the program is the JROTC chorus. The instructor controlling the team is Lieutenant Colonel Michael Lindsey. However, the team is commanded and primarily coordinated by myself, Cadet Captain Courtney Kiker. The chorus, consisting of only seven cadets, will sing the national anthem while the flags are being presented by the color guard.
This year will be my fourth parent night. I attended at the beginning of my first year as a cadet to learn about what I’d signed up for. This will be my third year participating in the cadet-led team demonstrations. The Hiram High School JROTC parent night certainly serves its purpose. The information given and activities performed have always and will continue to efficiently inform new cadets and their parents of the benefits related to the prestigious program that they have decided to become a part of.