SOLEDAD — Soledad High School NJROTC earned a Bravo Zulu ribbon during the annual inspection by Area Manager Capt. Daniel Wenceslao on Jan. 17.
The Bravo Zulu ribbon is given because of the personnel inspection. The overall grade of the staff needs to be above nine and the rest of the battalion has to be above 8.5.
The inspection also gave out pins for personal appearance, juniors and seniors received an Area 13 personal appearance ribbon and the sophomores and freshmen earned an exemplary appearance ribbon.
“That means that I quizzed them today and checked their uniforms and they scored a 10,” Wenceslao said.
The Cadets of the Soledad High School NJROTC also performed a pass and review inspection and gave two different drill team performances for Wenceslao. The Soledad High School NJROTC currently has 190 cadets with most who will not continue into the military, but one Second Year Cadet Luis Rivas wants to go into the Marines.
“NJROTC is fun, it’s leadership and it’s cool,” Rivas said.
Cadet Destany Lord is currently in her first year of NJROTC and in the Captain’s class. Lord was interested in NJROTC because it teaches her to be dedicated and helps motivate her for her future.
Cadet Cesar Hernandez has been in the NJROTC program for two years.
“This program shows you good leadership and discipline, which is why I’m in this program,” Hernandez said.
First Year Cadet Emma Call said that NJROTC shows her how to set up her life in the future.
Not all the cadets were sure about joining NJROTC at the beginning. Third Year Cadet Estefania Camacho was apprehensive about taking NJROTC as an elective class, but once she was in the class it was more fun than she was expecting.
The inspection takes place once a year, and every other year the Area Manager comes to conduct the inspection.
