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Photo courtesy of Hoover City Sc
This unarmed color guard drill team from Hoover High School’s Air Force Junior ROTC program placed third at the 2023 Air Force JROTC Open Drill Nationals in Dayton, Ohio, in March 2023. Team members, from left, included Capt. Lucas Petersen, commander 2nd Lt. MaKayla Steele, 2nd Lt. Bessie Rodriguez Claros and 1st Lt. Blake Pyatt.
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Photo courtesy of Hoover City Sc
Hoover High School's Air Force Junior ROTC program competed in the 2023 Air Force JROTC Open Drill Nationals in Dayton, Ohio, in March 2023. One of the team's placed third nationally in the unarmed color guard competition.
Hoover High School's Air Force Junior ROTC competition drill team this past weekend placed third nationally in the unarmed color guard drill at the 2023 Air Force JROTC Open Drill Nationals in Dayton, Ohio.
There are about 880 Air Force Junior ROTC programs around the world, and this tournament drew 25 to 30 of the best programs, said Col. Chris Moulton, the instructor for Hoover’s team.
This is only the fifth year for Hoover’s Junior ROTC program and only the second time Hoover has taken a team to the national competition, and it was a young and inexperienced group that went, Moulton said.
“It was a great opportunity for these kids to be able to go, and to actually bring home a trophy was really pretty remarkable,” he said.
The third-place color guard was commanded by freshman cadet 2nd Lt. MaKayla Steele, Other members were freshman 2nd Lt. Bessy Rodriguez Claros and sophomores Capt. Lucas Petersen, and 1st Lt. Blake Pyatt.
Hoover’s drill team also places sixth nationally in the unarmed regulation competition, which involved one commander leading 12 others in marching exercises that included a 50-step command sequence, Moulton said. The cadets were judged based on how well they fulfilled the various commands, as well as precision and appearance, he said.
The sixth-place regulation team was commanded by senior Col. Nia Settles. Settles also placed 10th in the nation as commander.
Hoover took a total of 20 cadets to the competition, and all of them were able to compete in at least one category, Moulton said. “We were pleased with how well the students did.”
