Retired Lt. Col. Eddie Garcia, shown overlooking the football field at Eisenhower Middle School, supervises East Bay’s JROTC program and organized the drill contest that drew 17 schools and 600 students from across central Florida. Kevin Brady photos.
East Bay and Lennard high school’s Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (JROTC) programs collected awards at a drill contest Jan. 10. Along the way, they learned a lot more, students in the program said.
The event, held on the grounds of Eisenhower Middle School in Gibsonton, drew 17 JROTC programs from schools across central Florida, with hundreds of youngsters braving the chilly morning temperatures to perform while parents and friends watched from the stands, many wrapped in blankets and sipping coffee.
Despite a whistling wind chill that had viewing stands looking like those at a playoff game at Green Bay, Wisconsin’s Lambeau Field in January, the fields at Eisenhower were buzzing, students lightly clad in regulation short-sleeve shirts and trousers performing color guard routines under the unforgiving eyes of judges while, a short distance away, other cadets were graded as they twirled rifles (without bullets) at seemingly impossible speeds.
Members of the East Bay JROTC program.
East Bay students took home trophies in the color guard and new cadet categories.
Some 600 students from Manatee, Pasco, Pinellas and Hillsborough counties competed in 17 categories for trophies in events ranging from armed squad regulations to first-year cadet.
Eddie Garcia, a 20-year U.S. Army veteran who oversees the East Bay JROTC program, was the man behind the contest that was four months in the making.
“The purpose of the event is to bring the cadets together to use what they have learned and compete in a healthy manner,” Garcia said.
With 327 students in East Bay’s JROTC program, one of the largest in the county, Garcia and two fellow instructors have their hands full. “The program is very popular, and we get outstanding support from the teachers and administration,” Garcia said.
At a time when many adults might look at today’s teens and incredulously ask: “This is the generation that will take over the country?” these young women and men, well-spoken, dedicated and respectful, would allay any such worries.
Brooklyn Coleman, a junior, was typical of the more than 30 young cadets who turned out from East Bay for the event. Articulate and dedicated, Coleman has been a JROTC cadet for three years.
The program “teaches me to be more self-confident and be more organized and dedicated,” said Coleman, who plans to attend college — she’ll study anesthesiology — and join the U.S. Air Force National Guard after graduation. “I stick with things more now. Before, I might not have stayed with things as much, but now I am really dedicated.”
Members of Lennard High School’s JROTC.
Anthony Artau has noticed a change in his son, Thomas, since the boy joined East Bay’s JROTC program less than a year ago.
“He listens more and has more respect for himself now,” Artau said. “I would like to see him stick with the JROTC through high school so he can learn some of the discipline I learned during 20 years in the Navy.”
Bryan Santos Montalvo, an East Bay junior and member of JROTC since his freshman year, today carries knowledge of CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation), basic paramedic skills and leadership under his perfectly pressed garrison cap.
“I’ve also learned to be more social with people and more outgoing,” Santos Montalvo said.
Letting youngsters learn to lead is an integral part of JROTC, said Alexander Bailes, a retired 21-year U.S. Army veteran who oversees the program at Lennard High School.
“They learn the intangible skills like discipline and communication that they will use in life. For example, we teach them how to conduct themselves in job interviews and how to speak respectfully,” said Bailes, whose JROTC program has 165 members. “They learn about themselves and how to deal with their peers because this program is peer-run. My colonel and I could run everything, but that doesn’t teach them anything. We just oversee and supervise.”
Learning respect and determination make JROTC cadets stand apart from their peers, said Joe Davis, a Lennard senior who has been with the program for three years.
“It helps people get goals and really straightens people out and helps them understand life,” Davis said.
