Northeast cadets on display at JROTC inspection

Oct. 20—For more than five decades, the Navy Junior ROTC program at Northeast High School has been working to build confident, responsible and disciplined leaders for military, as well as civilian, life.

On Friday morning, the program's current 35 cadets displayed those skills, along with other leaderships traits, as they went through their annual military inspection before military guests, family members and school officials.

"This is an outstanding opportunity for young men and young women to explore the different aspects of military life along with civilian life to see which direction they want to go in," said Senior Chief Kent Malone, one of the program's naval science instructors.

"Most of our cadets go on and go to college, and maybe about 20% really want to join the military. But, this program gives them the opportunity to hone their communication skills, to hone their time management skills and to learn to get along with other people. Teamwork is the biggest thing that we actually teach here," he said.

Northeast's program, which celebrated its 50th anniversary in January 2021, is one of only a dozen Navy JROTC programs still active in Mississippi high schools, according to the Mississippi Department of Education.

Altogether, there are 84 JROTC programs spread out at schools throughout the state, with the majority, or 51, of them Army ROTC units. There are also 15 Air Force and six Marine Corps JROTC programs in the state.

The Northeast program is run by naval science instructors Cmdr. Chad West and Malone, both retired from the Navy. The Northeast unit has consistently ranked in the top 10% of JROTC groups in the Southeast and has received distinguished ratings for the last nine years.

West said the cadets did very well during the inspection and successfully passed, but may not find out how high they rated for a few months.

The best thing about ROTC programs is that they teach students responsibility, discipline, teamwork and to become informed citizens, said Malone, who is in his 10th year with the program.

"You learn self discipline. You learn accountability. You learn a lot of the traits that you're going to need in your later years in life, teamwork, how to get along, and how to give back to your community," he said.

Petty Officer 2nd Class Itzel Gomez, a Northeast senior, has signed to join the Army National Guard and will go into the guard as a combat medic after she graduates. She hopes to go to Mississippi State University, where she plans to join the college's Army ROTC, and eventually apply to the veterinary school.

Her mom, Santa Moreno, said the Navy JROTC has been a good program for her daughter at Northeast.

"It has helped her with self discipline, and it has helped her grow with her confidence," Moreno said through a family interpreter. "She is more focused on what she wants in her life, and I am very proud of her."

Lt. j.g. Annilyn Hoang, a junior at Northeast, said she, too, is glad she joined the JROTC.

"I really like the people, and I like that we can learn skills that will be useful to us in the future," said Hoang, who is still undecided about her future.

She said her sister took part in the ROTC while a student at Northeast, so she just followed in her footsteps.

"I wanted to build confidence in myself and to feel better about myself because I was a little shy," she said.

The Navy JROTC has helped her to do that, as well as learn how to handle more responsibilities, added Hoang, who currently serves as the JROTC's administrative officer.

Among the four Lauderdale County high schools, Northeast has the district's highest graduation rate at 97% among students entering ninth grade and graduating four years later.

Malone said he thinks the JROTC plays a big role in helping to reach that goal, noting the unit's cadets maintain high grade point averages and most of the juniors and seniors are in enrolled in advanced placement and dual enrollment classes. He also said that cadets in the program have been offered more than $2 million in scholarships through the ROTC program over the last several years.

"ROTC has a 100% graduation rate," he said. "Anyone who has stayed in the program for four years, goes on to graduate."

Contact Glenda Sanders at gsanders@themeridianstar.com.