Orange Glen Competition

Early Saturday morning, our unit drove all the way to Orange Glen High School to compete against other various high schools in multiple competitions. The day began with an intimidating Personnel Inspection by Marines with attention to detail. With the old Color Guard Team retired, the new one performed in their first competition. Nerves got the best of them when a few movements were skipped and garrison covers started flying off. At fifteen minute intervals, the other teams would go and compete in their area of expertise. Unarmed Exhibition performed much better than last time with sharper movements and the majority of the team in step.

After lunch, the Physical Training Teams were up to compete. We did our best at push-ups and sit-ups, we were completely obliterated at the 100 relay, and just when we lost all hope, the 200 meter runners come back with a surprise victory and a 2nd place trophy! Congratulations 200 meter runners!

We have a lot to learn from this competition. "Quality over quantity," "Practice makes perfect," and "Anything can be achieved through hard work and determination."

~Public Affairs Officer
Cadet Ensign Bronder

Veteran's Day Parade

Our story begins on Pacific Highway, where a series of competitions for Color Guard, Armed Drill, and Unarmed Drill would be held before the parade waltzed through the crowd. The Armed Drill Team was inspected before they prepared and waited anxiously to enter the drill pad. Once they entered the drill pad, they showed their routine off to the crowd, but the judges held their composure and no one would know how they did until the awards were given out. Next to compete was the Unarmed Drill Team. With a few tremors here and there, they managed to escape the drill pad without so much injury done to their pride. And saving the best for last, Color Guard expertly entered the drill pad, a quick inspection and they carried out their routine, amazing the crowd with their precision and expertise as they did so. It was obvious to the crowd these guys were in a whole other league.

After a quick donut break, our platoon marched to the area that held the competitions and stood among the other competing high schools. We congratulated the Marine Corps on their 235th Birthday and the judges handed out the trophies for participation. Unfortunately, our tendency to be late cost us the participation trophy, but that can easily be overlooked as the Color Guard Team dominated and won first place. Congratulations to team captain Cadet Senior Chief Gonzalez, and the other cadets of color guard: Cadet Lieutenant Lopez, Cadet Joaquin, and Cadet Trevor Moore.

We took the trophy back to our camp-out site and prepared for the parade. As we waited "patiently" for the parade to begin, we tackled the issue of unfolding the giant godzilla-like flag. The parade began and our lovely banner ladies paved the path for the rest of the unit to follow. Announcers congratulated the Commanding Officer, Cadet Lieutenant Tyler Moore, and Executive Officer, Cadet Lieutenant Everett Lopez, on their fine job on our wonderful unit. We marched along while our banner ladies smiled and waved and UDT and ADT performed some of their routines. Hope you had a great Veteran's Day!

~P.A.O.

Cadet Ensign Bronder

Halloween Party!

On October 31st right after school a Halloween Party was held at the NJROTC compound. The compound was decorated with cobwebs, spooky ghosts, and a variety of great costumes to create a true Halloween atmosphere. We had our fill of pizza and cupcakes before the costume contest, where each contestant danced down the compound. The crowd cheered loudest for the best costumes and the ones who worked the aisle the best. After the contest, the gouls and ghosts and pretty princesses showed their stuff on the dance floor.

-P.A.O

Cadet Ensign Bronder

Troy Competition

As early as 5:00 in the morning, cadets were showing up at the gates in their P.T. (physical training) gear ready to destroy Troy! After head calls and roll check, we filed into the bus for the two hour drive down to Troy High School. Once the bus dropped us off, we marched to our usual grassy area, which was unfortunately soaked in mud and water. We shed our blankets and sweats and marched down to the track where about 29 other schools waited in anticipation for the first match.

First match of the day was the 100 meter dash. Runners gathered together and stretched, awaiting the signal for them to line up. As they lined up with an equal number of runners on each side of the field for their team, the batons were passed to the first ones to go. The crowd cheered loudly for their platoons and even for the ones they competed against. Our runners didn't place first, but we did place in the top 5.

Our hard work and dedication payed off as we placed for almost every trophy, winning a total of twelve trophies for San Ysidro! We won four in 8th place, three in 4th place, three in 3rd place, one in 1st place, and 3rd best out of all Area 11. The only ones we didn't place in, which was maybe one or two, were the only ones we didn't practice.

Our best match in which we completely annihilated Troy and any other high school competing was the Dizzy Izzy! Credit can go to Aaron Ramos for training his team so well! The objective in Dizzy Izzy is to sprint as fast as you can to where they're holding a baseball bat. Once you get to the baseball bat, you place your forehead on the top and spin a certain number times before sprinting all the way back to your team. Good work, San Ysidro NJROTC!

-P.A.O

Cadet Ensign Bronder

Scholarships

One of the many things the NJROTC programs can help you with is scholarships. From the very beginning of our unit, one of our NJROTC cadets, Eric Lim, was presented with an $180,000 scholarship. The year after that, another one of our cadets, Gretel Whitney, was presented with the same scholarship. These cadets returned to their unit as Navy officers, giving an inspection to our unit. Now, our third scholarship is being given out to cadet Samantha Guevara, who will attend college in Arizona and become an officer in the Navy. Congratulation cadets!

-P.A.O

Cadet Ensign Bronder

Damage Control

Every year 60 of our cadets go to the Naval Station 32nd Street Base on a field trip and learn how to patch up a sinking submarine. Of course, it’s not an actual sinking submarine, but the experience is great, it’s a lot of fun, and it’s all about the team work. Afterwards, the cadets are taken to The Naval Base Galley for a well deserved meal.

-P.A.O

Cadet Ensign Bronder

Sail Academy

Sail Academy is an Academy that takes place during the summer. It consists of multiple things sailing; much like wind direction, points of sail, steering a sailboat, weather helm, sailboat nomenclature, and sailboat rigging.

Wind Direction: One of the most important things to consider while sailing is where the wind is coming from relative to the direction your boat is heading in. A way to determine where the wind is coming from is to consider the prevailing winds for a given area. Prevailing winds can be dependent on the time of year, time of day, sky conditions, and weather patterns. Sailors need specific, immediate information about the wind.



Steering a Sailboat: Many large sailboats are steered with what can be considered an oversized steering wheel, except none of the boats at Sail Academy will have a steering wheel. Instead, it’s steered with what is called a “tiller” or “helm,” which is a short piece of metal or wood that is attached to the top of the rudder. They will go into greater detail of this at Sail Academy, where they actually teach you how to sail the ship and how to stop it.



These are just two examples of the many things they teach at Sail Academy.
 

- Public Affairs Officer

Cadet Ensign Bronder

New Instructors Orientation Training Conference

On July 20, 2010, fifteen San Ysidro High School NJROTC cadets arrived at the Anti-Submarine Warfare Training Center located in San Diego, California to participate in a Drill Inspection Training for the New Orientation Instructor Training Conference being held for the new Senior Naval Science Instructors (SNSI) and Naval Science Instructors (NSI) coming into the program.

Chief Petty Officer Daniel Gonzales, Petty Officer Emmanuel Ramos, Petty Officer Trevor Moore, and Lieutenant Everett Lopez performed colors before Mitchel Lindgren gave an introductory speech on why he joined the NJROTC program and how it has impacted his life in a positive way, thus making him a better citizen and a better student. After his speech, we mustered outside and prepared for our Drill Inspection. We were inspected by Master Chief Pittman, an instructor, who was very pleased with our Marching skills and also gave us some very valuable tips on how to improve our marching. These tips helped with right and left oblique, open ranks, left and right flank, and how to quickly and efficiently fall into a platoon. Approximately one hundred or more new and old NJROTC instructors observed as we demonstrated how to march and take command of the platoon. As an honest cadet, I will not tell you that we were perfect, but it's those mistakes we make as a team that makes us that much closer to perfection.

Mr. Espinoza was the guest speaker of the hour and was highly praised for his level of knowledge and support for the NJROTC program.

Public Affairs Officer

Cadet Ensign Bronder

Summer Activities

This summer, six of our cadets were granted the opportunity to go to Leadership Academy or Sailing Academy. Four of them, Cadet Petty Officer Second Class Elizabeth Bell, Cadet Petty Officer Third Class Brenna Bronder (me), Cadet Seaman Mitchel Lindgren, and Cadet Petty Officer First Class Jeff Joaquin, took on the challenges that arose during the time they attended Leadership Academy. Now that we are experienced and well-trained cadets with a higher sense of authority, leadership, and citizenship, we will be promoted as officers and ultimately take on positions in the Cadet Chain of Command and improve our unit however we can.

 Now as the Operation Officer, Cadet Petty Officer Second Class Elizabeth Bell is in charge of all the events we participate in ROTC. She is in charge of organizing and constructing events so that we know what competition we're doing next, when we're doing it, and for how long we have to prepare for it. Cadet Seaman Mitchel Lindgren is now our Administration Officer and will handle paperwork such as, attendance, grades, and giving speeches. Cadet Petty Officer First Class Jeff Joaquin is our new Ordnance Officer, which is the one who handles the drill and air rifles. His job is to fix, clean, and manage all the rifles we use for competitions. I, Cadet Petty Officer Third Class Brenna Bronder, am the new Public Affairs Officer, which means I'm in charge of our website, writing articles for the events we go to, and keep the newspaper informed of what we do as a unit.

 The other three of our cadets, Cadet Lieutenant Everett Lopez, Cadet Lieutenant Tyler Moore, and Cadet Petty Officer First Class Emmanuel Ramos had the honor of going Sailing Academy. At Sailing Academy, they went through the experience as a true sails man, learned all there was to know about the structure of sailing boats, and even raced them on the water to put what they learned to the test. Everett Lopez became our new Executive Officer, who is in charge of leading meetings, putting plans into action, and taking charge of the new and old cadets. Tyler Moore became our new Commanding Officer, who is in charge of our entire unit by supervising meetings, implementing ideas, improving the unit, setting the example for all other cadets, and is the overall leader of our unit.

- Public Affairs Officer:
Cadet Ensign Bronder, Brenna