In the 15th year of competition at the Montgomery, Ala., National Drill Meet, the Bainbridge High School Junior ROTC cadets achieved their “best success ever.”

Competing against teams from all four military branches, the drill team earned three first-place trophies and one fifth-place trophy.

The first-place trophies recognize the team as National Champions in those respective categories.

Specifically, Cadet Darren Good’s team earned two first-place trophies in separate military inspection events, and also won a fifth-place trophy in Regulation Drill or marching.

Cadet Adam Anderson’s Color Guard won the first-place trophy in their competition. This trophy extends their string of trophies in every competition over the past 18 months. They have been the most consistently successful color guard in the history of the Bainbridge High School Junior ROTC.

“I think the kids surprised themselves with the magnitude of their success,” said Junior ROTC Director Col. Gary Breedlove said. “This was our most extensive trophy results ever for any national competition, and especially impressive given the three National Championship trophies. We were fortunate to have former cadets Michael Love and Jessica Merritt with us to work with the teams in their last-minute prep before each event. The cadets worked pretty hard for this one, but our main focus for the remainder of the season is the Daytona Nations in early May.”

But even before the Daytona competition, Breedlove said they have a very important unit evaluation on Wednesday, Feb. 24.

“Our top performance during this headquarters inspection is critical to our cadets earning their seventh consecutive Distinguished Unit Award,” Breedlove said. “We need to do well in order for our seniors to achieve this important goal before they graduate. I’m confident about our prospects, but we have a lot of work ahead over the next two weeks.”