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The BHS Air Force JROTC gathered at Bainbridge High School Saturday morning to host and compete in an invitational drill meet. Other schools in attendance were Cairo High School’s Navy JROTC, Thomasville City School’s AFJROTC, and Lowndes County’s AFJROTC. The BHS AFJROTC took first place overall, winning first in both the armed and unarmed regulation events, first in color guard, and third for inspection.

Some of the drills were lengthy and required much practice, such as the armed and unarmed regulation routines, with over 30 commands for each routine. Others, like the inspection, required not only proper uniform, but also knowledge of various military facts, which the cadets were verbally quizzed over. According to JROTC instructor SMSgt Scott Morehouse, this was something the students have been practicing for months for. “They have been practicing since school started back in August, from 3:00 to 5:00 PM,” he said. “They’ve been doing that two days a week, until they’ve been within a month of the drill meet, and then they practice five days a week, Monday through Friday.”

Initially, the drill meet had been scheduled for September 11, with plans to honor First Responders and law enforcement. “Unfortunately, due to COVID, we had to slide our drill meet back a couple of weeks,” SMSgt Morehouse explained. “We still wanted to honor the First Responders, the sheriff’s office, and just by happenchance, there was a lady there that actually responded to the 9/11 call in New York. She was there with some of the Thomasville folks.”

“I am super proud of them,” Morehouse said. “They worked extremely hard. I told them there’s been sweat, there’s been tears, because they are that dedicated to it and they want to do the best. What they showed during this drill meet was absolutely the best. I couldn’t have been happier with how they did.”

The BHS AFJROTC will compete in another drill meet next February, as well as in a fitness contest around March or April of next year.