AFJROTC (Air Force Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps) won six trophies at a drill competition in Florida the first week of December.

“This is my 25th year here, and there’s a lot of trophies that are out in those cases. There are so many that we can’t put them all out there. I don’t recall ever having one competition, one drill meet, where we took six trophies,” AFJROTC teacher Dave Cugier said. 

The competition was held at Lake Worth High School in Lake Worth, FL.

While all AFJROTC had the opportunity to go on the trip, 46 went. 26 of the 46 students performed on various teams in competition.

AFJROTC placed first in drill team inspections, where cadets were judged on their uniforms and grooming.

They also placed first in exhibition drill and 30 command drill.

Senior Jimmy Spriggs commands the regulation drill teams.

“We perform a sequence of commands that is the exact same for all other regulation teams. In the end, it comes down to who performs the routine the best, with the judges taking even the smallest mistakes into account,” Spriggs said. 

The regulation drill teams are typically the first steps for new drillers, so Spriggs had to work hard to prepare his teams for competition.

“This year’s regulation team was almost exclusively new drillers, so I had the mindset from the start that my job was to simply teach them the basics and focus on perfection later,” Spriggs said. “It took longer than expected, but by the time we reached the point of perfection, we were just days away from the competition. I surely did not expect the team to do so well in all four events, but I always knew we were good enough to compete with top teams.”

Senior Will Landolt commands the exhibition drill team.

“It was a stressful and hot the day leading up to the trophy, but all in all, it was a great time to meet other schools and see how others perform,” Landolt said. 

Landolt prepared his team by practicing Monday-Thursday from 3-4:15 p.m. since August.

“I was expecting our team to perform to the best of their ability, and a trophy was never my goal. My goal was to do well and perform excellently,” Landolt said. 

AFJROTC placed 2nd in physical fitness training, consisting of sit-ups, push-ups and a mile run.

“At the end of the competition, each school picked four students, two girls and two guys, for a physical fitness competition. Then there were points added on for how each kid finished,” Cugier said.  

They placed third in regulation drill and 30 command inspection.

Cugier was impressed by his students’ commitment this year.

“Performance teams are cyclical like sports teams. They change from year to year with talent and desire and ambition, and this year’s team really had that desire and talent. They dedicated themselves, rarely missed practices and had a good attitude,” Cugier said.