Published: June 30, 2009 11:02 pm      

Blazer JROTC shines in competition

Takes 3rd place

WASHINGTON — Despite challenges from a late start because of winter weather and the reality of difficult questions about literature, science, history and mathematics, a small team of cadets from the Paul G. Blazer High School claimed third place in the College Options Foundation’s 2009 JROTC Leadership and Academic Bowl last weekend in Washington, D.C.

“The team did absolutely super,” said Chief Warrant Officer and Sr. Army Instructor Gary Payton.

“Out of 300,000 kids only 300 got to go. One percent of all ROTC programs got to go,” Payton said, emphasizing the testing was mandatory for every ROTC unit in the United States and its territories.

The international competition at George Mason University began with online preliminary rounds, reducing the number of participants to teams from 24 schools from the around the world.

“The literature questions were really difficult,” said Cadet Maj. Patrick Stump. “Those were probably the hardest, and some of the math.”

Road weary upon their return Tuesday afternoon, team members agreed it was easy “to get up there and blank out.”

Cadet Staff Sgt. Daniel Lyons agreed the literature questions were especially tough, although he was surprised to find “the grammar was easier than I expected.”

In addition to the competition, the local cadets had a chance to visit places, including the World War II Memorial, Arlington National Cemetery, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum.

“The war memorials, no matter if you are military or not, could probably touch you,” Cadet Cpl. C.J. Epperson said.

Cadet Cpl. Connie Bailey said she was frightened by a walking tour through the Holocaust museum.

“It just made me feel it was back ... it was happening again, and it scared me,” she said.

Bailey also advises visitors to the World War II Memorial to read the inscriptions to get a better perspective of this nation’s sacrifices during that conflict.

“You’ll get a whole lot more out of it,” she said.

The local cadets laugh as they talk about their secret weapon during the competition, although they are certain it worked in their favor.

“We drank Monster energy drinks,” Stump said with a grin, noting they lost two rounds without the sugary liquid.

Despite the level of competition, all of the Blazer students said they were surprised to find other cadets were essentially the same as themselves. The local team spent much of its spare time with cadets from Fort Worth, Texas, and each collected contact information for new friends to stay in touch with.

TIM PRESTON can be reached at tpreston@dailyindependent.com or at (606) 326-2651.