When JROTC comes to mind, athletic activities are not typically at the top of the list. But the JROTC program has many physically demanding competitions including fitness tests and obstacle courses. 

JROTC participates in various competitions, with different skills involved. “For this year I had to memorize 52 commands,” senior Vincent Cabico said. Cabico received valuable advice saying that he could think of it as a dance routine. Drill and dance are similar to each other because drill consists of a step routines like that of dance. 

Competitions include Raider, Cyber, color guard, archery, and the JROTC Leadership and Academic Bowl (JLAB). Raider consists of an obstacle course, as well as other physical tests such as push-ups and running. Cabic explained the competition involved  “carrying jerry cans of water, and afterwards carrying your partner to a line.” Archery competitions are against all schools and not just JROTC programs, but Jackson-Reed was able to secure the clean 1-2-3 sweep. Even more impressive is the fact that this is Jackson-Reed’s first year competing in archery. 

On the other hand, the JLAB team uses brain power rather than phyiscal. “You do leadership questions. There are two different tests, and you work as a group to answer the questions,” said junior Donovan Shook. The Cyber team was also the top Cyber team in the district at CyberPatriot.

The team has been so successful, they have overflowed JR trophy cases.

“There’s about four [trophy] cases filled. We’ve run out of space. In fact we had more than that, but Sergeant Davis has actually recycled some of the old ones,” Lieutenant Colonel Mark O’Connor said.

The team will continue to track their progress on their instagram @tigerbattalion2023.