Students Camp at Naval Support Facility Dahlgren

DAHLGREN, Va. (NNS) -- Students from six high schools in Maryland and Virginia enrolled in the Navy Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps (NJROTC) program spent a week on board Naval Support Facility Dahlgren in August to complete a basic leadership training summer camp.

The students spent the morning at physical training sessions and close order drills in the afternoons, interspersed with instruction and visits to unique technical facilities around the base.

"This course is designed for new cadets to show what NJROTC has to offer," said Lt. Cmdr. Ron Fry, officer in charge of the 52 young participants.

Fry, a former Navy helicopter pilot, teamed with Master Gunnery Sgt. Clive Bailey and Chief Warrant Officer Mike Ladd to guide the high school students through the tough week that consisted of 16-hour days.

Cadets berthed in Naval Support Facility Dahlgren's barracks and ate at the Dahlgren galley.

The six NJROTC schools represented included King George High School, LaPlata High School, Frederick Douglass High School (Upper Marlboro, Md.), Warwick High School (Newport News, Va.), Northern High School (Owens, Md.), and Bell High School (Washington). Fry divided the schools into three platoons and "let them compete against one another."

"We put them through close-order drill, the type their drill teams will do this school year in competition," he said. "A lot of the students have had a year or two of [NJROTC], but it was also new to many of the cadets here. They had to learn how to march, do the oblique and flank [maneuvers] and the other things we were teaching."

Fry, the commander of LaPlata High School unit in Charles County, Md., added that majority of his school's charges were all new to the training.

"But they picked it up pretty quickly," he said.

The Dahlgren training consisted of visits to the Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division's electromagnetic rail gun research facility, laser laboratories and modeling and simulation labs. The students also toured the Aegis Training and Readiness Center.

Fry said that the goal of NJROTC is to focus students on a future of service to the country in some capacity, not just the military. He said NJROTC cadets must maintain military bearing and a spotless conduct record to remain in the Navy high school units during the year. There is zero-tolerance for any type of school expulsion, gang activity, drug involvement or brushes with law enforcement.

"They also must maintain a good academic standing to be invited back the following year," he said.

"We have good parental involvement with NJROTC. Parents help out just as they do with other [extracurricular] activities in high school," he noted. "This is all about doing good service and learning about such things as personal discipline and what the military has to offer kids. Parents, teachers and school administration like what we do so we have a lot of local support."

The Navy supplies uniforms and training materials for the students and some funding for special events. But, just as with high school bands and sports teams, funding for "extras" such as visits to military museums or trips to military air shows must be generated by NJROTC units.

The NJROTC program was established in 1964. The program is conducted at accredited secondary schools throughout the nation, by instructors who are retired Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard officers and enlisted personnel.

The NJROTC curriculum emphasizes citizenship and leadership development, as well as the nation's maritime heritage, the significance of sea power and naval topics such as the fundamentals of naval operations, seamanship, navigation and meteorology.

Classroom instruction is augmented throughout the year by community service activities, drill competition, field meets, flights, visits to naval activities, marksmanship training and other military training.

Uniforms, textbooks, training aids, travel allowance and a substantial portion of instructors' salaries are provided by the Navy.

For more news from Naval Support Activity South Potomac, visit www.navy.mil/local/NSASP/.