Moon Valley NJROTC Cadets Take 2013 College Options All-Service JROTC Championship

FAIRFAX, Va., (NNS) -- The Navy Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps (NJROTC) unit from Moon Valley High School in Phoenix, repeated as the College Options NJROTC champions and then took the All Service JROTC title at this year's national competition here on the Fairfax Campus of George Mason University, June 23.

The College Options competition is organized and run by the College Options Foundation, a not-for-profit organization that is dedicated to enriching the academic development of high school students and assisting them in their preparation for higher education.

Using academic competitions, college exam study guides, college admissions tutorials and personalized counseling the foundation assists thousands of students to attain their dreams of attending college. Their main emphasis lies with serving military families and students who participate in JROTC.

This was the Moon Valley unit's third year competing in the College Options. In 2011, the unit was the Navy runner-up. Last year after winning the Navy title they finished third behind an Air Force JROTC unit from Scripps Ranch High School in San Diego and Marmion Academy's Army JROTC unit from Aurora, Ill.

According to retired Navy Lt. Cmdr. Patrick E. MacLean, Moon Valley's senior NROTC Naval Science Instructor, the College Options competition is completed in three stages called levels. Levels 1 and 2 are completed online from a computer at the school. They are both have a one hour time limit.

During both levels the cadets are tested on Math, Science, English and Social Studies at a SAT/ACT level. The results from each level whittle down the field, based on score, until the final teams move onto the Level 3 competition held outside Washington, D.C. on the George Mason University Fairfax campus. Each service competes against other units from their service until the JROTC Championship match.

MacLean said this year more than 2,050 units entered the competition. The Navy had 184 units competing against each other in Levels 1 and 2. The Army entered 1,604; the Air Force had 261 units enter; while the Marine Corps JROTC had 10 teams at the start of the three levels of competition. Of the 2,059 teams that started, six Navy JROTC units advanced to Level 3. The Army advances 12, the Air Force sent 24 units and four Marine JROTC units made it to Level 3.

"All teams who made it to Level 3 had several rounds of playoffs to end up with the service champion. At that point all four service champions faced off in one final match," said MacLean.

"At level 3 it is all core subject Math, Science, English, Social Studies," he said. "In Levels 1 and 2 a small amount of NJROTC is added (15%) to the SAT/ACT level questions. This is a difficult competition with very high level questions. Questions in Level 3 are delivered just like on Jeopardy with buzzers."

Moon Valley's final score was 355 to the Army JROTC team's 225. The Air Force team scored 200 and the Marines racked up 100 points.

The Moon Valley NROTC unit has 116 cadets. MacLean said there are between 16 20 cadets on their academic team who study together for the College Options competition. But once the competition begins with Level 1, only four primary cadets are allowed to participate with two alternates standing by.

"The cadets (on the academic team) have already started to complete more SAT/ACT online study courses," said MacLean. "Starting in August we will start training in the same format as the championship. No different than our men and women in uniform, we train like we fight."

NJROTC is a citizenship development program that instills in high school students, in U.S. secondary educational institutions, the value of citizenship and service to the United States.

The program is currently overseen by Commander, Naval Service Training Command (NSTC), Rear Adm. Dee L. Mewbourne, headquartered at Naval Station Great Lakes, Ill. NSTC oversees 98 percent initial officer and enlisted accessions training for the Navy.

This training includes the Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps (NROTC) program at more than 150 colleges and universities that either host NROTC units or have cross-town enrollment agreements with a host university. NSTC also oversees Officer Training Command (OTC) in Newport, R.I., Recruit Training Command (RTC) at NSGL, as well as NJROTC.

NSTC's NJROTC program is divided into 11 areas across the United States that also includes units in Italy, Spain, Japan and Guam. There are more than 86,000 student cadets in the more than 580 units. Area 13 covers the most ground starting in Papillion, Neb., and stretching across the Pacific Ocean to Yokosuka, Japan.

There are 13 Northwest states in Area 13 including Hawaii, Guam and Japan, totaling 6,086.9 miles. Texas and Florida are their own areas with 68 units in Florida (Area 4) and 55 units in Texas (Area 10). Area 6 in North Carolina and South Carolina high schools host 67 units while Area 11 in Southern California and Arizona have more than 50 units.

Other areas encompass the Northeast, Southeast, Midwest, Plains States and Southwest. The Everett High School NJROTC unit is in Area 13.

For more information about NJROTC, visit www.njrotc.navy.mil/.>
For more information on The College Options Foundation and the College Options competition, visit http://www.collegeoptionsfoundation.net/.

For more information, visit www.navy.mil, www.facebook.com/usnavy, or www.twitter.com/usnavy.>
For more news from Naval Service Training Command, visit www.navy.mil/local/greatlakes/.