Green Run High School from Virginia Beach, Va., was crowned the 2017 Navy Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps (NJROTC) National Academic, Athletic and Drill Champion on board Naval Air Station (NAS) Pensacola April 7-8.

The 24 NJROTC units, representing 15 states from coast-to-coast, were challenged on their athleticism, tested in academics and evaluated on the drill deck during the competition held at the Naval Air Technical Training Center's (NATTC) Chevalier Hall.

Commander, Naval Education and Training Command (NETC), Rear Adm. Michael S. White, presented participation certificates to all 24 schools and then presented overall trophies to the top five units at an awards ceremony at the National Museum of Naval Aviation after the competition was finished.

"It's always great to see the energy and excitement the NJROTC Nationals bring," said White, who also observed the drill events and visited with units during the competition. "You are exemplary students and leaders among your communities. It's impressive to watch you compete and knowing that you are the next generation of leaders makes me proud to stand with you here tonight."

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

"This was a well-deserved win by all of our cadets... especially our seniors," said Cadet Cmdr. Eric Alexander, a senior at Green Run High School. "Everybody put in lots of work for this championship after finishing runner-up last year. I have to thank our instructors, teachers and parents [whom] we wouldn't be here without them."

This year, the unit piled up 5,171 points to capture the title. Boca Raton High School (Boca Raton, Fla.), came in second with 5,138 points. Centennial High School (Las Vegas, Nev.), finished third with 4,984 points. Troy High School (Fullerton, Calif.), was fourth with 4,950 points and Pace High School (Milton, Fla.), rounded out the top five with 4,925 points.

On winning the championship, "It was great and the cadets worked extremely hard for this," said retired Navy Cmdr. Curtis Brown, senior naval science instructor at Green Run High School. "This is a perfect send off for our seniors as all the cadets wanted to come back after the second place finish last year. It takes a lot of hard work and dedication."

The personnel inspections, color guard and the drill events at the competition were judged by Navy Recruit Division Commanders (RDC's) and Marine Corps drill instructors (DI's) from Officer Training Command (OTCN), Naval Station Newport, Rhode Island.

In addition, Marines from Marine Aviation Training Support Group-21 assisted in judging the armed rifle exhibition, while Sailors from the Navy Recruiting Orientation Unit at NAS Pensacola judged the curl-up and push-up portions of the competition.

Approximately 26 of 583 NJROTC units worldwide qualify for the national competition annually.

"Twenty four of the finest NJROTC units from across the United States were part of this amazing two-day event designed to promote the positive aspects and benefits of the NJROTC program through academic, athletic and drill competition," said Dr. J.D. Smith, director and NJROTC Program Manager. "This year's competition was fantastic and provided lessons learned that will stay with the cadets long after their NJROTC days are behind them."

Other NJROTC units participating in this year's Nationals included: Nease (Ponte Vedra, Florida); Escambia (Pensacola, Florida) High School; Shawnee Mission North (Overland Park, Kansas) High School; Summerville (South Carolina) High School; Norview (Norfolk, Virginia) High School; Colts Neck (New Jersey) High School; Gaither (Tampa, Florida) High School; George Bush (Richmond, Texas) High School; Hamilton (Ohio) High School; Osbourn Park (Manassas, Virginia) Senior High School; East Aurora (Aurora, Illinois) High School; Southest Guilford (Greensboro, North Carolina) High School; Pisgah (Canton, North Carolina) High School; Smithson Valley (Spring Branch, Texas); Willard (Missouri) High School; Cocke County (Newport, Tennessee) High School; Sprayberry (Marietta, Georgia) High School; Proctor (Utica, New York) High School; Atlantic City (New Jersey) High School.

The NJROTC, or Citizenship Development program is currently under the direction of Rear Adm. Stephen C. Evans and his Naval Service Training Command (NSTC) staff, headquartered on board Naval Station Great Lakes, Ill.

In addition to regular classroom instruction, NJROTC cadets participate in a number of extra-curricular activities throughout the school year and during the summer months that are designed to stimulate learning by hands-on experiences and to reinforce the program's curriculum. Cadet extra-curricular activities include community service projects, drill competitions, academic competitions, visits to naval installations and Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) training.

The NSTC command oversees 98 percent of initial officer and enlisted accessions training for the Navy. This includes the Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps (NROTC) at more than 160 colleges and universities, Officer Training Command (OTCN) on Naval Station Newport, R.I., Recruit Training Command (RTC), the Navy's only boot camp, at Great Lakes, Ill., as well as NJROTC.

For more information about NJROTC, visit www.njrotc.navy.mil/.

For more information about NSTC, visit http://www.netc.navy.mil/nstc/ or visit the NSTC Facebook pages at https://www.facebook.com/NavalServiceTraining/.

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/.