HEMINGWAY—Hemingway High School’s JROTC program was awarded top honors following an inspection by regional JROTC officials last week, a distinction the unit’s senior instructor said will benefit the entire student body.
The unit was rated as having achieved a level of “honor with distinction,” the highest out of three possible rankings.
Maj. Edward Holmes, senior instructor of Hemingway High’s JROTC program, said the unit’s new distinction would benefit all students at the school by providing further opportunities for secondary education.
“This is significant because when a JROTC unit is an honorary unit with distinction, the principal of the school has the authority to nominate three students in the school to any one of the military academies,” Holmes said.
The major emphasized that a student does not have to be in the JROTC program to be nominated, explaining how the ranking benefits the entire student body.
Normally, a student would have to approach their local congressman for nomination to an academy.
Holmes said the formal inspection is a triennial event, taking place every three years, and is required of each unit in the country. Hemingway’s JROTC “high headquarters,” located in Ft. Bragg, NC, sends representatives to the schools and—along with aid from other local unit commanders— inspects students and instructors in several areas.
The results of the inspection determine the unit’s ranking among the three possible categories: merit, honor or honor with distinction. Each distinction is represented by a different color star, white, blue then gold respectively.
Hemingway High was scored at 96.1 percent, moving them from a blue to a gold star distinction.
Prior to the inspection of the entire company inspectors met with unit leaders for a morning briefing. Holmes said the high school’s JROTC student staff spoke on the details of their program and its day-to-day operations. From there, inspectors moved to the school gym for an “in rank” inspection of the company as a whole.
Instructors from Kingstree High School’s JROTC unit conducted that portion of the inspection, going over each student and squad’s physical appearance, asking students questions about JROTC and details on the program.
Demonstrations from the unit’s drill team and color guard were also included in the inspection.
Holmes and fellow JROTC instructor Sgt. Billy Grissett were also inspected, handing over program records, supplies and other administrative details for review.
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