By Matt Hoover
USD 475 Communications Coordinator
JUNCTION CITY, Kan. – Junction City High School announced that its prestigious Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps - JROTC program was named an Honor Unit with Distinction on Wednesday afternoon after passing its three-year inspection with a 99.5 percent score.
“Junction City High School has always had a strong JROTC program, and it's even better than it has been in years. Our cadet numbers are up significantly, and enthusiasm is high. We are continuously providing more opportunities to our cadets to grow personally and build not only their teamwork, but also their citizenship skills. Yesterday's inspection demonstrated the hard work and dedication our students put in, and I am very proud of all of them. We'd like to give our sincerest thanks to the 601st Aviation Support Battalion for the help they gave us during the inspection,” said LTC Richard R. Hodgson (R), Junction City High School JROTC instructor.
The Blue Jays, who tallied 139 out of a total of 140 points, were scored on the following categories on Wednesday: Continuous Improvement Brief, Service-Learning Project Brief, Cadet Interviews, Unit Report, Drill Inspection, In Ranks Inspection, Color Guard and Instructor Report.The JROTC three-year inspection, which is often known as the Joint Program Assessment (JPA), is a comprehensive, mandatory evaluation conducted every three years by brigade officials to assess program compliance, instructor effectiveness and cadet performance.
By being named an Honor Unit with Distinction, Junction City High School, who has won three National Championships in the last four years, will now showcase a gold star insignia on its uniforms to highlight the unit's high achievement.