For the second consecutive year, two Fishburne Military School cadets have been selected to compete at the JROTC National High School Drill Team Competition on May 7th in Daytona Beach, Florida.
The FMS cadets invited are both seniorrs and members of the Hudgins’ Rifles Armed Exhibition Drill Team at Fishburne. This is the second year in a row that this Fishburne Military School dual team has been invited to the National Championships.
Jacob Randall, son of Ms. Jenny Margaros of Stafford, Va., and Tyler Long, son of Mr. and Mrs. Tim Paddock of Beavercreek, Ohio, will be performing as a dual team and as individual soloists at the National Championships.
Of the approximately 3400 JROTC Units worldwide (Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and Coast Guard), only 123 teams were invited to the 2016 National Championships and only three schools in Virginia (Fishburne Military School, T.C. Williams and Loudon County High School) earned invitations to last year’s event.
2019 will mark the 100th anniversary of US Army JROTC training in at Fishburne Military School. Nationally, JROTC celebrated its centennial in 2016.
Fishburne Military School’s Senior Army Instructor, LTC Robert A. Hunt USA(ret), notes “These young men have put in a tremendous amount of time and practice to reach this level. Fishburne Military School is well-known as a leader in the [US Army JROTC Cadet Command’s] 4th Brigade and this gives our young men a great opportunity to shine at a National level. We couldn’t be more proud of what these young men have accomplished.”
Cadet Long noted “We are both really excited about this chance to compete in Daytona Beach. All of the hard work is paying off and we can’t wait to represent Fishburne once again on a national level.”