Last weekend Nease High School Stadium was the site for the sixth annual Memorial McFarland Drill Meet.
The meet was named in honor of Master Chief Russell A. McFarland, a Navy Junior ROTC instructor at Nease who died from a brain tumor on July 4, 2003., and drew 20 Interservice Junior ROTC units from Florida and Georgia.
"Putting this on is a lot of pre-planning, things like creating the scheduling and organizing cadet liaisons. Now it is just implementing all the plans," said Nease Battalion Commander Will Zapala.
As the host, Nease did not compete in the meet but cadets worked long hours to make sure the event went smoothly. With nearly 800 cadets competing throughout the day, 148 active duty service members judging and 60 parent volunteers, the pre-planning by the Nease unit showed itself with military precision.
"This is my second time competing at this event, it is very well organized. We get to see what the other ROTC units are doing and I feel it helps us to improve," said St. Augustine Army Junior ROTC Cadet Benedetto Santorelli.
The competing cadets even impressed one visiting Marine, Pfc. Seik from Las Cruces, New Mexico.
"These Cadets are better than some Marines that I have seen. Pretty impressive. Drill helps to instill discipline."
January 29th 2009 - 2:20PM