Mission: Orientation Trip

ROTC Heads South For the Winter

Junior Taylor Mason stands with sophomores Melissa Barrett, Kiana Hayes, and Taylor Evans in front of the 16-inch gun turrets of the battleship USS Alabama (photograph by John Garrison, Yearbook Staff)

Taylor Harmon, Staff Writer

The Northmont NJROTC went on their Orientation trip from February 4 to February 6.

“ROTC teaches you leadership and discipline,” said senior Coleton Oaks.

On this trip, NJROTC members visited different states and learned about the military. Orientation is a non-competition trip that doesn’t include any drill meets. The trip took place in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama.

While the group was in Gulfport, Mississippi, NJROTC members learned how their lives would be like inside the military, specifically the Seabees. Seabees are military construction workers that build bases among other things for military use.

”We went to the Seabee base, where they teach you how to build houses and how to weld,” said Oaks.

NJROTC members went through a simulator where they experienced what it would be like to be a Seabee. The simulator included replicate high-mobility vehicles surrounded by a 360-degree screen where multiple scenarios were projected.

“The big thing we learned was what you would be doing and where we would be at if we were training to be a Seabee,” said Gwen Landes. “They build bases, barracks and stuff like that before the marines and other special forces will get there.”

On February 5, cadets went to New Orleans, Louisiana to see the World War II Museum. There, they took part in Final Mission: The USS Tang Experience, where they relived the last battle of a successful submarine in World War II during its final patrol on October 25, 1944. The next day, NJROTC went to the USS Alabama Battleship Memorial Park in Mobile, Alabama.

“We got to see the USS Alabama,” said Landes.

Cadets explored the battleship, seeing the sleeping quarters of the crew, and learned about life on a battleship.

Along with getting away from the cold of Ohio, NJROTC learned plenty about life in different parts of the military, explored World War II ships and submarines, and experienced battles.