Visit from Navy National Defense Cadet Corps
Fourteen 14 cadets from the Navy National Defense Cadet Corps of Middle Township High School made the long drive up from Cape May Court House to MAST yesterday to spend the day with MAST cadets.
A Navy National Defense Cadet Corps is similar to a Navy Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps unit, with the same goals of instilling citizenship, patriotism, and a sense of personal responsibility and accomplishment. However NNDCC programs are funded 100 per cent by the individual schools (instructors’ salaries, uniforms, operational costs), whereas NJROTC units are funded primarily by the Navy.
The goal of the trip was to expose the Middle Township cadets, whose unit is currently comprised of only 25 cadets, to how a large unit such as MAST operates.
The visiting cadets were accompanied by Lt. Commander Susan Blood, a Coast Guard Academy graduate and former Coast Guard officer, who is the Senior Naval Science Instructor at Middle Township High School.
Activities
The day started with a brief about MAST’s NJROTC program — how the battalion of 265 cadets is split into companies and platoons, the responsibilities of the different departments within the battalion, and the goals and accomplishments of the MAST unit over the past year.
Following the brief given by MAST’s Battalion Commander c/CDR Tessa Campolattaro, second in command c/James Treshock, Command Master Chief c/MCPO Dylan Agnese, and other key players within MAST’s unit, each Middle Township cadet was paired with a MAST cadet and attended classes, along with every other MAST student. Lunchtime was spent at drill practice, perfecting close order drill movements and the intricacies of marching.
After classes ended for the school day, the visiting cadets extended their stay for the second drill practice of the day. That practice precedes MAST participation and to prepare the cadets for the Navy Nationals Drill, Academic, and Athletic competition in which MAST cadets are participating next month in Pensacola, Florida.
The visitors’ day at MAST ended with hugs and exchanges of contact information, as the MAST and Middle Township cadets promised to stay in touch.
Going Forward
“We are always excited to work with other units, because we know there’s no one way to run a unit, and we always learn from each other,” said Commander Tracie Smith-Yeoman, USN (retired), Senior Naval Science Instructor at MAST. “The Middle Township cadets were so friendly and respectful, and fit right in with our battalion. We’re looking forward to hosting them again in the warmer weather so they get a much better taste of our incredible campus and beautiful Fort Hancock.”
“MAST’s Naval Science Instructors are always looking for opportunities to support other units build their programs,” said MAST Principal Earl Moore. “From donating uniform items, to extending invitations to school events like our annual Naval Ball, the NSIs and the cadets they lead consider outreach and support through the Naval Science department part of a bigger, more school-wide mission of service… something MAST has a long history of,” the principal concluded.
