Brewster NJROTC Wins 1st Place At Annual Drill Meet

BREWSTER, NY — The NJROTC of Brewster High School won first place this month at the annual SUNY Maritime Drill Meet, which brings together schools from Delaware to Main — for the first time in more than 20 years.

"It was so exciting," said cadet Jarridd Bryggman. "It was a nine-hour day, but we finally broke Southhold’s sixteen-year streak. Some of the challenges were really cool. For athletics we had to do things like timed fireman’s carry–it was like boot camp. And personnel inspection is just like the Marine Corps PT test."

It was an all-day event with schools from up and down the eastern seaboard. About 40 Brewster NJROTC cadets competed in seven different events: Varsity Drill, First Year Drill, Varsity Color Guard, First Year Color Guard, Academics, Athletics, and an Inspection.

"As a unit, as a team, we’ve come so far," said Danna Madrid-Hernandez, "While we were waiting to go next at SUNY, I was nervous since this was my first time competing with upperclassmen and commanding the team as well. When we finished the drill card, seeing Master Chief and the happiness on his face made me realize that all the early mornings and all the early Dunkin’ runs were so worth it."

Brewster placed first, second or third in six of the seven events and placed first overall.

"The students are just so dedicated — we have had to add extra morning drill team and color guard team practices because more and more students are signing up and coming to practice. We are now three mornings a week practicing at the elementary school and two mornings a week at the high school," said Command Master Chief Michael Campbell.

There are more and more students signing up for Brewster NJROTC — currently 155 students are enrolled in the program.

"Our recent success is all about the students and how well they work together and like each other. There is such a mix of students who are involved — captain of the wrestling team, member of the symphonic orchestra, volunteer for Life Skills — everyone gets along," Campbell said.

Things are going well indeed. Over the weekend at the Bethel Drill Meet, the cadets racked up another win with 1st place NS1 Color Guard, 1st place NS1 Drill, 3rd place NS1 overall, 1st place Senior overall, 1st place Senior armed drill, 1st place orienteering 2nd place PT.

That means that or the first time since the 1990s, BHS NJROTC qualified for a spot to compete in the NJROTC AREA 4 Championships, district officials said.