EHS Cadets complete leadership training

Published 11:39 am Tuesday, July 5, 2022

Four Elizabethton High School cadets traveled to the Tennessee Army National Guard’s “Volunteer Training Center” in Smyrna to participate in the 2022 Navy JROTC Area 9 (East) Basic Leadership Training and Leadership Academy. Over 270 Naval JROTC and NDCC cadets from across the southeast converged on the training site for the four-day training camp. The purpose of the training was to further develop and enhance the leadership skills of cadets in order to prepare them for leadership roles in their respective units.

Cadets Laya El-Helou, Jacob Frickel, Tyanna Hitechew, and Kayleigh Shoemake were selected to represent Elizabethton High School this year. Coming off a very successful inaugural year for the program, these cadets took the next step in leadership and unit development. Enduring a rigid four-day training schedule which included many hours of drill instruction and execution, physical training, classroom instruction, leadership theory, inspections, and orienteering, the cadets learned the importance of teamwork, leadership, and followership.

Designed to promote habits of orderliness and precision, and to develop respect for constituted authority, the training environment was set up in such a way as to reflect the environment of the various military branches’ boot camps.

Possession of personal property, to include a simple wristwatch, was not authorized during the four days! These means were specifically designed to challenge and instill a high degree of personal honor, self-reliance, and confidence in each cadet by presenting a military environment in which cadets were forced to rely upon their chain of command and their fellow cadets to study, work, learn, and execute the training schedule. As a means of teaching teamwork and the importance of good leadership, all the events and classroom instruction challenged the cadets to work together and push toward the common goals of improved physical fitness, an improved intellectual standing in Naval Science, and mission accomplishment. Throughout the week, cadets were continuously called upon to meet high standards of personal appearance, self-discipline, and meticulous attention to detail.

Upon completion of this training, these motivated cadets are prepared for the challenges of leading the EHS Navy National Defense Cadet Corps into its second year!