CONGRATS TO OUR NEWEST LEADERSHIP ACADEMY GRADUATES

Middletown Cadets David Geer, Jessica Glickman, and Lanae Rutland were added to the roll of NJROTC Leadership Academy graduates at a ceremony held on Friday, 15 July 2011 at Nimitz Field on the Newport Naval Station in Newport, Rhode Island.  The Leadership Academy, sponsored by the United States Navy and conducted by instructors drawn from throughout Area Four, is two weeks intense weeks of training in honors and ceremony, drill, physical readiness, sailing, and general self discipline.  Attendance is competitive and selection is limited to those cadets with a record of performance and a demonstrated potential for leadership.  Generally, graduates return to their schools to fill top leadership positions in their units, as is the case with David, who will serve as unit XO, Jessica, who will serve as unit OPS Officer, and Lanae, who will serve as Drill Team Commander.  Congratulations to all the graduates, particularly our own! Here are a few pictures of this year's ceremony:

Blue Platoon leads the Training Battalion onto Nimitz Field.  In the background is Nimitz Hall, home of the Navy's Officer Candidate School.

The Battalion Color Guard.

The Academy Director and Guest of Honor receive the report from the Training Battalion Commander.

The Battalion conducts a ceremonial "Pass-in-Review."  In the backgrouhnd is Ripley Hall, used as the barracks for the Leadership Academy and normally the barracks for the Naval Academy Prep School.



Cadet Glickman beside a beachball.  Newport Bridge and Narragansett Bridge in the background.




Cadets Glickman and Geer "strike a pose" after the graduation.

Cadet Glickman and the illusive Cadet Rutland in the Navy Exchange.  (Proof positive that Cadet Rutland actually attended LA/ST, although she apparently spent all two weeks at the Exchange.)

Officer Candidate School Graduation and Commissioning Ceremony.  The ceremony was held on the Navy's Pritchard Field.  These men and women will be headfing to the Fleet to begin their careers as officers in the Navy where, as the saying goes, "Every day's a holiday, every meal's a feast!"

Cadets Geer and Glickman with Master Sergeant Willard and Commander Wall.