Best foot forward

AFJROTC’s Drill Team finished last year’s season with a total of 35 trophies from the 6 competitions (including the home competition) they attended. It’s no surprise that expectations for the coming year are high. The team looks like it will have a busy year with their plans to go to one competition a month and few more during the months of March and April. The words, “I have very high expectations for this year’s team,” have been echoed by last year’s Drill Team Commander, Cadet Captain Bri Murphy and many more. It brings up the question of whether or not they can continue fulfilling the expectations left by their performances last year.

However, Murphy expresses her utmost confidence and faith in both the team and the new Commander, Cadet 1st Lieutenant Courtney Rosenstiehl. Despite her sadness that her time as commander is finished Murphy said of Rosenstiehl, “I see her doing amazing things with the team and I wouldn’t want to have left my team with anyone other than her.”

For Cadet Rosenstiehl being Commander is a bit nerve-wracking, but she has every intention of facing any obstacle head on. She has initiated changes to the team because in her words, “I’m hoping to improve the entire team as a whole in as many aspects as I can.” Such changes will be improving and strengthening the team dynamic as a whole, training the new first years separate from the upperclassmen and creating a more competitive atmosphere among the upperclassmen on the team. She wants to be more organized and most of all meet the expectations left by the team last year.  “I want to bring us closer together as a team, but I also want to make sure we’re living up to the standards we’ve been set and then going beyond that. All in all, I’m just hoping for a really fantastic year!” Her fellow peers and the Command Staff of Drill Team are showing tremendous support for her and the changes. Cadet Master Sergeant Jenna Williams states, “Courtney’s really good at her job and she’s definitely doing everything she can to improve the team.”

With all the dedication and effort being put into the Drill Team, one has to wonder why these cadets do what they do. Some people don’t know what the difference between Marching Band and Drill Team is. To interlopers, the whole affair seems like nothing more than pointless “fancy” walking. What’s the reward for all the work? Cadet Technical Sergeant Kevin Smyth vehemently objects to such assumptions, “Drill Team isn’t just fancy walking. There’s a lot more that goes into it like military bearing. Plus we’re affiliated with the military while Marching Band is not. Not to mention Marching Band plays an instrument while they march.” There’s also the opportunity of getting a Varsity letter which looks amazing on college applications. And of course, the satisfaction of placing in Drill Team Competitions.

Nonetheless, the reward of Drill Team is more than the satisfaction of winning a trophy or getting a Varsity letter. It’s about the bonds created between one another. It’s constantly said by Drill Team members how much Drill Team is a family to them. 2014 graduate and former Drill Team member, Joseph Alex Frick raves about his time on Drill Team. “Its wasn’t just a team or group of random kids mashed up as one, it was and still is my family. I’ve never been better friends with anyone in my long four years of high school than the people I met and became family with the Drill Team. We all started out nervous and shy and wondering why or how on earth we got here on this team, but in the end, there is nowhere I’d rather be. There isn’t a single regret from joining Drill Team. Everyone on that team will forever be my best friends and still even after graduation. I miss the memories of Drill Team and would kill to get those opportunities again.”

Overall, Drill Team has a very busy year ahead of them, but it looks like great things can be expected from them. They are all very dedicated and some of the best in the Corps. There are a lot of exceptional people in commanding positions and the new first years seem to be a good group. Everyone is being supportive of one another and the bonds they have aren’t just for show.