Before Christmas Break, Chief Blakeman and Colonel Larson handed out the first ever ROTC letter to Brianne Howard. To earn this letter, cadets have to participate in any extracurricular activities the ROTC program has to offer, including: marksmanship, drill team, regional or national competitions, etc. Each time a cadet participates in one of these activities, they earn a point and the points build up over the same amount of time that another athlete takes to earn a varsity letter in a sport.

To earn a letter, a cadet needs to earn 35 points in total from each extracurricular activity, which is very achievable in a couple of semesters. A few points are given for participation and more are given if they win the event.   

Col. Larson said that the ROTC program “has a lot of kids who aren’t part of a varsity sports team, but they are doing things that represent the school and are competing in” Greenwood’s name. Both the ROTC teachers and Mr. Dunn thought the right thing to do was award these cadets for the time they put into competing under Greenwood’s name and not getting the proper recognition that they deserve. An example of the activities the ROTC competes in is a marksmanship competition, where the team took home the state championship title, and a fun run in Gallatin, Tennessee, at which they did very well.

Brianne Howard was the first ever cadet to letter in ROTC, being active since freshman year in the color guard and drill team and attending all color guard activities regarding Greenwood games. Col. Larson said that, “[Brianne] had enough points when we came up with the system to earn three or four letters.” However, Brianne only received one letter since it was her last semester as she graduated at Christmas.

Many cadets, seeing Brianne letter, are already putting the effort in to earn a letter according to Larson. Giving out letters will solely depend on who makes the point goal set. Colonel Larson stressed that earning a letter is “definitely not easy but it is achievable.”

Be sure to get out and see the ROTC cadets compete in one of their many events that take place throughout the year!