WATCH: Cocoa Beach Minutemen JROTC Girls Raider Team is Back-to-Back State Champions

Cocoa Beach JROTC male team placed third

WATCH: State Champions! The Cocoa Beach Minutemen JROTC Girls Raider Team won the State Championship for the second consecutive year! The Friday Night Locker Room’s Orville Susong and Steve Wilson talked with members of the championship team and also Senior Army Instructor LTC (R) Jim DesJardin, about this accomplishment.

BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA – The Cocoa Beach Jr./Sr. High’s JROTC Lady Raiders won the State Championship this past weekend, defending their 2021 State Championship Title.

The Lady Raiders were led by Alessandra Lane and Ella Walker, with team members Reagan Fish, Sophia Ricks, Ever Sills, Ally Tuggle, Katlyn Staddie, Vittoria Lane, Valerie Pruna, Olivia Espenschied, Elena Widick and Elisabeth Wolverton.

Congratulations also go out to Cocoa Beach’s male team, who placed third in their division.

Florida has 164 JROTC programs, with 71 competing at the state championship held recently at Camp Flaming Arrow in Lake Wales.

The U.S. Army Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps is one of the largest character development and citizenship programs for youth in the world.

The National Defense Act of 1916 established organized JROTC programs at public and private educational institutions. In 1964, Congress expanded the program to all military services and changed from active duty to shared support from the services and schools.

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The Florida Raider Championship divided the 71 schools into tiers based on the JROTC student population. The Cocoa Beach Raiders competed in Tier 3, which consisted of schools with over 160 Cadets in their program.

Although one of the smallest high schools by population, the CBHS Raiders beat every school in the competition, as the female Raiders, led by Lane and Walker, dominated their division.

The program is led by retired U.S. Army Lt. Col.  James DesJardin, Senior Army Instructor at Cocoa Beach High School.

As congressionally mandated by Title 10 United States Code, Section 2031, each military service must have a JROTC program to “instill in students in United States secondary educational institutions the values of citizenship, service to the United States, and personal responsibility and a sense of accomplishment.” JROTC’s mission, “To Motivate Young People to be Better Citizens,” is the guidepost for the program’s success.

The U.S. Army’s JROTC program currently operates in more than 1,700 public and private high schools, military institutions, and correctional centers throughout the United States and overseas. Approximately 40 percent of JROTC programs are in inner-city schools, serving a student population of 50% minorities.

As JROTC students (Cadets) progress through the program, they experience opportunities to lead other Cadets. A major component of the JROTC leadership and citizenship program is female Cadets. Female Cadets make up 40 percent of the Cadet population.

The JROTC faculty is led by nearly 4,000 instructors who are retired from active duty, reserve duty, or National Guard Army service. Instructors are trained and qualified in accordance with the National Defense Authorization Act 2007 to teach and mentor approximately 314,000 JROTC Cadets annually.

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