Shaping Students for Service

Each OCPS high school boasts either a Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps program sponsored by branches of the U.S. armed services (Army, Air Force, Marine Corps, Navy) or National Defense Cadet Corps*. In addition to academic courses and physical training, programs develop discipline, military training, public service, leadership skills and more in more than 3,000 high school students.

Cadets are overseen by servicemen and women who have had distinguished military careers, and after traveling the world and learning about various countries and cultures, they have retired and come to OCPS to impart to future generations. Below is a snapshot of a few of our JROTC programs and the servicemen who are shaping our students for service.

*National Defense Cadet Corps is a program of instruction, under 10 U.S. Code 4651, that provides military training at secondary schools that do not have Reserve Officers' Training Corps training.

Air Force

As the first Air Force JROTC program in the district, Oak Ridge High’s program is still going strong 46 years later. Taught by three instructors in five courses of instruction, its 231 cadets focus on peer leadership and hands-on learning.

Ret. Chief Master Sgt. Robert Nutting (right and left) joined the Air Force while he was still in high school in New York state. After more than 30 years of military service, which included traveling to 22 countries and across the United States as well as Puerto Rico and Guam, he retired and relocated to Orlando for the opportunity to teach for OCPS.

"You grow by exposing yourself to people with different views and ideas, different beliefs and backgrounds, not by surrounding yourself with people the same as you," said Nutting, whose own father served in the army. "As the students learn from me, and each other, I also learn from the students."

Army

The Falcon Battalion at East River High are district champions for Raiders, Drill and Marksmanship. Ret. Major Steven Celeste (above) also touts the fact that this 10-year program has 225 cadets, 40% of whom are members of the National Honor Society.

"Army JROTC is the only leadership program that takes place during the school day that requires responsibility, maturity and discipline to be successful," said Celeste, who retired in 2010 after 24 years in the Army.

"Cadets learn leadership in the JROTC classroom and then demonstrate maturity in other classes. …

We focus on a cadet’s GPA in all classes in order to prepare them for post high school!"

Photo by Jenevieve Jackson

Ret. Lt. Col. Bryan "Red" Lucas (left) went to Ball State University to be a history teacher when a Marine recruiter asked him "How can you teach History before you’ve lived it?"

That question led the Indiana native to sign up and become a Marine for 22 years, serving in locations, including Indonesia; Cambodia; Afghanistan; Somalia; and Grenada, before retiring in 2013.

"When the time was right, I retired and returned to my original goal of being a teacher," said Lucas, who joined OCPS at Edgewater High in 2014. Along with Sgt. Maj. Ray Fullard, they oversee 129 cadets.

"Now, as part of Marine Corps JROTC, I have the opportunity and responsibility to develop character and citizenship in tomorrow’s leaders. I have loved it since day one."

Navy

New to OCPS is Ret. Senior Chief Roberto Barney (left), who joined the district this year at Cypress Creek High. The Naval Science instructor is one of three instructors who lead more than 250 students.

Started in 1993, the Cypress Creek NJROTC has earned the Unit Achievement Award for the last two years and also has a dual-enrollment program with Embry Riddle Aeronautical University. "Ever since I was a recruiter over 15 years ago, I knew that I wanted to be a NJROTC instructor. From that moment, I made sure I did all I needed to in order to meet my goal," said Barney, who hails from Miami and served in the Navy for 20 years. "I received my Master’s in Education in Teaching and Learning in Leadership during my time on active duty as part of my goal. I enjoy every moment spent teaching, mentoring, and leading our cadets."

NDCC

Among the newest military programs in the district is the National Defense Cadet Corps* at Olympia High. Led by Ret. Army Mst. Sgt. Luther Agard (below), this program has attracted 130 cadets in its first two months.

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"Working in Recruiting Command for over 10 years, I recruited in high schools and colleges," said Agard, who served in the Army for 24 years. "Joining OCPS in the JROTC program, I want to make a difference in the students' lives, as I did in recruiting. I wanted to teach JROTC because students can build skills such as leadership, self-confidence and discipline qualities that are necessary to thrive in any career."

Freedom High has one of the district’s two Naval Sea Cadet Corps programs, sponsored by the U.S. Navy and supported by the U.S. Coast Guard. For the last eight years, this program has been recognized as a "Distinguished Unit" and is led by Senior Naval Science Instructor and Lt. Cmdr. Harold Johnson (left).

Originally from Erie, Penn., Johnson graduated from Army and Navy Academy in Carlsbad, Calif., in 1970, before seeing combat service in Vietnam in 1971-72. After serving for more than three decades with tours that took him to Thailand; Morocco; Lebanon; Kuwait; and more, he retired as a sergeant major in 1996.

“Throughout my 30-year military, I was blessed with opportunities to train and operate with the world’s finest

Photos by Joaquim Petegrosso

special operations teams. Dr. Border (then-Freedom High principal and current Chief of High Schools) and [I] felt it was time for me to return some of those acquired skills to the students who would need them most going into the military,” said Johnson, who has worked for OCPS for 11 years.

“The rest is history.”

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