Newburgh Free Academy JROTC Program Receives Two Distinguished Awards

The Newburgh Free Academy JROTC program received two prestigious awards this year. NFA’s JROTC program received the Distinguished Unit with Merit and the “Silver Star” Community Service with Excellence awards this year. The awards were announced at the annual Military Ball that was held over the weekend,

The Air Force JROTC 2018-2019 Distinguished Unit with Merit Award was received because the group received a mark of "Exceeds Standards" during their unit inspection in November. Our Cadet received zero discrepancies in all areas of the inspection.

The "Silver Star" Community Service with Excellence Award is a prestigious award that recognizes the top 5% of all AFJROTC based on community service in support of schools and local communities. NFA JROTC was one of 45 units to receive this honor out of 900 units in the entire AFJROTC. This year our cadet corps did over 7,000 hours of community service in support of our school and community.

Newburgh Free Academy's JROTC is led by Master Sergeant Christian Granda and Colonel Edward Seward. 

More about the Air Force JROTC 2018-2019 Distinguished Unit with Merit Award:

Newburgh Free Academy has been selected as one of 102 units to receive the 2018-2019 Air Force JROTC Distinguished Unit with Merit Award. This award recognizes Air Force JROTC units that have performed well above and beyond normal expectations, and that have distinguished themselves through outstanding service to their school and community while meeting the Air Force JROTC citizen development mission for America. The objectives of the Air Force JROTC program are to educate and train high school cadets in citizenship and life skills; promote community service; instill responsibility, character, and self-discipline through character education, and to provide instruction in air and space fundamentals. Enrollment is open to high school students who are in the 9th to 12th grades. Air Force JROTC is located in close to 900 high schools across the United States and at selected schools in Europe, in the Pacific, and in Puerto Rico. Air Force JROTC enrollment includes more than 120,000 cadets who do over 1.6 million hours of community service each year.

More about the Air Force JROTC program and the "Silver Star" Community Service with Excellence Award:

The mission of AFJROTC is to “Develop citizens of character dedicated to serving their nation and community.” The importance of service and understanding how it positively impacts our cadets, schools, communities, and our nation is a critical component of what we strive to teach through our program and is a central part of our mission in AFJROTC. The award is earned by units with the highest per cadet average of community service hours that are planned and conducted by cadets under the supervision of our instructors. This award also recognizes the personal growth and accomplishments of the cadets, contributions of the instructors as mentors, and the support of the school and local community.

This year, the cadets of AFJROTC conducted over 1,696,074 community service hours! This is an incredible accomplishment and all units are congratulated for their efforts in supporting their communities.  Next year, the AFJROTC goal is 1.9 million community service hours. We recognize that it is not just about “hours,” it is about the positive impact that these hours represent. The attached list highlights the top 45 units which met the criteria for the applicable unit award. Certainly numerous AFJROTC units are doing great things in their respective communities, but these units truly represent the best of our 900 AFJROTC and Air Force NDCC units worldwide. The cadets, instructors, and schools are to be commended for earning this distinctive award.

ATTENTION: Are your scholars or colleagues doing something great? Please contact the district Communications Team at communications@necsd.net. We’d love to visit your class or event and/or post your pictures and recap to highlight the amazing accomplishments throughout our district!