Salt Life

Cadet of the Year

My oldest, Andrew, who is 15 years old, has been participating in our areas local Navy Sea Cadet program over this past school year. His dream is to go to the Naval Academy and by joining the Cadets early on he can hopefully make that a reality. He meets at the Navy Reserve Center every Tuesday night from 6 to 9 p.m. and has been successful in recruiting a couple of friends. They do physical training, quarter deck duty, drills and other various activities throughout the evening. Several times throughout the year they've done off site activities such as going to a shooting range, fishing trips and participated in several parades and memorial services. Community service is a big part of the program and the cadets should come away with a good sense of discipline and respect for authority. I've enjoyed watching him iron his uniform to perfection, beg for haircuts and polish his shoes to a spit shine! What mother wouldn't?

Last night was the last formal meeting of the school year, as they take a brief summer break while a majority of the cadets attend NSC Boot Camp at various sites across the country. Andrew will be going to Camp Blanding in Starke, Florida with a few cadets from his unit. We head up this Sunday at the crack of dawn and they will stay for two weeks.

My husband and I, along with my parents, were encouraged to attend the meeting last night as there were some awards to be given out and the officers thought we should be there. To our surprise, our son was presented a great honor....Cadet of the Year. He obtained this merit by a vote of his fellow cadets, receiving a bar and a Teddy Roosevelt Medal to display on his dress white uniform. Our hearts swelled, as did the tears in our eyes...we couldn't have been more proud! When Andrew reports to Boot Camp on Sunday, in full dress white attire, he will be proudly displaying his recent accolade and we will surely look on with great delight at our first born son as he takes his initial steps toward the dream in his heart.

Labels: family

posted by Kushmama @ 8:56 AM