March 28, 2024
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Air Force JROTC takes off at Brewer school

BREWER – Air Force Junior ROTC cadet Jaclyn Files sees herself flying off into the wild blue yonder in the future.

Files, a senior at Brewer High School, aspires to be part of the U.S. Air Force, and that’s one reason she signed up for the high school’s new Air Force junior reserve officer training corps program.

“It’s something I wanted to get involved with, for leadership,” the 17-year-old Dedham resident said on Wednesday.

Files is in the process of applying to the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo. “I want to get familiar with the military structure” to prepare, she said. She hopes to study medicine.

Developing citizens of character is the purpose and objective of the JROTC class, program leaders say.

“That’s what we do,” Maj. Connie Hoksch said after the second period class on Wednesday. “That’s our mission. That’s our goal.”

“This is not a political thing. This is not a military thing. This is a leadership program,” Chief Master Sgt. Steve Hughes added. “This will give the student tools to navigate their next steps in life, whatever that may be.”

Hoksch and Hughes, both retired Air Force veterans with more than two decades of military experience, are co-instructors.

Junior Courtney England, 16, who helped to raise the flag Wednesday morning with Files and others, said creating student leaders “is a big part of this program.”

The Air Force is a family created by individuals, and the JROTC program is a branch of the family tree, Hoksch said. The first month of the class will focus on team-building, she said.

The program is 40 percent academic studies, 40 percent leadership skills and 20 percent wellness education. The program teaches teens about getting their bodies in shape and eating right. Friday classes are dedicated to physical training and after school on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, cadets can join their teachers for additional training, including running.

The program’s academic studies include the science of aviation, leadership, space and astronomy and global studies.

Three groups of volunteers already have signed up for the color guard and are raising flags at the school in the morning, and plans are in the works to create a drill team, trick drill team, a rocket model club and possibly a saber squad.

“As soon as we receive our rifles … we’ll get out on the field” to practice drills, Hoksch said.

The color guard is already training hard and is scheduled to perform during the 100th Bangor-Brewer football game in a couple of weeks.

“Dr. Lee said, ‘We have to have a color guard'” for the game, Hoksch said of Superintendent Daniel Lee.

The Brewer program, one of two Air Force JROTC programs in the state, has approximately 54 students enrolled. There are nearly 950 programs across the United States and selected Department of Defense schools in Europe, the Pacific and Puerto Rico and Guam.

Uniform pieces, including shirts, pants, belts, shoes, socks, hats and jackets, are arriving daily in boxes, but there are not enough yet to cover all the students. Once all the uniforms are in, the students will be required to don them on Wednesdays from when they get up to when they head to bed.

Each Wednesday, the instructors will inspect the cadets, so to prepare, the students were put through an informal inspection during class on Wednesday. They stood at attention, and Hughes walked up and down the line giving accolades and making suggestions on how others could improve.

“Great haircut, but you need to shave,” he told one cadet.

“I’m not really happy about the U.S. Army T-shirt, but I won’t take off points,” he told another.

True inspections are pretty tough, he told the cadets.

“You’re getting it easy today,” Hughes said.

During the class, the students learned an important lesson against locking one’s knees when standing at attention. Two of the 12 had their knees buckle underneath them, and needed to be caught by their classmates.

“We’re all in this together,” Hoksch said. “You’re part of a big Air Force family.”

She jokingly added, “That’s probably where the expression ‘dropping like flies’ comes from.”

Hughes retired from the Air Force after 28 years, the last 11 as a first sergeant, and Hoksch, the senior aerospace instructor, served as an engineer for 20 years. Both have master’s degrees.

Both of Files’ parents are members of the Bangor-based 101st Air Refueling Wing, and she served as the youth representative for the Air National Guard family program for Maine last year. This year, she is the Region 3 representative, an area that reaches from Maine to Pennsylvania.

She said she’s following in her parents’ footsteps.

“Once you’re kind of a military brat, you learn the ropes,” she said.

For her, the JROTC program is an adventure that will provide her and her classmates with an opportunity to shine.

“I think we’re kind of just setting the bar,” she said. “We have kind of a lot of weight on our shoulders to practice and become great cadets.”

Correction: A shorter version of this article ran in the State edition.

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