SOLEDAD — Soledad High School’s Navy Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps program has received the Distinguished Unit Award for the fourth time in a row.
Congressman Jimmy Panetta, a Navy combat veteran, visited the cadets at the school gymnasium on March 23 to recognize their major achievement, which only the top 5% of the nation’s Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps, or JROTC, programs receive.
“I was privileged to address NJROTC cadets at Soledad High School and commend them for their fourth straight Distinguished Unit Award,” said Panetta, who also shared his experiences growing up in the area and attending local schools, his service in the Navy and how he continues to serve as a congressman for District 20.
To earn the Distinguished Unit Award — the highest NJROTC recognition — a program must maintain high cadet enrollment and high standards in academics, drill competitions, physical fitness and community service.
There are currently 167 cadets enrolled in the Soledad NJROTC program, which has earned many achievements over the past seven years. Most recently, the program won third place overall and other top awards at a regional drill competition in Las Vegas earlier this year.
“It is truly amazing to see how these young men and women develop throughout their time in NJROTC,” said Pete Gomez, the school’s senior naval science instructor and retired U.S. Marine Corps captain. “They leave with leadership, discipline and a professional mind set, all the traits and more that will offer them the brightest future.”
Also recognized during last month’s assembly was Soledad NJROTC Cadet Commander Nadia Manzano, who has been selected to attend the Naval Academy Prep School at Newport, R.I. After one year, she will transfer to the Naval Academy.
“Nadia is excited and thanks everyone that helped her achieve this major milestone, including Congressman Panetta’s congressional endorsement,” Gomez said.
Soledad School Board Vice President Ivan Ibarra Mora and Monterey County Supervisor Chris Lopez were also in attendance to celebrate the local cadets’ accomplishment, with Lopez providing a Certificate of Recognition to Gomez on behalf of the county.
“It was an honor to join our congressman in Soledad this afternoon to recognize the NJROTC program from Soledad High School,” Lopez said on social media afterward.
Soledad NJROTC is a citizenship development program. According to local veteran and program advocate Tony Virrueta, who helped make Panetta’s visit possible, the JROTC is “one of the most diverse and interesting programs a high school student can participate in.”
The Soledad cadets join more than half a million other students across the United States who are enrolled in more than 3,000 JROTC programs. The purpose of JROTC is to “instill in students the value of citizenship, service to the United States, personal responsibility, and a sense of accomplishment.”
“Thanks to Captain Gomez, Chief Peaches and Chief Dunn, the Soledad NJROTC program has earned the highest NJROTC recognition, the Distinguished Unit Award, four years in a row and is considered one of the best programs in the nation,” Virrueta said.
