Mountain Home NJROTC Drone Team takes top honors at Kansas meet

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Photo: Mountain Home NJROTC Drone Team with First Place Awards. From Left to Right: Cadet Lieutenant Ethan Darracq, Cadet Lieutenant Ivy Hartman, Cadet Lieutenant Commander Justin Rula, and Cadet Lieutenant Justin Kubistek

On February 2nd and 3rd, the Bomber Battalion of the Mountain Home School NJROTC competed at the Shawnee Mission North drone and drill meet, hosted by the Shawnee Mission North High School NJROTC in Kansas.

Competing against several top Navy JROTC units, the Bomber Battalion Drone Team took First Place Overall at the drone competition. Cadet Lieutenant Ethan Darracq took individual first in resupply and third in the lap race, resulting in his team coming first in both events. The team took four personal medals including Cadet Lieutenant Justin Kubistek’s first place medal in the slalom race and third place medal in relay race. Other contributing team members were Cadet Lieutenant Commander Justin Rula and Cadet Lieutenant Ivy Hartman.

During the drill portion of the competition, Cadet Lieutenant Dylan Prins, the Academic team commander, and his team achieved third place on the Academic Exam. Lieutenant Commander Ryan Amick and his team completed the Arms Exhibition competition in third place. The Bombers drill teams finished in fifth place overall, closing out the season ranked 5th of over 60 units in the area, covering portions of states spanning from Tennessee to New Mexico including all of Arkansas.

The Battalion will begin the interservice drill season starting with the Grizzly Meet at the Fort Chaffee Joint Maneuver Training Center in Fort Smith on Feb. 16 and 17. During the event, the Battalion will compete against teams from the Army, Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force JROTC units to showcase their abilities in drill, markmanship and raiders competitions. The interservice drill season will culminate in the Bombers competing at the All High School Nationals in Daytona Beach, Florida at the beginning of May.

The Bomber Battalion will host the third annual Area 13 Regional drone championship, Drone-agedon, on Feb. 24. Drone teams from Oklahoma, Kanas, Missouri and Arkansas will all compete in multiple competitions of aerial acrobatics with commercial drones of varying sizes and capabilities. Drone missions will include lap races, obstacle courses, relay races, slalom races and drone soccer. Drone-agedon will be held on the Mountain Home Junior High campus starting at 8. All Bombers fans are encouraged to come cheer for their local NJROTC drone teams.

The Mountain Home NJROTC Battalion will hold the Inaugural Baby Bomber Invitational on April 5 and 6. The Baby Bomber is an interservice, novice drill competition that gives first year cadets from Navy, Army, Marine, and Air Force JROTC units across Arkansas the opportunity to display their skills. The two day competition will include a shoulder-to-shoulder air rifle shooting match, both armed and unarmed drill competitions, an academic brain brawl, a fitness challenge and a STEM challenge presented by the Bomb Squad, Mountain Home High School’s robotics team.

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