Berkeley County School District is excited to share that for a second consecutive year, Cane Bay High’s AFJROTC program has seized the Sword of Excellence award by the South Carolina Air Force Association.
Every year, the association – also known as AFA – presents this award to the most outstanding Air Force JROTC unit in the state, recognizing their achievements throughout the school year.
Cane Bay High’s program consists of 223 student cadets led by Maj USAF (Ret) Christopher D. Perham and MSG Paul Brown. The unit represents approximately 9.1 percent of the total student population of the school.
"We instructors are incredibly proud of the effort and dedication our cadets put in day in and day out, sometimes nights and weekends, to make our unit successful,” Perham said. “Each and every cadet has contributed to our winning the Sword of Excellence."
Twelfth graders Ryder Livingston and Julian Bright and 11th grader Weston Potts recently shared some of the work that went into making this a great year for their school’s AFJROTC program. Cadet Livingston serves as the Cadet Wing Commander; Cadet Bright is the Vice Wing Commander and Cadet Potts is the Inspector General.
The cadets attributed this year’s accomplishments to having a solid team of student leaders in place.
“Overall this year has been very productive for our unit,” Livingston said. “Every single cadet had a piece that puzzle in us winning that award.”
To earn the Sword of Excellence, units must submit a list of accomplishments from the past year – everything from special events to community service hours to after-school programs. Aside from the perfect score on cadet operations, Cane Bay’s unit has a lengthy list of accolades and achievements from this past school year.
The school year kicked off with a four-day summer event called LEAD Camp, organized by the unit right before the start of school, and served as an orientation for new cadets. The event allowed students to come in and be formally introduced to AFJROTC.
Since then, the events and recognitions have kept coming. The school’s 30-cadet Drill Team earned 10 trophies across two competitions, including two third place recognitions, two second place recognitions and one first place recognition in Armed Exhibition, plus one Third Place Overall. Cadet Gabriel Fairris placed first in three consecutive Solo Armed Exhibition events and got to attend the National Armed Drill Competition in Daytona, Florida.
The cadets earned Exceeds Standards on the annual Unit Evaluation, recognized as a Distinguished Unit with Merit. They also performed more than 7,300 hours of community service last year and earned the Silver Start Community Service with Excellence Award – only two units in the state received this, and Cane Bay was one of 45 units worldwide total.
In December, AFJROTC teamed up with their school’s students from the EMS and law enforcement programs to host another successful Warrior Day. This is a big field day event made possible with help from community partners including Berkeley and Charleston County Sheriff’s Office, the Army, Army National Guard, Coast Guard and Navy.
In March, the unit raised more than $1,000 for the Lowcountry Veterans Home with its third annual Bataan Death March Memorial Hike, which is a lengthy 14-mile hike through the Cane Bay community. The participation increases every year; more than 80 cadets joined this past year.
“It was an amazing project for really any cadet within our unit,” Livingston said. “I feel like every year it gets better and better.”
Also in March, cadets participated in a Unit Inspection coordinated by Potts. Inspections involve the regional director who comes and inspects the units under his realm. There is a mass uniform inspection, and the unit’s Color Guard performs as well. Both that and the units Cadet Operations received perfect scores. The unit also delivers a pretty lengthy presentation to the regional director.
“That is our opportunity to brag about our unit and go over all things within our unit,” Potts said. “There are certain points we have to hit, like how many cadets participate in after-school activities and how many cadets participate in our Curriculum-in-Action trips.”
Cadets presented the Colors in 18 school and community-supported events, including the recent 5/3 Bank Grand Opening and a South Carolina Stingrays game. Cane Bay High cadets have also participated in Adopt-a-Highway and various trail cleanups. As of late April, cadets have locked in 5,400 community service hours (and counting).
Cane Bay had 27 cadets attend the Cadet Leadership Course at the Citadel. Among some of the awards they earned, Cadet Amelia Beautiful Bald Eagle was named CLC Commander over 240 cadets.
These are just some of the highlights from the past school year. Cane Bay’s AFJROTC program has celebrated other achievements, including Livingston being accepted into the Air Force Academy in Colorado following a lengthy application process (READ FULL STORY). Two cadets, Abigail Liron and Skye Chavez, were very involved in their school’s cybersecurity team, the Cobra Ciphers, which had a very active competition season (READ FULL STORY).
The cadets learn so much about collaboration, teamwork, time management, communication – many of the type of soft skills that they are going to need in any career they explore after high school.
Bright said there is a lot of academic curriculum requirements they have to meet in AFJROTC, but the instructors truly give the students the reins to learn as the progress in the program.
“It feels good that my accomplishments are seen not only by my senior staff and my peers, but the instructors as well,” he said. “It’s a really good class where you learn a lot.”
Beyond the academics and group achievements, Potts added the students in the program have formed a strong bond.
“Solely just for that – I would tell someone to join the program because of the friendships and the experiences you gain,” he said. “It is truly such a great opportunity to enjoy high school like that.”