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Plant City Cadet Wins JROTC Honor

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By GEORGE WILKENS | The Tampa Tribune

Published: June 24, 2008

PLANT CITY Cadet Robert Rawls of Plant City High School was named distinguished honor graduate of the JROTC Cadet Leadership Challenge Summer Camp held this month near Lake Wales.
Rawls served as commander of junior ROTC troops during the closing ceremony of the annual camp, held June 10-14 at Boy Scout Camp Flaming Arrow.
Rawls, who, as a senior begins his fourth year when classes resume in August, has been named JROTC battalion commander for 2008-09.
All 240-plus participating cadets were observed and evaluated during the five-day camp and, based upon performance, some earned special recognition at the closing ceremony.
The camp is designed to provide cadets an opportunity to learn leadership skills in a hands-on military environment, participate in citizenship exercises, experience adventure training not normally available at school and to have fun.
Training activities include living in a tent environment for five days, team building, rappelling, rock-wall climbing, canoeing, drown-proofing, marksmanship safety, archery, map reading, survival techniques, problem solving, sports and drill competitions.
"We're very pleased. He was selected the No. 1 cadet at camp," said retired Lt. Col Gus Julia, Plant City High's senior Army instructor. "It's very rewarding to see kids do so well."
"The camp included 13 high schools, not only from Hillsborough County, but Osceola County and Pinellas County," said Julia, longtime head of the school's JROTC program that this year has 90 cadets.
About 40 percent of graduates of the program enter the Army or another branch of the military, he said.
Patrick Alfonso, who completed the four-year program at Plant City High last year, received an appointment to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., nominated by U.S. Sen. Mel Martinez.

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