RHS ROTC to host target shooting competitions

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ROBERTSDALE, Alabama — The Robertsdale High School Naval Junior ROTC will host a pair of target shooting competitions on Feb. 28 and 29 on the heels of one of its cadets becoming the first in school history to compete at the JROTC Target Shooting National Championship.

Cadet Aidan Johnston, a junior at RHS, finished fifth out of a total of 121 shooters in Area 8 competition held Jan. 25 in Anniston, earning the right to compete in the National ROTC Championships Feb. 6-8 in Chandler, Arizona, just outside of Tucson.

The two best teams of four shooters each qualified for the National competition from each of 12 areas nationwide, along with the top two individual shooters who are not a member of the top two teams for a total of 10 shooters.

Only seven shooters from Area 8 actually competed in the National Championship competition. Johnston finished third out of those shooters, 85th overall among the Naval ROTC shooters.

“The competition includes shooters from the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines,” said RHS ROTC Commander Frank Starr, “but cadets only compete against members of their branch. The Navy ROTC has the second most shooters behind the Army. If he had competed against the Air Force cadets, he would have finished 18th.”

While there were 108 total Naval ROTC shooters in the competition, Starr said, there are probably close to 2,500 competitors vying for a spot nationwide.

“So, I’d say he did pretty good.”

Starr accompanied Johnston to the competition, arriving on Thursday for a day of practice and sightseeing, visiting the Grand Canyon, and in Tucson, the PIMA Air & Space Museum and the Davis-Monthan Air Force Base where they got to see the famous Boneyard.

Then cadets competed in a two-day competition Friday and Saturday before flying home on Sunday.

“Overall, I think it was a good trip and a great experience for him,” Starr said.

On Friday, Feb. 28, the RHS Naval Junior ROTC will host JROTC teams from throughout Baldwin County in competition beginning around 9 a.m. in the gym at RHS.

Four-person teams will compete with live ammunition on padded targets in standing, kneeling and prone positions.

Then on Saturday, there will be an area-wide Naval Junior ROTC competition hosting teams from Alabama, Florida and Mississippi beginning at around 8 a.m., Starr said.