Coast Guard’s Jr. ROTC Academy conducts training at the Chicamacomico Life-Saving Station
“The Jewel of the Week” – those were the words used by Master Chief Lyn Dupree, (USCG ret.) to describe the last day of the U.S. Coast Guard’s Jr. ROTC Leadership Academy, where the cadet students paid a visit to the Chicamacomico Life-Saving Station in Rodanthe.
Held June 12-16 at the Coast Guard’s base in Elizabeth City, 70 high school student cadets from Delaware, Florida, North Carolina and South Carolina had spent the week from 5 a.m. until 10 p.m. developing leadership skills, practicing team building, learning Coast Guard history, and experiencing Coast Guard heritage.
On Friday, June 16, the cadets split into two groups for the visit to the historic Rodanthe site, with the first group arriving at the Chicamacomico Life-Saving Station and Museum at 9:00 a.m. on Friday morning.
Quickly assembling in the historic 1874 Station, the cadets assisted Larry Grubbs, Board President and Keeper-in-Charge, and two members of Chicamacomico’s Beach Apparatus Drill Team in identifying, arraying, and setting up the equipment used during shipwreck rescues from the late 1800s up to the mid-1950s.
Taking turns “running the ropes,” they “rescued” each other, as well as some of their instructors. Just before noon, they broke down and replaced all the equipment on the Beach Cart so that the second group, (arriving in the early afternoon), would have the same experience.
At the end of the day, Grubbs reported that all the cadets were “respectful and energetic” and “welcome back anytime.” Master Chief Lyn echoed that sentiment saying, “We all had a wonderful time and can’t wait to come back.”
Enrollment in the Leadership Academy is selective, and requires cadet applicants to show commitment, academic achievement, fitness, as well as knowledge of Coast Guard procedures and protocols. The Maritime Service instructors are retired Coast Guard leaders, and are officers and senior non-commissioned chiefs.
The Coast Guard’s Jr. ROTC Program is adding three additional high schools this year which will bring the total of participating schools to 10. If you are interested in the USCG Jr ROTC Program information is available at https://www.uscg.mil/Community/jrrotc.
If you want to see the Shipwreck Rescue Drill, (also known as the Beach Apparatus Drill), come to the Chicamacomico Life-Saving Station on any summer Thursday at 2 p.m. Further information is available at www.chicamacomico.org
