Photo By Chief Petty Officer Byron Linder | 200221-N-ZW825-0634 NEW ORLEANS (Feb. 21, 2020) Marine Corps Maj. Gen. Robert F....... read more read more
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NEW ORLEANS (Feb. 21, 2020) -- Future military officers from across the United States journeyed to Tulane University in New Orleans to participate in the 47th annual Mardi Gras Drill Meet, Feb. 21.
One of the largest drill meets in the country, the Tulane Naval ROTC (NROTC) unit-hosted event was attended by 24 teams from 21 different universities spanning all branches of the armed forces.
The Mardi Gras Drill Meet is significant to the training and development of Tulane midshipmen. The meet is one of two leadership-evaluated events the unit conducts, and is designed to be intermediate in complexity for midshipmen to plan and execute. Leadership-evaluated events are exclusive to the Tulane University NROTC unit and intended to provide additional and exceptional leadership, planning, and crisis management training to aspiring Naval and Marine Corps officers.
“The meet takes approximately six months to plan. Not only does the midshipmen battalion have to lay out the schedule, they have to reserve the fields, coordinate with campus security, arrange concession services…there’s so much that goes into this,” Tulane NROTC unit commanding officer, Capt. Daniel Senesky said. “New Orleans is a unique city in this country, and the traditions and culture this city shows off during Mardi Gras is a really strong attraction. Many of the units come here not just to participate in the meet, they also march in various parades in the city through the weekend.”
Participating units provide their drill team, which consists of three squads that form a platoon. The platoon, being led by a midshipman, performs basic drill movements and is inspected by Marine Corps evaluators.
Marine Corps Sgt. Mark Gutierrez, assigned to Marine Forces Reserve and one of the personnel inspectors, emphasized the importance of bearing and the confidence needed to score well in the event.
“We look to our officers as our subject matter experts. As an enlisted member, I look to my officers for assistance. The midshipmen having the bearing and confidence within themselves to answer a question from myself, who has more experience right now, is great,” he said. “It gives me the ability to be comfortable with a midshipman that’s confident, and I know they’ll be able to lead in whatever route they’re taking.”
A single squad, led by the squad leader, is later evaluated as the midshipmen perform basic drill movements such as facing movements, close-in ranks marching, presenting arms, and intermediate drill maneuvers. In the exhibition events, the drill platoons have more free movement and the ability to twirl and toss rifles; this also provides opportunity for single midshipmen to showcase their own drill routines for individual competition scores.
The activities encompassing the drill are for much more than showing off learned skills, noted Midshipman 1st Class Isabella Mastendino, Tulane NROTC’s battalion commander. Behind every flourish and movement is hours of effort and instilled discipline essential to the participants’ professional future.
“Holding yourself accountable to the little things – to your uniform and how you’re acting – you start to see yourself mature at another level. I think that’s really important, and as an ROTC student, you definitely recognize a sense of accountability for yourself that others may not recognize,” she said.
Once all the scores were tabulated, Texas A&M University emerged as the overall first place victor at the competition, followed by Norwich University in second place, and the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in third.
“I’m really proud of my team, we all worked incredibly hard for this,” said Cadet Cameron Paladino, Texas A&M University Corps of Cadets Fish Drill Team commander. “I’m looking to be an advisor next year as a sophomore and lead the team to the national championship next year.”
Guest of honor Marine Corps Maj. Gen. Robert F. Castellvi, commanding general of the 1st Marine Division, presented the awards and emphasized the importance of his time in NROTC and how it led to success in his career. Castellvi earned his commission through the NROTC program in May 1984, following his graduation from the University of Illinois.
“Being here for me is especially meaningful and nostalgic, as it is my first time back to Tulane since competing in this very drill meet nearly four decades ago. It brings back many fond memories – it’s the thrill of competing, it’s meeting other teams. It’s the camaraderie of being part of a team that I thoroughly loved. I remember pouring my complete mind, body and soul into the routines here, feeling utterly exhausted, leaving everything out there on the field,” Castellvi said. “The skills you hone today are going to make you a better officer. It’s going to make you a better combat leader…It’s about training to perfection. It’s the journey to seek and achieve greatness. To win, we have to not be individually good at what we do, we have to work as a synchronized team.”
The NROTC program develops midshipmen mentally, morally and physically, to imbue them with the highest ideals of duty, loyalty and Navy core values. The program provides college graduates an opportunity to commission as naval officers who possess a basic professional background, are motivated toward careers in the naval service, and have potential for future development in mind and character, so as to assume the highest responsibilities of command, citizenship and government.
Rear Adm. Jamie Sands, commander, Naval Service Training Command (NSTC), headquartered at Naval Station Great Lakes, supports 98 percent of initial officer and enlisted accessions training for the Navy, as well as the Navy’s Citizenship Development Program.
Sands and his NSTC staff at Great Lakes and at Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida, also support Recruit Training Command (RTC), the Navy’s only boot camp, at Great Lakes; NROTC units at more than 160 colleges and universities across the country; Officer Training Command (OTC) in Newport, R. I.; Navy Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps (NJROTC) and Navy National Defense Cadet Corps (NNDCC) citizenship development programs at more than 600 high schools worldwide.
For more information about Naval ROTC, visit https://www.nrotc.navy.mil/.
For more information about NSTC, visit https://www.public.navy.mil/netc/nstc/index.aspx or visit the NSTC Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/NavalServiceTraining/
Get more information about the Navy from U.S. Navy Facebook or Twitter.
For more news from Naval Service Training Command, visit www.navy.mil/local/greatlakes/.
| Date Taken: | 02.21.2020 |
| Date Posted: | 02.25.2020 12:02 |
| Story ID: | 363850 |
| Location: | NEW ORLEANS, LA, US |
| Web Views: | 158 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
This work, NROTC Units Participate in 2020 Mardi Gras Drill Meet, by CPO Byron Linder, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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