Photo By Capt. Jacob Murray | GARDEN CITY, Mich. (Nov. 13, 2025) – Garden City High School Air Force JROTC cadets...... read more read more
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GARDEN CITY, Mich. — High school Cadets at Garden City High School spent a day soldering circuits, programming controllers and buzzing first-person-view (FPV) drones through a soccer field, thanks to a hands-on partnership between the school's Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps (JROTC) and Airmen from the Michigan Air National Guard's 272nd Cyber Operations Squadron. The all-day workshop marked the launch of a new drone club within the school's Air Force JROTC program and gave cadets their first taste of building and flying the small, agile drones that are popular in both hobbyist and professional circles.
"This is exactly the kind of exposure these kids need at this age," said Major Rick Frantz, director of operations for the 272nd Cyber Operations Squadron, based at Battle Creek Air National Guard Base. "They're asking themselves, 'What do I want to do when I launch into adulthood?' Showing them a growing field like unmanned aircraft systems — where you can literally build something from a pile of parts and fly it the same day — can open doors they didn't know existed."
Frantz, who is pursuing his own FAA Part 107 commercial drone license led a team of four Cyber Airmen who volunteered their day to mentor the cadets.
The squadron, whose day job is defending military networks against cyberattacks, supervised the assembly of five complete FPV drone kits, goggles, simulators and spare parts. Cadets worked in small teams to assemble the quadcopters — screwing together carbon-fiber frames, installing motors, mounting flight controllers and binding transmitters — before configuring the open-source software that makes the drones fly.
"It's harder than it looks," said Senior Master Sgt. Rick Van Seters, the squadron's standards and evaluation officer in charge. "Parts break, connections fail, and you troubleshoot on the spot. That's real-world engineering. When the kids finally got their drones in the air and you saw their faces light up through the goggles, that 'aha' moment when it clicks, that's what makes this worth it."
By early afternoon, the school echoed with the high-pitched whine of tiny propellers. Cadets took turns donning FPV goggles that placed them in the drone's "cockpit," racing through makeshift gates and performing tight turns under the watchful eyes of the Airmen.
One cadet, after crashing his drone into a race gate and quickly swapping a broken propeller, nailed a smooth lap on his second attempt. "That was awesome!" he shouted, high-fiving teammates. Others hovered cautiously at first, then grew bolder as the Airmen coached them on throttle control and orientation.
The partnership grew out of the Guard's broader push to inspire the next generation of STEM talent, especially in fields like cyber and unmanned aviation that directly support modern Air Force operations.
Master Sgt. Zachery McTheeney, a cyber warfare operator with the 272nd Cyber Operations Squadron, said the energy in the room reminded him why outreach matters. "These kids came in excited, but by the end they'll leave with confidence," McTheeney said. "They built something mechanical and electronic from scratch, programmed it, flew it, probably crashed it a few times, and fixed it. That's problem-solving, teamwork and resilience — the same skills we use every day in uniform."
For Garden City High School's Air Force JROTC unit, one of roughly 870 AFJROTC programs nationwide, the drone club adds a cutting-edge activity to an already active calendar of drill teams, Raider competitions and community service.
The Drone Team also serves as an introduction to drone-related careers: real estate and event photography, infrastructure and roof inspections, agricultural monitoring, public-safety search and rescue, and of course military applications from reconnaissance to logistics.
"Start with the hobby level, $200 to $500 to get into FPV and the skills scale up," Van Seters explained. "Soldering, understanding electronics, flight dynamics, even basic coding. Those translate directly to civilian certificates and jobs paying six figures, or to enlisting as a remotely piloted aircraft sensor operator in the Air Force."
Frantz added that the intimidation factor around technology melts away once students dive in. "Tech can seem overwhelming until you tinker," he said. "Today we watched high school kids go from a table of loose parts to flying acrobatic drones in a few hours. That's powerful. If even a couple decide, 'Hey, I could turn this into a career,' then we've done our job."
As the last drone was packed away and cadets helped clean up their classroom, the excitement was palpable. For Garden City JROTC, what started as a one-day event now has the momentum to become a full-fledged club — one built literally from the ground up, one soldered joint and one successful flight at a time.
The Michigan Air National Guard's 272nd Cyber Operations Squadron is part of the 110th Wing at Battle Creek Air National Guard Base. The unit conducts 24/7 cyber defense operations worldwide while also supporting community STEM initiatives
| Date Taken: | 11.14.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 12.07.2025 14:06 |
| Story ID: | 552655 |
| Location: | GARDEN CITY, MICHIGAN, US |
| Web Views: | 37 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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