May 25, 2011

Randolph-Macon VA-091 Air Force JROTC Unit, Instructors Receive Honors

The VA-091 Air Force JROTC Unit at Randolph-Macon Academy has been named a Distinguished Unit with Merit, while the three JROTC instructors received the Outstanding Instructor Award with Merit.

For second time in three years, Randolph-Macon Academy’s VA-091 Air Force Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (JROTC) has been named a recipient of the “Distinguished Unit Award with Merit.”

This award recognizes Air Force Junior ROTC units that have performed above and beyond normal expectations, and that have distinguished themselves through outstanding service to their school and community while meeting the Air Force Junior ROTC mission of producing better citizens for America.

Winning the “Distinguished Unit Award with Merit” provides added opportunities to R-MA students. For the next school year, R-MA cadets will be considered honor graduates from an honor school. This provides R-MA graduates with another avenue to secure service academy nominations. Maj Gen Henry M. Hobgood, president of R-MA, has the same authority as a Senator or member of Congress to make nominations (five per year) to the U.S. Air Force Academy.

In addition to the unit honor, the three Air Force JROTC instructors at Randolph-Macon—Lt Col R.G. McManus, MSgt Stephen Pederson, and MSgt Doug French--all received the “Outstanding Instructor Award with Merit.”

“I can’t say enough about these three gentlemen,” said Hobgood. “They are consummate professionals and we are very blessed to have them on the R-MA staff.”

The objectives of the Junior ROTC program are to educate and train high school cadets in citizenship and life skills; promote community service; instill responsibility, character, and self-discipline through character education, and to provide instruction in air and space fundamentals. Air Force Junior ROTC is located in 884 high schools across the United States and at selected schools in Europe, in the Pacific and Puerto Rico. Junior ROTC enrollment includes more than 117,000 cadets.

Randolph-Macon Academy, founded in 1892, is a college-preparatory, coeducational boarding school for students in grades 6 through 12. Students in grades 9-12 participate in the Air Force Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps. R-MA is affiliated with the United Methodist Church and is located in Front Royal, VA.

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