A big part of being in ROTC is the sense of brotherhood and unity that every member should feel.
Often, the weakest bonds are between the members who have been around the longest and those who have joined most recently. At Highland High School, we wanted to make an effort to break down the barriers between Naval Science 1 cadets and the Naval Science 4 cadets by taking a trip including only the two extremes of cadet enrollment.
On this trip, between 30 and 40 cadets all piled onto a bus at about 8 a.m. and began the drive to Groveport and Motts Military Museum. Motts has one of the largest collection of American war artifacts from the Revolution on. Aside from artifacts, the museum is also home to several military vehicles, including helicopters and artillery. At the far rear of the property, there is even a replica of famous Ohioan Eddie Rickenbacker’s house, with plenty of relics from his life.
Further, Motts has the largest Patriots Day (9/11) memorial collection outside of New York. The cadets were able to get a close up view of a fire truck crushed by one of the towers and received an in-depth conversation about the significance of these materials and the obtainment of them from Mott himself.
A sobering experience all around, the cadets left the museum with a deep impression of the importance of these past events and a good bit more knowledge than they had before. Future plans for Motts will have a building built specifically to house these items for the public to see.
This trip sets a good standard for the unit where cadets can form bonds more easily and develop lasting friendships based on bonding activities such as class trips. These sorts of things are becoming more and more common, and in all aspects, it seems like the unit is on track to becoming even more tight-knit and caring than it already is. Hopefully this trend will continue and we will end up less like a unit and more like a family.
