NROTC units participate in Mardi Gras Drill Meet

NEW ORLEANS – Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps (NROTC) midshipmen from all over the United States made the trip to Tulane University March 4 to participate in the 39th annual Mardi Gras Drill Meet.
    More than 30 ROTC units from all branches of the armed services were represented at the meet, which is hosted by the Tulane NROTC unit and is one of the largest drill meets in the country.
    "This event has been a huge tradition for the City of New Orleans and Tulane University," said Capt. Clark Price, Tulane University NROTC commanding officer.  "My midshipmen and Marine staff are in charge of the event and they constantly make the drill meet a success."
    Midshipman 3rd Class Mark Behnke, officer-in-charge (OIC) of the drill meet, said the event was a great leadership opportunity.
    "I distinguished myself last year in helping out during the drill meet," said Behnke, a sophomore at Tulane. "Lots of preparation took place this year but I had a great group of midshipmen helping me out."
    Each participating  drill team  consisted of three squads that form a platoon. The platoon, led by a midshipman, performed basic drill movements and was inspected by a Marine drill instructor.
    A single squad, led by the squad leader, was later evaluated as the midshipmen performed basic drill movements.
In the exhibition events, the drill platoons have more free movement and the ability to twirl and toss rifles.
    Midshipman 3rd Class Karina Monroe, a sophomore from the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) NROTC unit, is no stranger to big drill events, having been in the Navy Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps (NJROTC) program.
    "While in the NJROTC program at Centennial High School in Las Vegas, we won the National Athletic, Academic and Drill Championship," said Monroe. "My experience with the drill manual has really helped the practice and performance of my current team."
    The Texas A&M University Fish drill team finished first overall at the competition and placed in the top three in all six judged events.  The Norwich University Corps of Cadets took home the overall second-place trophy and placed first in three events.  The Savannah State University midshipmen finished third overall.
    "Even though Mardi Gras is going on at the same time as the drill meet, academics always come first," said Behnke.  We have midshipmen taking tests today and writing papers but are still able to help out to make the event a success." 
    The NROTC program, overseen by Naval Service Training Command (NSTC) at Naval Station Great Lakes, Ill, was established to develop midshipmen mentally, morally and physically to the highest ideals of duty, and loyalty, and with the core values of honor, courage and commitment.
    Two local universities also participated in the event. The Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) NROTC unit and the Northwestern NROTC unit made the long trip down competing in two of the six events.  Both IIT and Northwestern are part of the NROTC Chicago Consortium, which also consists of students from the University of Illinois Chicago and Loyola University.