Cadets from WaHi’s JROTC Program conducted their first visit to the Walla Walla Veterans Home on October 22. This gave the cadets an opportunity to visit the residents and coordinate with the activities director for future events. Members of the staff spent an hour and a half with the veterans getting to know one another and hearing their stories of service. Cadets were also given a tour of the complex and visited some veterans in their rooms. The veterans were delighted with the ability to speak to the younger generation of future citizens, and cadets were humbled to be in their presence. This is the first of many visits to come as the cadets are conducting their annual service learning project which every cadet must participate in by visiting, volunteering, or donating blankets and socks to assist the veterans for the upcoming winter. In honor of Veteran's Day, cadets conducted numerous color guard support and assemblies at local elementary and middle schools on November 8-9. The week concluded with a ceremony at the state veterans home on November 10th and the battalion marching in Walla Walla's Annual Veteran's Day Parade on the 11th.

"This was my first time visiting a Veteran's Home, and it was a unique experience. I believe my generation needs to take time and personally visit a facility to get a greater appreciation for what our veterans have sacrificed for our freedoms." c/CPT Aviella Wilson

JROTC Hosts First Rifle Match

Walla Walla High School’s JROTC Rifle Team started their season on October 28th by hosting the US Army Junior Air Rifle Sectional Match at Walla Walla High School. Forty-four junior marksmen throughout eastern Washington and Idaho converged on WaHi’s rifle range to compete for honors and an invite to the national championship match, held in Camp Perry, Ohio in January.

Precision Class rifle shooters fired a 60-shot match from the unsupported standing position. Shots were scored on a decimal system, with a perfect dead-center shot scoring a 10.9 and lower scores radiating out from the target’s center.

The match winner at the Spokane location was Tanner Krebs of the Spokane Junior Rifle Club who finished the contest with a 607.3 to take first place and Ensley Breeden took second with a 598.5. WaHi’s highest score was shot by WaHi Rifle Team Captain Micah Vawter who ended the day on a career-high score of 586.6 for 3rd place in the precision class. He was followed closely by teammate Cadet First Sergeant Saphira Rynaski at 582.6.

“Micah and Saphira both produced scores higher than our highest scores in the match last season,” said Rifle Coach Mark Mebes. “These are encouraging results for this year’s precision team.”

The Spokane Rifle Club’s Gold Team won the precision team match, with a score of 2331.4 beating out the Blue Devils by 21.4 points who took second place. The Blue Devil scoring team for this match included Vawter, Rynaski, Cadet Staff Sergeant Adam Fundak at 572.8, and Cadet Lieutenant Hannah Goin at 568.0.

In the Sporter Class, the match consisted of 20 shots fired prone, 20 shots standing, and 20 shots from the kneeling position for a possible score of 600. The top score went to WaHi’s Cadet Lieutenant Aviella Wilson with a 520, who tied with Cadet Captain Clara Yang of University High School in Spokane Valley also at 520. Their tie was broken by measuring “center x tens”, or shots inside the ten-ring that are scored by decimal points to determine the higher value of each shot. By that measure, Wilson claimed the top spot. Third place went to new WaHi shooter Cadet PFC Jaycee Cox with a 497. The Blue Devil Sporter team won the match with a score of 1994 out of 2400, 121 points ahead of University High who took second place to West Valley High’s 1388. Scoring members of the sporter team were Wilson, Cox, Cadet Sergeant Evelyn Wolf with a 489, and Cadet Lieutenant Octavio Osorio at 488.

Whether or not any teams from this match will receive an invite to the national match in Ohio will remain to be seen. Locations throughout the US are holding similar regional qualifiers until December 17th.

The Blue Devils traveled to Lebanon, Oregon on November 4th for the first JROTC Cascade Mountain League competition of the 23-24 season.

JROTC Competition at Lebanon

JROTC cadets competed in the Drill, Air Rifle, Physical Fitness, and Color Guard Competition at Lebanon High School in Oregon. Competitors are JROTC programs from all the military services within Washington and Oregon. Overall, the students rocked it! WaHi JROTC won many 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place team and individual awards. These students represented Walla Walla at a very high standard. Not only during the competitions but overall as student ambassadors.

Key highlights:

Individual Air Rifle Precision Team

1st, Micah Vawter
2nd, Hannah Goin
3rd, Claire Calvert

Precision Air Rifle Team

1st, Walla Walla

Sporter Air Rifle Team

2nd, Walla Walla

Individual Air Rifle Sporter Team

1st, Wyatt Block

Armed Individual Exhibition (throwing rifle in the air)

1st, Hannah Goin
2nd, Phineas Kerr

Armed Dual Exhibition

2nd, Joseph Brown and Jesse Sheldon

Physical Fitness

3rd, Team 1
2nd, Team 2

Armed Drill Down

1st, Damien Smiley
2nd, Troy Beckmann

Unarmed Drill Down

1st, Joseph Brown

Armed Drill Commander Hannah Goin and her team of 14 won 1st place overall during the inspection and regulation event.

Blue Devil Marksman Captures CMP Cup Title in Spokane

Walla Walla High School’s Cadet Captain Aviella Wilson claimed the Washington State Civilian Marksmanship Program Cup title in a match held in three locations across Washington State on November 12th. Eight shooters from WaHi competed in the match that consisted of 20 shots from the prone position, 20 shots from the standing position, and 20 shots from the kneeling position for a total of 600 points possible for each shooter. Vying for placement and title were 36 high school marksmen from programs across Washington State.

Wilson’s score of 536 marked a personal career record for her and captured the cup title by nearly 50 points, thanks to outstanding scores in the kneeling and standing positions.

“Aviella is our most experienced member of the sporter class team,” commented Rifle Team Captain Micah Vawter on Saturday after scores were posted. “She won the match we hosted in Walla Walla two weeks ago and took bronze in the match in Lebanon. She has really been on a roll this year.”

WaHi’s Precision Class team took home bronze with a score of 2225, behind Port Angeles High School NJROTC who finished the match with a 2262. Spokane Rifle Club’s Gold Team won the Precision Class team event for the state with a 2287. The scoring team, consisting of Vawter as well as Cadet Lieutenant Hannah Goin, Cadet Corporal Claire Calvert, and Cadet First Sergeant Saphira Rynaski completed the 60-shot course with Vawter producing the team’s highest score at 566 and Goin close behind with a 560.

The Blue Devils begin training for a trio of matches in early December in Spokane and Yakima which include Washington State Junior Olympics and a Cascade Mountain League JROTC Rifle Match.