Liberty High School NJROTC

2022 - 2023 Distinguished Unit With Honors Award Winner

2019 - 2020 Unit Achievement Award Winner

2018 - 2019 Distinguished Unit Award Winner

SELF-DISCIPLINE OVER SELF-ESTEEM

Who We Are

Since our Unit's Commissioning in 2002, the Instructors and Cadets of the Patriot Company have strived to live up to the Navy's core values of "Honor, Courage, and Commitment."  We also believe one's self discipline is more important than one's self esteem, because with improved self discipline, comes improved self esteem!

Located in Renton, Washington in the Great Northwest and just southeast of Seattle, the Liberty High School Navy JROTC Unit enjoys a close proximity to the Puget Sound, Lake Washington, and the Cascade Mountains.  This area is rich in nautical history and heritage. We are proud of our extremely supportive school and community, and strive to stay active in local service projects to keep our area one of the jewels of the Northwest.

Academic Team Secures Place in National Academic Bowl Championship in Washington, DC

Second Consecutive Year & Three of the Past Four

Renton, Wa. – 22 Feb 2024 – Following two online rounds of rigorous competition against teams from all over the world, Liberty High School NJROTC Academic Team, comprised of Rachel Kollarmalil, Shreyas Kolwalkar, Connor Brothers, Mary Shane, Abhay Bhat, and Vedant Doshi has secured a coveted spot in the Championship event to be held in Washington, DC. The 2024 U.S. Navy JROTC Academic Bowl Championship is scheduled to take place at The Catholic University of America campus from June 21-25, 2024. This prestigious event is sponsored by the U.S. Navy JROTC and organized by College Options Foundation.

Liberty’s NJROTC team emerged with top honors among the 549 Navy JROTC academic teams worldwide. Their achievement places them among the elite eight Navy JROTC Academic Bowl teams in the nation, earning them an all-expense paid trip to the Championship event in DC.

The preliminary rounds, marked by their intensity and speed, assessed cadets on a range of subjects including core curriculum such as math, science, and language arts, along with evaluations of their grasp on current events, citizenship, leadership skills, and financial literacy. Notably, financial literacy videos sponsored by the USAA Educational Foundation were integral to the competition, with questions derived from these videos featured in Levels I and II of the online rounds.

The JROTC Leadership & Academic Bowl stands as a nationally recognized competition tailored exclusively for JROTC students. Through participation, cadets imbibe the values of citizenship, engage in academic rivalry, and explore avenues for college opportunities. This platform provides a remarkable avenue for JROTC cadets to demonstrate their leadership and academic prowess.

College Options Foundation, a non-profit organization committed to enhancing the academic journey of high school students and aiding them in their pursuit of higher education, has been instrumental in supporting the academic development of JROTC cadets worldwide for nearly two decades. Leveraging academic competitions, college exam study guides, admissions tutorials, and personalized counseling, College Options Foundation continues to empower the nation’s JROTC cadets.

Heptadecagon Win

On Saturday, 10 February 2024, over 50 Patriot Company cadets participated in the third drill competition of the 23-24 season.  The drill meet was held at Steilacoom High School.  This was the very first time Steilacoom High School ever hosted a drill meet and they did an excellent job!  We thank them for stepping up and hosting!  The following local high school JROTC teams participated:  Graham Kapowsin (Army JRTOC), Federal Way (Air Force JROTC), Todd Beamer (Air Force JROTC), Auburn Mountain View (Army JROTC), Bremerton (Navy JROTC), Spanaway Lake (Navy JROTC) along with the host school, Steilacoom (Army JROTC).  Patriot Company was looking to add to the streak of sixteen straight regular season drill meet victories.

The cadets of Patriot Company continued their success by bringing home a nine team team awards, twenty-one individual awards and racked up 94 team points.  This was Patriot Company's 17th consecutive regular season drill meet victory.  Congratulations to all the team commanders and team members who worked extremely hard to get the teams ready for the competition.  Patriot Company hosts the fourth and final regular season drill meet on Saturday, 02 March 2024.

10 Team Awards

21 Individual Awards

(L to R) Cadets Lydia Orton, Lilian Toepfer, and Allison Marckel stand by to receive the first through third place Ironwoman awards.

(L to R) Cadets Logan Sargent, Eowyn Ream, Cassandra Harris, and Ashton Rood conduct "Eyes Right" during the Color Guard Competition.

Cadet Allison Abel stands by to be inspected during the Unarmed Drill competition.

Sweet 16

On Saturday, 20 January 2024, over 50 Patriot Company cadets participated in the second drill competition of the 23-24 season.  The drill meet was held at Spanaway Lake High School in Spanaway, Washington.  The following local high school JROTC teams participated:  Graham Kapowsin (Army JRTOC), Federal Way (Air Force JROTC), Todd Beamer (Air Force JROTC), Auburn Mountain View (Army JROTC), Bremerton (Navy JROTC), Spanaway Lake (Navy JROTC) and Steilacoom (Army JROTC).  Patriot Company was looking to add to the streak of fifteen straight regular season drill meet victories.

The cadets of Patriot Company picked up where they left off after the Graham Kapowsin Drill meet bringing home a nine team team awards, twenty-four individual awards and racked up 94 team points.  This was Patriot Company's 16th consecutive regular season drill meet victory.  Congratulations to all the team commanders and team members who worked extremely hard to get the teams ready for the competition.  Patriot Company travels to Steilacoom High School on 10 February 2024 for their third drill meet of the season.

10 Team Awards

26 Individual Awards

Cadet Delphi Geronimo crosses the finish line of the mile run in a personal best time of 7:59, while her teammates and fellow cadets cheer her on.

Cadet Truc Pham stands by to be inspected while Cadet Lo is inspected in the background.

(L to R)  Cadets Kelvin Tran, Shreyas Kolwalkar, and Lillian Toepfer stand by to receive the first through third place academic awards.

61 cadets from Patriot Company participated in the first drill meet of the 23-24 school year.  Patriot Company came away with 6 first place, 2 second place, and 2 third place finishes, along with 26 individual medals to easily win their 15th consecutive regular season drill meet victory.

15 and Counting

Patriot Company Wins 15th Consecutive Regular Season Drill Meet - Sets New Plaques and Individual Medals Record

On Saturday, 02 December 2023, over 60 Patriot Company cadets participated in their first drill competition of the 23-24 season.  The drill meet was held at Graham Kapowsin High School in Graham, Washington.  The following local high school JROTC teams participated:  Graham Kapowsin (Army JRTOC), Federal Way (Air Force JROTC), Todd Beamer (Air Force JROTC), Auburn Mountain View (Army JROTC), Bremerton (Navy JROTC), Spanaway Lake (Navy JROTC) and Steilacoom (Army JROTC).  Patriot Company was looking to add to the streak of fourteen straight regular season drill meet victories.

The cadets of Patriot Company practice five days a week, before and after school, and on weekends, in order to properly prepare for a drill meet that includes competitions in Color Guard, Armed and Unarmed Drill, Academics, Physical Fitness, and Air Rifle.  Building on their impressive record over the past three and a half years, Liberty brought home a record ten team awards, twenty-six individual awards and racked up 98 te am points to easily outpace the second place finisher.  Congratulations to all the team commanders and team members who worked extremely hard to get the teams ready for the competition.  Patriot Company travels to Spanaway Lake High School on 20 January 2024 for their second drill meet of the season.

10 Team Awards

26 Individual Awards

From L to R:  Cadets Jordon Gunderson, Charlie Van Parys, and Khoi Vo stand by to receive the first through third place individual awards for Sporter Air Rifle. 

Patriot Company swept the first through third place awards for Individual Ironwoman Physical Fitness.  From L to R:  Cadets Xinyi Li, Allison Marckel and Lillian Toepfer stand by to receive the awards.  

Cadet Katarzyna Nguyen takes aim on the target during the Sporter Air Rifle competition.  Cadet Nguyen finished in eighth place while the Patriot Sporter team took first place.

72 Cadets Complete Basic Leadership Training (BLT) 12-15 Oct 2023

On the morning of 12 Oct 2023, eighty-one cadets, teachers, and chaperones arrived at Liberty at 0600 and boarded busses for the CISPUS Learning Center in Randle, Washington for Patriot Company's three and a half day Basic Leadership Training Camp.  Primarily designed to "jump start" the NJROTC experience for new cadets to the unit, it is beneficial for all cadets to attend as those more experienced cadets have the opportunity to mentor and train the new cadets in attendance.  This year's cadet staff, led by Cadet Lieutenant Commander Eowyn Ream, developed a demanding and engaging schedule that included classes in naval history, proper use of the chain of command, public speaking, first aid, guidon procedures, flag folding and the phonetic alphabet.  In addition to these classes the cadets participated in a Physical Fitness Assessment, a low ropes challenge course, a hike to Curtain Falls, barracks inspections, company drill, small group leadership and communication exercises, and a final personnel inspection.  In order to pack this all into a 3.5 day period, the cadets were up at 0600 each day and did not stop moving until lights out each night at 2200.  While this camp is demanding on everyone who participates, many cadets consider it the highlight of the school year.

Photos From BLT 2023 


Cadets work on Company level drill during BLT.

Cadet LTjg Allison Marckel (R) teaches a class on proper flag folding while c/PO1 Rachel Kollarmalil and c/PO2 Max Lo assist.

Cadet PO2 Max Lo proudly displays his team's egg after it survived the Egg Drop Challenge from a height of 18 feet!

Cadets work to maneuver through a balanced cube without knocking it off its perch during the low ropes challenge course.

Cadets work to complete the mile run portion of the Physical Fitness Assessment.

Cadet LTjg Fischer Skroch demonstrates proper first aid procedures as part of Basic Leadership Training camp.

 (Left to Right)  Chief Spears and cadets Rachel Kollarmalil, Jefferey Lin, Shreyas Kolwalker, and Eowyn Ream hold the trophy for finishing in third place of the Joint Leadership and Academic Bowl Championships held in Washington DC from 23-27 June 2023.  Over 800 NJROTC academic teams participated in the competition. (Photo courtesy of Anna Ream Photography)

Academic Team Competes At The Joint Leadership & Academic Bowl (JLAB) Championships In Washington DC 23-27 June 2023 

Finishes 3rd In The Nation!

Alice Cooper sang, "School's Out For Summer!"  Not so for Patriot Company's Academic Team.  Just two days after school concluded for the year, Patriot Company's Academic Team, led by senior and team captain Cadet Lieutenant Jefferey Lin, and seniors Cadet Lieutenant Commander Eowyn Ream, Cadet Petty Officer First Class Rachel Kollarmalil, and sophomore Cadet Petty Officer Second Class Shreyas Kolwalker, boarded a plane and traveled to Washington DC to compete in the Joint Leadership and Academic Bowl (JLAB)_Championships.  This is the second time in the last three years Patriot Company's Academic Team has qualified for the national championships.  JLAB is a nationwide leadership and academic competition between all JROTC units (Army, Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps)  around the world.  Teams are made up of four primary and two alternate cadets from the Naval Science 1-3 classes (Naval Science 4 cadets are not eligible to participate).  Two qualifying rounds are conducted during the school year and these rounds are completed entirely on line.  The six cadets making up the a team take one 50 question test covering such subjects as math, science, history, english, civics/government, etc.  and answer the test as a team.  Teams scoring in the top 50% move on to the second round.  The second round is conducted in the same fashion with the top eight teams from each service branch moving on to the in-person championships at Catholic University of America in Washington DC. from 23-26 June.   During the in-person championships, the eight Navy teams competed against one another during five rounds of competition.  After the five rounds, Patriot Company was in second place with three wins and two losses and moved on to the semifinals.  Unfortunately, Patriot Company found themselves on the losing end in the semi-final round but still brought home the Third Place trophy out of over 800 Navy JROTC academic teams that entered the competition!  During the four day event, the cadets also had the opportunity to tour Washington DC that included various monuments/memorials, the National Air and Space Museum and the International Spy Museum

L to R:  Cadets Ewoyn Ream, Rachel Kollarmalil, Shreyas Kolwalkar, and Jefferey Lin prepare for one of the preliminary rounds of the JLAB competition. (Photo courtesy of Anna Ream Photography)

Patriot Company cadets (left) got to compete and interact with cadets from around the country.  On the right is the team from Hilton Head, S.C. who finished second overall. (Photo courtesy of Anna Ream Photography)

The US Army's Brass Band played prior to the awards banquet and ceremony. (Photo courtesy of Anna Ream Photography)

Cadet Lieutenant Commander Felicia Le and Cadet Lieutenant Commander Irene Miller unfurl the 2022-23 Distinguished Unit banner. 

Patriot Company Selected as a 2022-23 Distinguished Unit

With Honors!


On Thursday, 18 May 2023, Patriot Company held their annual awards ceremony.  At this event numerous outside organizations are on hand to recognize the hard work of the cadets over the past school year and present Patriot Company's top performing cadets with certificates and medals for their outstanding performance throughout the year.  Congratulations to our NS1-4 Cadets of the Year:  c/PO2 Cassandra Harris, c/CPO Lauren Schwenk, c/LCDR Eowyn Ream, and c/LT Jeffery Pan.  At this year's event we were also pleased to announce that Patriot Company was selected by Admiral Couture, Commander, Naval Service Training Command, as a Distinguished Unit With Honors Award winner.  The award citation reads:

Dear Mr. Brownson,

It is with distinct pleasure that I forward the enclosed certificate designating Liberty High School as a Distinguished Unit with Honors for the 2023-24 school year.  This highly regarded distinction is made in recognition of the outstanding support provided by your school and the overall achievement of your Navy Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps (NJROTC) unit during the 2022-23 school year.

The Distinguished Unit with Honors designation is awarded annually to schools whose NJROTC Program ranks in the top 30 percent of the programs in each NJROTC area.  Competing units are ranked according to degree of excellence attained in administration, academic performance, military proficiency and host school support.

As the administrative head of a Distinguished Unit with Honors, your are authorized to nominate three eligible cadets for admission to the U.S. Naval Academy, three to the U.S. Military Academy, and three to the U.S. Air Force Academy.

I would like to thank you and the members of your faculty for the outstanding support you have given the NJROTC Program.  I know that your are very proud of the success achieved by your school's unit.  It is clear that you share with us the expectation and encouragement of excellence.

Sincerely,

S. T. Williams

CDR, USN

NJROTC Program Director

Distinguished Unit With Honors is awarded to the top NJROTC units in the country and is truly indicative of the dedication and hard work of the cadets involved.  Congratulations to all the cadets of Patriot Company!  The awards ceremony presentation is below and pictures are located at this link:    2023 Awards Ceremony Photos

AWARDS NIGHT 2023 V1.pdf

The Physical Fitness Team (from L to R) cadets Callie Holmes, Allison Marckel, Fischer Skroch, Ashton Rood, and Alexander Cezeaux take a breather immediately after being crowned the Physical Fitness Conference Champions!

NWDRC Conference Championships

Patriot Company Competes Against the Very Best JROTC Teams in the PNW - Finishes 2nd Overall!

On Saturday, March 25, 2023, Patriot Company completed their drill season by participating in the Northwest Drill and Rifle Conference Championships at Marysville Pilchuck High School in Marysville, Washington.  The Northwest Drill and Rifle Conference is made up of 34 JROTC high schools from throughout northwest Oregon and western Washington.  The Conference Championships pit the best teams from the conference against one another in order to determine the very best teams and the best overall JROTC school  in the conference.  Patriot Company was one of only two schools who qualified nine teams to the conference championships.  The following teams qualified:

Color Guard Team 1  (Seth Orton, Felicia Le, Brian Reyes-Ramirez, Ashton Rood)

Color Guard Team 2 (Cassandra Harris, Eowyn Ream, Allison Marckel, Viliamu Lelea)

Unarmed Drill (Irene Miller, Caitlin Mitchell, Eowyn Ream, Grace Russell, Meagan Dutton, Brian Reyes Ramirez, Allison Marckel, Miles Kelly, Camryn LaCaze, Lucy Ellsworth, Felicity Carvalho, Zoe Avecilla, Malia Nguyen, Rachel Kollarmalil, Cassandra Harris))  

Armed Drill (Eowyn Ream, Meagan Dutton, Irene Miller, Abhay Bhat, Fischer Skroch, Allison Marckel, Felicia Le, Aleexander Le, Gavin Hamilton, Bhavya Wadhera, Cassandra Harris, Brian Reyes Ramirez, Lauren Schwenk)

Physical Fitness Team (Allison Marckel, Ashton Rood, Fischer Skroch, Callie Holmes, Alexander Cezeaux)

Academics Team 1 (Jefferey Lin, Eowyn Ream, Abhay Bhat, Shreyas Kolwalkar, Rachel Kollarmalil)

Academics Team 2 (Caitlin Mitchell, Jeffery Pan, Alison Marckel, Neha Suresh, Felicia Le) 

Precision Air Rifle (Irene Miller, Jeffery Pan, Felicia Le, Lauren Schwenk)

Sporter Air Rifel (Maximillian Lo, Minh Vo, Liam Ceder, Luke Carlson, Khoi Vo (Alternate)

Team Results:

Physical Fitness Finished 1st  (Crowned Conference Champion)

Armed Drill Finished 1st (Crowned Conference Champion)

Precision Air Rifle Finished 3th

Color Guard Team 1 Finished 5th

Color Guard Team 2 Finished 4th 

Unarmed Drill Finished 5th

Individual Awards:

Felicia Le - Color Guard Team 1 Commander 6th Place

Eowyn Ream - Color Guard Team 2 Commander 2nd Place

Allison Marckel - Iron Woman 4th Place

Callie Holmes - Ironwoman 6th Place

Ashton Rood - Ironman 3rd Place

Fischer Skroch - Ironman 4th Place

Irene Miller - Unarmed Drill Team Commander 4th Place

Eowyn Ream - Armed Drill Team Commander 5th Place

Eowyn Ream - Individual Armed Exhibition 6th Place 

Additional photos and Videos are available here:  NWDRC Conf Championships Photos

Cadets Lauren Schwenk (foreground) and Alexander Le (background) stand by to be inspected prior to the Armed Drill Team's regulation and exhibition routines.  The Armed Drill Team was crowned the NWDRC Conference Champion. 

From L to R:  Cadets Liam Ceder, Luke Carlson, Maximillian Lo, Lauren Schwenk and Felicia Le put pellets down range during the Sporter and Precision Air Rifle Competition.  Cadet Irene Miller led the Precision team to a 3rd place finish with a score of 571 out of a possible 600.

(L to R) Cadet Lieutenant Jeffery Pan (C/XO), Cadet Lieutenant Commander Felicia Le (C/CO) and Cadet Senior Chief Eowyn Ream (C/CSC) hold the Puget Sound Overall Division Champions plaque awarded to Patriot Company at the end of the drill competition on 04 March.

Patriot Company Wins 14th Consecutive

Regular Season Drill Meet.

Crowned NWDRC Puget Sound Division Champions For Third Consecutive Season!

On Saturday, 04 March 2023, Patriot Company hosted the fourth and final regular season drill competition of the 2022-23 school year.  Eight JROTC schools (including Liberty) were in attendance, including:  Federal Way (Air Force JROTC), Todd Beamer (Air Force JROTC), Auburn Mountain View (Army JROTC), Graham Kapowsin (Army JROTC), Bremerton (Navy JROTC), Spanaway Lake (Navy JROTC) and Steilacoom High School (Army JROTC) who competed in just their second drill competition ever!  Patriot Company secured their fourteenth consecutive regular season drill meet victory by bringing home first place awards in all eight competitive categories.  As this was the last regular season drill meet, Puget Sound Division Awards were also passed out.  Due to their exceptional season, Patriot Company earned first place awards in all eight competitive categories and were crowned Puget Sound Division Champions for the third consecutive season going back to the 2019-2020 season, prior to the COVID 19 pandemic.

Team Awards

Individual Awards

Color Guard Team 1, consisting of cadets (L to R) Cassandra Harris, Felicia Le, Brian Reyes Ramirez and Ashton Rood completes the regulation Color Guard routine.

Cadet Lieutenant Commander Irene Miller (foreground) leads the Unarmed Drill team through the regulation routine. 

Cadet Senior Chief Eowyn Ream (far right) leads the Armed Drill team through the regulation routine.

Cadet Chief Fischer Skroch pushes himself past his limits in the push-up competition on his way to a second place finish in the Ironman competition and a first place finish in the team competition.

Cadet Shreyas Kolwalkar stands by to receive the award for individual high score in the academics competition.

Cadet Gavin Kuhl crosses the finish line of the mile run during the physical fitness competition.

Patriot Company's Academic Team 

Qualifies for the National

Joint Academic Bowl Championship


Renton, Wa. – 26 February 2023 – Through all the obstacles students have faced over the last three years, Navy JROTC cadets have risen to the challenge through their participation in the 2022-2023 JROTC Leadership & Academic Bowl (JLAB). The cadets from Liberty High School have proven their ability to overcome and succeed despite those obstacles.

The Liberty High School NJROTC Academic Team composed of Jefferey Lin, Eowyn Ream, Abhay Bhat, Rachel Kollarmalil, Mary Shane and Shreyas Kolwalkar advanced through two intense phases of online competition and will compete in a Championship event in Washington, DC. The 2023 U.S. Navy JROTC Academic Bowl Championship will be held on the campus of The Catholic University of America, June 23-27, 2023. This event is sponsored by the U.S. Navy JROTC and is conducted by College Options Foundation.

Liberty’s NJROTC team earned top scores out of the 530 Navy JROTC academic teams that competed from around the world. The team is one of only eight Navy JROTC Academic Bowl teams in the nation to advance to the final competition, which includes an all-expense paid trip to the Championship event in DC.

During the two fast-paced preliminary rounds, cadets were tested on their knowledge of core curriculum such as math, science, and language arts as well as current events, citizenship, leadership skills, and financial literacy. Financial literacy videos are sponsored by the USAA Educational Foundation and provided to all cadets. Questions from the videos were included in Levels I and II of the online competition.

The JROTC Leadership & Academic Bowl is a nationally recognized competition created exclusively for JROTC students. By participating, cadets learn the values of citizenship, academic competition, and college opportunity. The competition creates tremendous opportunities for JROTC cadets by allowing them to demonstrate leadership and academic abilities.

Patriot Company Cadets brought home 7 first place, 1 second and 1 third place award and won their 13th consecutive regualr season drill meet on Saturday, 11 February at Graham Kapowsin High School.

Lucky 13!  Patriot Company Wins Its 13th Consecutive Regular Season Drill Meet!

On Saturday, 11 February 2023, Patriot Company traveled to Graham Kapowsin High School for the third drill meet of the 2022-23 school year.  Seven JROTC schools were in attendance.  Including the host school, they included: Federal Way (Air Force JROTC), Todd Beamer (Air Force JROTC), Auburn Mountain View (Army JROTC), Bremerton (Navy JROTC), Spanaway Lake (Navy JROTC) and Steilacoom High School (Army JROTC) who competed in their first ever, JROTC drill competition!  Patriot Company secured their thirteenth consecutive regular season drill meet victory by bringing home first place awards in seven of the eight competitive categories and nine total team awards.  The highlight of the day was the head to head competition between Liberty's and Graham Kapowsin's physical fitness teams.  With each team earing a victory in the first two drill meets; the motivation and level of effort was at an all-time high to see which team would come out on top in this head to head competition.  While Graham Kapowsin had two of their competitors achieve the maximum number allowed (120), all five members of Liberty's team scored at least 100 points and as a result, Liberty had a narrow lead after the first event.  The second event, sit-ups, was fairly close so Patriot Company had a narrow lead going into the mile run.  Prior to the run, one of the judges made each competitor state their goal and four of liberty's five cadets stated their goal was to beat the current fastest time of the day and Graham Kapowsin cadets stated similar goals.  THE RACE WAS ON!  After one lap it Ashton Rood was in the lead and Fischer Skroch was in third, with a GK runner right in the middle.  That is where the competition ended.  Liberty male and female runners finished first and second in their respective categories and as a result, Liberty's Physical Fitness Team A won the competition by over 300 total points.  Patriot Company will try to make it 14 in a row, on Saturday, 04 March here at Liberty.

Team Awards

Individual Awards

Cadet Ashton Rood stares down his competition during the push-up portion of the physical fitness test while Chief Spears supplies a little extra motivation.

While the race was close after one lap, Liberty took control after that and won the race going away.

Cadet Callie Holmes crosses the finish line and brings home the Ironwoman award.

Cadets from Patriot Company pose with the nine team awards (eight first place and one second place) they earned at the drill meet at Liberty High School on Saturday, 28 January 2023.  Patriot Company Cadets took first place in all eight competitive categories.

It's A Clean Sweep!  Patriot Company Finishes First in All Eight Competitive Categories!

On Saturday, 28 January 2023, Patriot Company hosted six other schools for the second drill meet of the season at Liberty High School.  The following local high school JROTC teams participated:  Graham Kapowsin (Army JRTOC), Federal Way (Air Force JROTC), Todd Beamer (Air Force JROTC), Auburn Mountain View (Army JROTC), Bremerton (Navy JROTC), and Spanaway Lake (Navy JROTC).  Patriot Company secured their twelfth consecutive regular season drill meet victory in spectacular fashion by brining home the first place award in every single competitive category and nine total team awards, including two Color Guard competitions, Unarmed Drill, Armed Drill, Academics, Physical Fitness, and Sporter and Precision Air Rifle.  Patriot Company cadets also achieved a new level of success by bringing home 8 individual first place awards.  Patriot Company will try to make it 13 in a row, on Saturday, 11 February at Graham Kapowsin High School.

Team Awards

Individual Awards

Patriot Company Cadets stand with the nine team and seventeen individual awards they brought home from the first drill meet of the 2022-2023 drill season that was held at Graham Kapowsin High School on Saturday, 14 January.

Patriot Company Dominates!

Wins 11th Straight Regular Season Drill Meet.

On Saturday, 14 January 2023, 41 Patriot Company cadets participated in their first drill competition of the 22-23 season.  The drill meet was held at Graham Kapowsin High School in Graham, Washington.  The following local high school JROTC teams participated:  Graham Kapowsin (Army JRTOC), Federal Way (Air Force JROTC), Todd Beamer (Air Force JROTC), Auburn Mountain View (Army JROTC), Bremerton (Navy JROTC), and Spanaway Lake (Navy JROTC).  Patriot Company was looking to add to the streak of ten straight regular season drill meet victories.

Patriot Company cadets practice five days a week, before and after school, and on weekends, in order to properly prepare for a drill meet that includes competitions in Color Guard, Armed and Unarmed Drill, Academics, Physical Fitness, and Air Rifle.  In impressive fashion, Liberty brought home nine team awards, seventeen individual awards and racked up72 team points to easily outpace the second place finisher.  Congratulations to all the team members who worked extremely hard to get the teams ready for competition.  Patriot Company hosts the next Puget Sound Division Drill meet on Saturday, 28 January at Liberty High School.

Team Awards

Individual Awards

Cadet Ashton Rood crosses the finish line of the one mile run on his way to a first place finish in the Ironman competition. 

Cadet Cassandra Harris (center) is one of three cadets remaining in the Armed Drill Down competition.  She ultimately finished in first place!

Patriot Company Aces The

2022-23 School Year Area Manager's Inspection (AMI)

On December 15th, 2022, Patriot Company completed its bi-annual Area Manager's Inspection.  Every other year, the Navy JROTC Area Manager is required to complete an inspection of all NJROTC units within their area of responsibility.   Patriot Company falls within Area 13 and the Area Manager is Captain Daniel Wenceslao, USN, Retired.  He is headquartered at the Naval Support Activity in Marysville, Wa.  The last time Captain Wenceslao was scheduled to inspect Liberty was in the spring of 2020 but the inspection was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.   As a result, Captain Wenceslao had not visited Patriot Company since 2018 - it had been nearly five years since he had seen Patriot Company in person!  The inspection consists of a Command Brief given by the Cadet Staff, a personnel inspection of all cadets in the unit, a review of unit supply and administrative procedures, and a tour and review of unit/school facilities.  96 of 102 cadets participated in the personnel inspection and an unprecedented 42 of 92 cadets achieved a perfect 10 and earned the exemplary personal appearance award.  Overall, the unit achieved a uniform inspection score of 9.2 and was awarded the Area Manager's Bravo Zulu (BZ) streamer to attach to the unit guidon.

L to R:  Captain Wenceslao, Cadet Lieutenant Meagan Dutton (Patriot Company Executive Officer), and Cadet Lieutenant Commander Irene Miller (patriot Compancy Commanding Officer display the Bravo Zulu (BZ) streamer that was awarded to Patriot Company during the 2022-23 Area Manager's Inspection (AMI).

(left to Right) Cadets Bennett, Marckel, and Harris standby to be inspected prior to the Armed Drill competition at the Northwest Drill and Rifle Conference Championships at Marysville High School.

Patriot Company Participates in the 2022 Northwest Drill and Rifle Conference Championships - Finishes 4th Overall!

On Saturday, March 26, 2022, Patriot Company completed their drill season by participating in the Northwest Drill and Rifle Conference Championships at Marysville Pilchuck High School in Marysville, Washington.  The Northwest Drill and Rifle Conference is made up of 33 JROTC high schools from throughout northwest Oregon and western Washington.  The Regional Championships pit the best teams from the conference against one another in order to determine the very best teams and the best overall school  in the conference.  Patriot Company qualified the following teams:

Color Guard Team 1  (Thomas Bennet, Irene Miller, Felicia Le, Brian Reyes-Ramirez)

Color Guard Team 2 (Logan Harris, Matthew Martin, Meagan Dutton, Eowyn Ream)

Unarmed Drill (Irene Miller, Thomas Bennett, Caitlin Mitchell, Caiden Rivas-Berry, Eowyn Ream, Grace Russell, Meagan Dutton, Brian

                           Reyes Ramirez, Sofia VanHuss, Monica Escobar, Logan Harris, Logan Campbell, Citlally Oliver, Allison Marckel)  

Armed Drill (Matthew Martin, Thomas Bennett, Eowyn Ream, Meagan Dutton, Sofia VanHuss, Logan Harris, Irene Miller, Abhay Bhat,

                      Nimra Sajeel, Allison Marckel)

Physical Fitness Team (Allison Marckel, Kaitlin Lew, Jaden Williams, Ashton Rood, Fischer Skroch - Lucy Ellsworth (Alternate)

Academics Team 1 (Eowyn Ream, Felicia Le, Nicole Hume, Kaitlin Lew, Matthew Martin)

Academics Team 2 (Logan Harris, Caitlin Mitchell, Nimra Sajeel, Abhay Bhat, Lucy Ellsworth)

Precision Air Rifle (Thomas Bennett, Irene Miller, Jeffery Pan, Felicia Le)

Team Results:

Physical Fitness Finished 1st  (Crowned Conference Champion)

Precision Air Rifle Finished 4th

Color Guard Team 1 Finished 4th

Color Guard Team 2 Finished 4th 

Armed Drill Finished 5th

Unarmed Drill Finished 5th

Individual Awards:

Kaitlin Lew - Iron Woman 1st Place (Female Cadet to score the most points on the physical fitness test)

Ashton Rood - Ironman 3rd Place

Fischer Skroch - Ironman 4th Place

Irene Miller - Unarmed Drill Team Commander 5th Place

Caitlin Mitchell - Unarmed Drill Down 2nd Place

Additional photos and Videos are available here:  PHOTOS AND VIDEOS  

Cadet Fischer Skroch (far right) provides some motivation to Cadet Allison Marckel (far left) as she chases down her competition in the mile run of the physical fitness competition.  Patriot Company was crowned the Physical Fitness Conference Champion.

Cadet Caitlin Mitchell (left) is one of only two remaining cadets in the Unarmed Drill Down competition.

(Left to Right) Cadets Jaden Williams, Fischer Skroch, Ashton Rood, Allison Marckel, and Kaitlin Lew take a well deserved breather after crushing the competition in the Physical Fitness Competition.

Cadet Allison Marckel (right) stands by to accept the Physical Fitness Conference Championship plaque.

(Left to Right)  Cadets Eowyn Ream, Logan Harris, Matthew Martin, and Meagan Dutton stand by to be inspected prior to the Color Guard Team 2 competition.

Patriot Company cadets display the drill meet, individual, and division awards they earned on Saturday and during the 2021-2022 drill season.  Patriot Company qualified eight teams for the Northwest Drill and Rifle Conference - Conference Championships.

Patriot Company Crowned NW Drill & Rifle Conference

Puget Sound Division Champion

 For The Second Consecutive Year

On Saturday, 05 March 2022, Patriot Company hosted seven local JROTC schools and nearly 250 cadets for the third and final JROTC drill meet of the 2020-2021 regular drill season. Patriot Company was looking win their tenth consecutive regular season drill meet, having not lost a meet since December 2018, and complete their second consecutive undefeated season.  Despite an unusual third place finish in both Color Guard 2 and Unarmed Drill competitions, Patriot Company brought home three  first place finishes, two second place finishes and two thirds,  in eight competitive categories and racked up 91 team points to complete their undefeated season and were crowned the Northwest Drill and Rifle Conference Puget Sound Division Champion for the second consecutive drill season.  They now move on to compete against the very best JROTC drill team in the Pacific Northwest at the Northwest Drill and Rifle Conference(NWDRC) - Conference Championships.  The NWDRC is made up of 33 JROTC schools from northern Oregon to northern Washington.  The Conference Championships drill meet takes place at Marysville Pilchuck High School on Saturday, 26 March 2022.   Congratulations to the following teams and individuals who earned awards at the Liberty drill meet:

Team Awards:

Color Guard Team 1:  First Place

Color Guard Team 2:  Second Place

Unarmed Drill Team:  Third Place

Armed Drill Team:  First Place

Academics Team 1:  First Place

Academics Team 2:  Second Place

Physical Fitness Team 1:  First Place

Precision Air Rifle: First Place

Individual Awards:

Matthew Martin - Armed Drill Team Commander: First Place

Irene Miller - Unarmed Drill Team Commander:  Third Place

Kaitlin Lew - Physical Fitness Ironwoman Award:  First Place

Ashton Rood:  Physical Fitness Ironman Award:  First Place

Fischer Skroch:  Physical Fitness Ironman Award:  Second Place 

Irene Miller - Iron Woman Award:  Second Place

Nicole Hume - Academics Exam:  Second Place

Eowyn Ream - Academics Exam:  Third Place

Matthew Martin - Individual Armed Exhibition:  First Place

Thomas Bennet - Precision Air Rifle:  First Place

Irene Miller - Precision Air Rifle:  Second Place

Felicia Le - Precision Air Rifle:  Third Place

Sofia VanHuss - Unarmed Drill Down:  First Place

Thomas Bennett:  Dual Armed Drill Exhibition:  Thomas Bennet and Allison Marckel

As a result of their outstanding season, Patriot Company qualified the following teams and individuals to compete in the Northwest Drill and Rifle Conference Championships at Marysville Pilchuck High School in Marysville, Washington on 26 March, where they will compete against the very best JROTC teams in western Washington and northwest Oregon.

Color Guard Teams 1 & 2

Armed Drill Team

Unarmed Drill Team

Physical Fitness Team 1

Academics Team 1 & 2

Precision Air Rifle

Mathew Martin - Individual Armed Exhibition

Additional meet pictures are available here: PHOTOS and VIDEOS

Cadet Senior Chief Irene Miller leads the Unarmed Drill Team through their regulation drill routine.

Cadet Lieutenant Commander Matthew Martin guts out a few more push-ups during the physical fitness competition. 

L to R:  Cadets Logan Harris, Irene Miller and Matthew Martin display the "Overall Division Champions" plaque that was awarded to Patriot Company. 

L to R:  Cadets Felica Le, Colby Van Ry, Irene Miller, and Brian Reyes Ramirez at Parade Rest prior to conducting their Color Guard regulation routine.

Patriot Company Completes

Offsite Area Manager's Inspection (AMI)

On February 16th, 2022, Patriot Company completed its annual Area Manager's Inspection.  Each year, the Navy JROTC Area Manager is required to complete an inspection of all NJROTC units within their area of responsibility.   Patriot Company falls within Area 13 and the Area Manager is Captain Daniel Wenceslao, USN, Retired.  He is headquartered at the Naval Support Activity in Marysville, Wa.  Every other year, the inspection is completed by an active duty Navy Commander or above.  This year, Patriot Company's inspection was completed by Commander Ryan Collins who commands Afloat Training Group Pacific Northwest headquartered in Everett, Washington.  The inspection consists of a Command Brief given by the Cadet Staff, a personnel inspection of all cadets in the unit, a review of unit supply and administrative procedures, and a tour and review of unit/school facilities.  71 of 72 cadets participated in the personnel inspection and the unit achieved an personnel score of 8.7 (out of 10) with the cadet staff achieving an overall score of 9.2.  Following the AMI, Patriot Company hosted a Pass-in-Review parade presided over by Assistant Principal Andrew Brownson.  Family, friends, and school officials were on hand to see the parade, a few advancements and awards, along with performances by the Color Guard, Armed and Unarmed drill teams.  As part of the Pass-in-Review, Assistant Principal Brownson said a few words.  His speech is provided below:

"Thank you to the Captain and Chief for the introduction and for allowing me to say a few words about this program and the cadets.

To tell you the truth, when I first came to Liberty, I had heard about NJROTC but had no idea what it was all about.

However, over the past four years, I have had the opportunity to not only be around and observe the program, but I have even at times been allowed to participate.  I have been able to observe the learning that happens in the classroom, I get to watch these cadets at lunch and in  the halls, I have seen them present the Colors at our different school events, I have worked with some of them at football games, I have enjoyed dinner at the NJROTC Navy Ball, and I have even on a couple occasions been able to join them in physical training.  I count myself lucky to have had the opportunity to work with these students and their commanding officers, and I can tell you honestly, it has been one of the most enjoyable parts of my job these past four years.

Every student who goes through the NJROTC program learns about three core values:  Honor, Courage, Commitment.  These words are more than just a mantra, they are the characteristics that are drilled into every cadet and are central to what makes this program so special.  I think sometimes in the field of education we are more concerned about test scores than we are about the measure of a student's decency.  Sometimes I think that the teaching of curriculum is put ahead of the teaching of character.  But that is not true in this program.  In this program the single most important goal is to develop the self-discipline and self esteem that will someday help these cadets to reach their professional and personal goals. In this program, students learn how to follow directions and be responsible to others so they can work as part of a team.  They learn about selflessness and service which will someday help them to be good partners to those whom they choose to love.  They learn about grit which will help them get up every morning to go to work to support their families and loved ones, and then, when they get home, they will have learned about patience so they can be good parents to their children.  These are the lessons that these students will leave with when they matriculate out of the NJROTC program.  Lessons that will make them better citizens, better neighbors, and better people.

Before I conclude, I would also like to acknowledge the work of Captain Deehr and Chief Spears.  There are no two individuals that I know who work harder, who are more invested in what they do, or who give more of their own time to serving students than these two men.  Because of their tireless work and passion they have for what they do, I see students finding a sense of belonging in this program, developing confidence and character to push through challenges, and gaining a broader knowledge about the world while learning to be better citizens.

I am proud to be a Patriot and I am proud of these cadets.  Cadets I hope you in turn are proud of yourselves.

Lastly, I would like to acknowledge all of the men and women in our Armed Forces and thank them for their service.  We would not be here today without them.  Thank you and take care.

Assistant Principal Brownson (far right) with the cadets of Patriot Company after the Pass-in-Review parade.

Cadet Seaman Apprentice Rylee Bick is inspected during the Area Manager's Inspection.

Cadet First Class Petty Officer Eowyn Rema aligns her platoon in preparation for the AMI personnel inspection. 

Cadet Seaman Citlally Oliver is inspected by Commander Collins during the personnel inspection.

Cadets from Patriot Company pose with the nine team awards and fifteen Individual awards they brought home from the Kentwood Drill Meet.

Patriot Company Remains Undefeated After Two Drill Competitions.  6-0 Across Two Drill Seasons!

On Saturday, 12 February 2022, Patriot Company competed in their second drill competition of the 21-22 season.  The drill meet was held at Kentwood High School in Kent, Washington.  The following local high school JROTC teams participated:  Graham Kapowsin (Army JRTOC), Kentwood (Marine Corps JROTC), Federal Way (Air Force JROTC), Todd Beamer (Air Force JROTC), Auburn Mountain View (Army JROTC), Bremerton (Navy JROTC), and Spanaway Lake (Navy JROTC).  Despite some changes to the drill schedule that reduced the number of schools that were at the competition at the same time, it was a spirited competition!

Practicing five days a week, both before and after school, Patriot Company was able to prepare all their teams for their first competition and brought home nine team awards, fourteen individual awards and racked up over 70 team points to easily outpace the second place finisher.  Congratulations to all the team members who worked extremely hard to get the teams ready for competition.  Liberty’s next Drill meet is Saturday, 12 February 2022 at Kentwood High School.

Team Awards

 Individual Awards

From L to R:  Cadets Thomas Bennett, Felicia Le and Meagan Dutton are three of the final four (out of 18) in the Armed Drill Down Competition.  Cadet Bennett was the ultimate winner of the competition.

Cadet Jaden Williams pushes himself to run faster during the mile run of the physical fitness competition.  The PT team finished first.

Cadet R. Irene Miller reports in for the Unarmed Drill Team Personnel Inspection.  The Unarmed Drill Team finished first.

Cadet Thomas Bennett takes aim during the marksmanship competition.  Cadet Bennett finished second.

Patriot Company cadets pose with the nine team and fourteen individual awards they garnered at the Graham Kapowsin Drill Meet.

Drill Competition Resumes After Two Year COVID Hiatius!

Patriot Company Wins 5th Straight Drill Meet!

On Saturday, 22 January 2022, Patriot Company competed in their first drill competition in nearly two years and picked up where they left off back in 2020, when they had won four straight drill meets!  The drill meet was held at Graham Kapowsin High School in Graham, Washington and we competed against the following local high school JROTC teams:  Graham Kapowsin (Army JRTOC), Kentwood (Marine Corps JROTC), Federal Way (Air Force JROTC), Todd Beamer (Air Force JROTC), Auburn Mountain View (Army JROTC), Bremerton (Navy JROTC), and Spanaway Lake (Navy JROTC).  Despite some changes to the drill schedule that reduced the number of schools that were at the competition at the same time, it was a spirited competition!

Practicing five days a week, both before and after school, Patriot Company was able to prepare all their teams for their first competition and brought home nine team awards, fourteen individual awards and racked up over 70 team points to easily outpace the second place finisher.  Congratulations to all the team members who worked extremely hard to get the teams ready for competition.  Liberty’s next Drill meet is Saturday, 12 February 2022 at Kentwood High School.

Team Awards

 Individual Awards

Cadets Fischer Skroch (front) and Ashton Rood push each other to run faster during the physical fitness mile run.

(L to R) Cadets Meagan Dutton, Matthew Martin, Logan Harris, and Eowyn Ream prepare to be inspected prior to the Color Guard Competition.

Cadet Caitlin Mitchell (right) stands by to receive the silver medal for her second place finish in Sporter Air Rifle.

Patriot Company's Academic Team (From Left to Right):  Cadet Lieutenant Junior Grade Ryan Croasdell, Cadet Senior Chief Kaitlin Lew, Cadet Petty Officer First Class Sanjana Addanki, and Cadet Petty Officer Third Class Eowyn Ream accept the Third Place Trophy during the JLAB National Championships.

Patriot Company Academic Team Competes At The Joint Leadership & Academic Bowl Championships In Washington DC 23-26 July 2021 

Finishes 3rd In The Nation!

Patriot Company's Academic Team led by senior and team captain Cadet Petty Officer First Class Sanjana Addanki, senior Ryan Croasdell, senior Kaitlin Lew, and sophomore Eowyn Ream traveled to Washington DC on 22 July 2021 to compete in the Joint Leadership and Academic Bowl (JLAB)_Championships.  JLAB is a nation wide leadership and academic competition between all JROTC units (Army, Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps)  around the world.  Teams are made up of four primary and two alternate cadets from the Naval Science 1-3 classes (Naval Science 4 cadets are not eligible to participate).  Two qualifying rounds are conducted during the school year and these rounds are completed entirely on line.  The six cadets making up the a team take one 50 question test covering such subjects as math, science, history, English, civics/government, etc.  and answer the test as a team.  The teams scoring in the top 50% move on to the second round.  The second round is conducted in the same fashion with the top eight teams from each service branch moving on to the in-person championships at Catholic University of America in Washington DC. from 23-26 July.   During the in-person championships, the eight Navy teams competed against one another during five rounds of competition.  After the five rounds, Patriot Company was in Third Place with three wins and two losses and moved on to the semi finals.  Unfortunately, Patriot Company found themselves on the losing end in the semi-final round but still brought home the Third Place trophy out of over 800 Navy JROTC academic teams that entered the competition!  During the three day event, the cadets also had the opportunity to tour Washington DC that included various monuments/memorials and the National Chief's Mess, along with the National Museum of the Marine Corps in Quantico, Virginia. 

From left to right:  Eowyn Ream, Kaitlin Lew, Sanjana Addanki, and Ryan Croasdell prepare for the next round of competition.

Cadet Kaitlin Lew stands outside the National Navy Chief's Mess

Cadets pose with the statue of Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt at the Franklin D. Roosevelt Memorial

Cadet Frist Class Petty Officer and Academic Team Captain Sanjana Addanki accepts the Third Place Trophy 

LHS NJROTC Holds 2020-2021 Awards Ceremony

On Thursday, 27 May 2021, Patriot Company held its annual awards ceremony.  Due to Covid restrictions, this year's ceremony was held outdoors in the school's football stadium.  Despite some rain and lower than expected temperatures, cadets, family and friends were all in attendance.  Captain Deehr and Chief Spears, dressed in their summer white uniforms, presented all the awards from the home stands of the stadium as they displayed the names of award winners on the stadium scoreboard video screen.  Despite some technical limitations, the ceremony was a great success with over 200 people on hand to celebrate Patriot Company's achievements during this very unusual school year.  Several highlights of the evening included announcing the Cadets of the Year (NS1 - Citlally Oliver, NS2 - Jeffery Pan, NS3 - Matthew Martin, and NS4 - Taylor-Nicole Le), Delta Platoon being named the 2020 Honor Platoon, the announcement of the new Cadet Staff, and numerous cadets being advanced to the next rank in the NJROTC program.  Congratulations to all the individual and team award winners!  Their recognition is well deserved.  The entire presentation is below for your personal viewing pleasure and pictures of the ceremony are available here:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/Y3vAijrsUwXxeHXL6

AWARDS NIGHT 2021.pdf

Liberty NJROTC Awarded NRA Foundation Grant

NRA Grant Enables Liberty H.S. NJROTC Marksmanship Program to Grow

Over the past four years Liberty High School's NJROTC marksmanship program has seen a significant increase in interest and participation.  Captain Deehr, the team's coach said, "When I first arrived at Liberty in the fall of 2016 we had more rifles than participants.  However, the continued growth of the NJROTC program as a whole, has meant continued growth of the marksmanship program to the point that in the fall of 2019, I had significantly more participants than available rifles and I had to cut cadets from the team."  It costs nearly $750.00 to properly outfit one air rifle participant and although Captain Deehr wanted to purchase additional equipment, the funding to do so was not available.    Captain Deehr then learned of the NRA Foundation Grant Program while providing Color Guard services for the Friends of the NRA annual fundraising dinner and auction in Renton.  "Several members of the organization encouraged me to apply for a grant while we were there conducting the Color Guard, so I decided I would give it a shot," Captain Deehr said.   While he had never applied for a grant in the past, he said the process was relatively simple and allowed him to select the desired equipment and place it in a cart, similar to shopping on Amazon.   Once he was done selecting the equipment the team needed he hit the submit button and waited.  That was in November of 2019, and by late January he was notified that the grant request had been approved and while they did not get everything they requested, they did receive five Crosman Challenger PCP air rifles and two spotting scopes that arrived at the school in April.  The value of the grant is nearly $3500.00 and will allow Liberty's NJROTC Marksmanship program to grow from 15 to 20 participants.  Everyone in the program looks forward to the growth and being able to better compete with the other JROTC air rifle teams in the Pacific Northwest.

Cadet Kylee Cosand takes aim in the kneeling position with a Crosman PCP Challenger Air Rifle during a JROTC air rifle competition.

Cadet Jeffery Pan steadies his aim on the target using a Crosman PCP Challenger Air Rifle during a recent JROTC air rifle competition.

LHS NJROTC Awarded the 2020

Unit Achievement Award

 On Wednesday, 03 June 2020, Patriot Company held its annual awards ceremony.  Unlike previous years, when the ceremony was held in the school's Landback Auditorium, this year's ceremony was held virtually via Zoom video conference.  Captain Deehr and Chief Spears, dressed in their summer white uniforms, presented all the awards from the NJROTC classroom as they displayed the names of award winners on a large screen from a power point presentation.  Despite some technical limitations, the it was a huge success with over 120 computers and nearly 250 people viewing the ceremony.  We even had several participants logged in from out of town and some even viewed it from overseas.  Several highlights of the evening included announcing the Cadets of the Year (NS1 - R. Irene Miller, NS2 - Sofia VanHuss, NS3 - Khanh Dao, and NS4 - Olivia Van Ry), Echo Platoon being named the 2020 Honor Platoon, the announcement of the new Cadet Staff, and Patriot Company being awarded the Unit Achievement Award for the 2020 School Year.  Unit Achievement status is determined by the US Navy's Area Manager and awarded only to those units that demonstrated exceptional performance.  Patriot Company was recognized with this award despite several high profile and required events being canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.  Congratulations to all the individual and team award winners!  Their recognition is well deserved.  The entire presentation is below for your personal viewing pleasure.

AWARDS NIGHT 2020.pdf

Liberty High School Principal, Sean Martin and Patriot Company cadets display the drill meet, individual, and division awards they earned on Saturday and during the 2019-2020 drill season.

Patriot Company Crowned NW Drill & Rifle Conference - Puget Sound Division Champion

On Saturday, 29 February 2020, Patriot Company hosted seven local JROTC schools and nearly 300 cadets for the final JROTC drill meet of the 2019-2020 school year.  Patriot Company was looking to build on their recent success and complete an undefeated regular season.  Executing on all cylinders they brought home six first place finishes in eight competitive categories and racked up 91 team points to complete their undefeated season and were crowned the Northwest Drill and Rifle Conference Puget Sound Division Champion.  Congratulations to the following teams and individuals:

Team Awards:

Color Guard Team 1:                    First Place

Color Guard Team 2:                    Second Place

Unarmed Drill Team:                    Third Place

Armed Drill Team:                         First Place

Academics Team 1:                        First Place

Academics Team 2:                        Second Place

Physical Fitness Team 2:               First Place

Sporter Air Rifle:                            First Place

Precision Air Rifle:                         First Place

Individual Awards:

Christopher Lew - Armed Drill Team Commander:        First Place

Kaitlin Lew - Iron Woman Award:                                     First Place

Emily Lew - Iron Woman Award:                                       Second Place

Sanjana Addanki - Academics Exam:                                Second Place

Jacob Hill - Academics Exam:                                             Third Place

Carson Tucker - Individual Armed Exhibition:                 First Place

Mathea Caole - Precision Air Rifle:                                   First Place

Christian Castro - Precision Air Rifle:                              Second Place

Faith Ellis - Precision Air Rifle:                                           Third Place

Thomas Bennett - Armed Drill Down:                              Third Place

As a result of their outstanding season, Patriot Company qualified the following teams and individuals to compete in the Northwest Drill and Rifle Conference Championships at Rogers High School in Puyallup. Wa. on 21 March, where they will compete against the very best JROTC teams in western Washington and northwest Oregon.

Color Guard Teams 1 & 2

Armed Drill Team

Physical Fitness Team 2

Academics Team 1 & 2

Sporter Air Rifle

Precision Air Rifle

Mathew Martin - Individual Armed Exhibition


Sofia VanHuss (left - 10) and Ivan Bourdon (right - 11) take aim at their targets during the Sporter Air Rifle competition.  Ivan Bourdon shot a season high 481 (out of 600) to help Liberty take first place in the Sporter Air Rifle competition.

Emily Lew (10) reacts to completing the maximum allowable push-ups (120) in the Physical Fitness competition.  Her sister, Kaitlin, also completed 120 push-ups and they both led Patriot Company's Physical Fitness Team 2 to a first place finish and the division championship.

Principal Sean Martin presents Faith Ellis (11), the Unarmed Drill Team Commander, with the third place award for the Unarmed Drill Team competition. 

From left to right:  Cadets Olivia Van Ry (12), Jacob Hill (12) and Christopher Lew (12), hold the Puget Sound Division Championship plaque presented to Patriot Company following their undefeated drill season.

Patriot Company Participates in the 10th Annual Inland SeaPerch Competition

On Friday, 21 February 2020, six cadets and three chaperones made the trip to Eastern Washington University in Cheney, Washington to compete in the 10th Annual Inland SeaPerch Underwater Robotics Competition.  Five high schools and numerous middle schools were competing to earn a spot in the National SeaPerch Challenge at the University of Maryland in June.  With two teams and two remotely operated vehicles in hand, Patriot Company earned both a first and second place finish in the Engineering Process and Technical Documentation portion of the competition and after three in-water competitions Patriot Company finished second overall, falling just short of qualifying of the National Challenge.

From left to right:  Cadets Sofia VanHuss, Christian Castro, and Carson Tucker maneuver the ROV through the obstacle course which was one of three in-water competitions. 

From left to right:  Cadets Alan Castillo, David Johnston, and Dani Widdows, make some last minute adjustments to their ROV prior to an in-water competition.

One of the in-water competitions was to place a green cap on the top of a street cone.  During this competition the helmsman of the ROV could only watch the video screen from the camera that was attached to the ROV.

Patriot Company Wins Kentwood Drill Meet!

On Saturday, 08 February 2020, Patriot Company competed in the third drill meet of the season at Kentwood High School in Kent, Washington.  We competed against the following local high school JROTC teams:  Graham Kapowsin (Army JRTOC), Kentwood (Marine Corps JROTC), Federal Way (Air Force JROTC), Todd Beamer (Air Force JROTC), Auburn Mountain View (Army JROTC), Bremerton (Navy JROTC), and Spanaway Lake (Navy JROTC). 

After garnering over 150 team points and winning their first two drill meets, Patriot Company piled up over 70 team points at Kentwood and and took the top team spot again.  Liberty NJROTC remains undefeated this drill season.  Liberty’s next Drill meet is Saturday, 29 February right here at Liberty!  Please come out and support the Cadets as they compete and work toward being crowned the Puget Sound Division Champion!

Team Awards

Individual Awards

(Below) Cadets Kaitlin Lew (10), Olivia Burch (9) and Carson Tucker (11) lead the pack in the mile run of the physical fitness competition.  Patriot Company's Physical Fitness Team 2 took first place with Kaitlin Lew, Olivia Burch, and Emily Lew sweeping the Iron Woman awards!

Cadet Daniel Tsang (11) has his drill rifle inspected by an active duty Army Soldier during the armed drill team personnel inspection.  Patriot Company Armed Drill Team brought home the second place team award and Cadet Lieutenant Commander Christopher Lew was awarded the top team commander award. 

Cadet First Class Petty Officer Thomas Le (12) accepts the silver medal for having the second highest individual score in the Sporter Air Rifle competition. 

Cadets from Patriot Company display the team and individual awards they brought home from the Graham Kapowsin drill meet on Saturday, 18 January 2020.  

Patriot Company Wins The Graham Kapowsin Drill Meet!

On Saturday, 18 January 2020, Patriot Company competed in their second drill meet of the season at Graham Kapowsin High School in Graham.  We competed against the following local high school JROTC teams:  Graham Kapowsin (Army JRTOC), Kentwood (Marine Corps JROTC), Federal Way (Air Force JROTC), Todd Beamer (Air Force JROTC), Auburn Mountain View (Army JROTC), Bremerton (Navy JROTC), and Spanaway Lake (Navy JROTC).  As usual, it was a spirited competition!

After garnering 70 team points and winning the first drill meet, Patriot Company piled up 82 team points at Graham Kapowsin and and took the top team spot again.  Liberty’s next Drill meet is Saturday, 08 February at Kentwood High School.

Team Awards

 Individual Awards


Cadet Seaman Jeffrey Pan takes aim at his target during the Sporter Air Rifle competition.  Liberty's Sporter team finished in second place and Cadet Pan brought home a bronze medal for third place in the individual standings.

Cadet Petty Officer First Class Matthew Martin stands by to receive the gold medal for his first place finish in the Individual Armed Exhibition competition. 

Cadets (from left to right), Emily Lew (10), Olivia Van Ry(12), Justin Le (10), Kaitlin Lew (10), Carson Tucker (11), Matthew Martin (10), Christopher Baham (9), Colby Van Ry(10), Bryan Rosenfelt (9), and Sofia VanHuss (10) prepare to participate in the Physical Strength competition.  Physical Strength Team 2 finished in first place and Cadet Kaitlin Lew brought home the gold medal for Iron Woman competition.

Patriot Company Wins the First Drill Meet of the JROTC Drill Season!

On Saturday, 11 January 2020, Patriot Company kicked off the 2019-2020 drill season in fine fashion at Todd Beamer High School in Federal Way.  Competing against the following local high school JROTC teams: Graham Kapowsin (Army JRTOC), Kentwood (Marine Corps JROTC), Federal Way (Air Force JROTC), Todd Beamer (Air Force JROTC), Auburn Mountain View (Army JROTC), Bremerton (Navy JROTC), and Spanaway Lake (Navy JROTC), Patriot Company picked up where they left off season by placing in 7 of 10 competitive categories and winning the overall competition.  Liberty’s next Drill meet is Saturday, 18 January at Graham Kapowsin High School.

Team Awards

 Individual Awards

Members of Patriot Company display the seven plaques and numerous individual awards they earned at the first JROTC drill meet of the season.  Patriot Company garnered over 70 team points and came away with a first place team finish.

Color Guard Team 2 led by Cadet Chief Petty Officer Carson Tucker, stand by to conduct the Color Guard routine in front of active duty military judges.  Team 2 brought home a first place plaque.

Patriot Company's Armed Drill Team, led by Cadet Lieutenant Christopher Lew stand by to be inspected prior to their regulation and exhibition routine.  The armed drill team came away with a second place finish.

Cadet First Class Petty Officer Thomas Bennett reacts to winning the Unarmed Drill Down competition.

Cadet Seaman Olivia Burch (left) and Cadet First Class Petty Officer Kaitlin Lew (right) stand by to receive their bronze and gold medals for finishing 3rd and 1st respectively in the Iron Woman Physical Fitness competition.

Patriot Company Selected as a 2018-19 Distinguished Unit!

On Thursday, 23 May 2019, Patriot Company held their annual awards ceremony.  At this event numerous outside organizations are on hand to recognize the hard work of the cadets over the past school year and present Patriot Company's top performing cadets with certificates and medals for their outstanding performance throughout the year.  At this year's event we were also pleased to announce that Patriot Company was selected by Admiral Sands, Commander, Naval Service Training Command, as a Distinguished Unit Award winner.  The award citation reads:

 The Commander Naval Service Training Command takes pleasure in presenting the Distinguished Unit Award to Liberty High School for outstanding performance during the 2018-2019 school year.  In recognition of the exceptional professional ability, initiative and dedication demonstrated by its Naval Science Instructors; the outstanding support provided by the school administration; the excellent atmosphere prevalent throughout the school in support of the Navy Junior ROTC Program; the exemplary appearance, military bearing, and courtesies exhibited by its cadets; the active participation of the unit in support of school, community and other extracurricular activities and services; and the superb discipline demonstrated by the cadets during drill meets and other public appearances, the Liberty High School Junior ROTC unit has been selected as a Distinguished Unit.

T. N. Daseler

NJROTC Program Director

Selection as a Distinguished Unit is truly indicative of the dedication and hard work of the cadets involved!

Cadet Lieutenant Commander Alex Pham (left) and Cadet Lieutenant Kerrek Matson (right) hold the Distinguished Unit streamer awarded to Patriot Company for their performance during the 2018-19 school year, while Captain Deehr (far left)  and Chief Spears look on.

Cadet Second Class Petty Officer Matthew Martin was selected as the 2018-19 NS1 Distinguished Cadet.

Cadet Chief Petty Officer Faith Ellis was selected as the 2018-19 NS2 Distinguished Cadet.

Cadet Senior Chief Petty Officer Olivia Van Ry was selected as the 2018-19 NS3 Distinguished Cadet.

Patriot Company Qualifies for SeaPerch National Challenge!

On Saturday, 27 April 2019, Patriot Company's Sea Perch Team competed in the Kitsap Regional Underwater ROV competition.   After providing a technical presentation & notebook to the judges and competing in two in-water maneuverability exercises, Patriot Company finished first in both categories and brought home the regional championship which qualified them to compete at the Sea Perch Nationals at the University of Maryland on 01-02 June. 

Captain Deehr (far left) poses with Patriot Company's SeaPerch Team after they won the Kitsap Regional Underwater ROV Competition on Saturday.  Team members include from left to right:  Cadets Timothy Caole, Faith Ellis, Dominic Ogino, Evan Rosenfelt, Kaitlin Lew, Mathea Caole, Sofia VanHuss, and Carson Tucker.

Cadet Even Rosenfelt briefs the judges on the process Patriot Company used to build their ROV.

Patriot Company tests their ROV's buoyancy prior to the competetion. 

Cadet Carson Tucker maneuvers Patriot Company's ROV through the obstacle course as the judges look on.

Cadet Faith Ellis prepares to put the ROV in the water.

From left to right:  Cadets Sofia VanHuss, Faith Ellis, Carson Tucker, Dominic Ogino, and Tim Caole hold the winning ROV!

Patriot Company Participates in the Northwest Drill and Rifle Conference Championships!

On Saturday, March 16, 2019, Patriot Company completed their drill season by participating in the Northwest Drill and Rifle Conference Championships at Oregon City High School in Oregon City, Oregon.  The Northwest Drill and Rifle Conference is made up of 32 JROTC high schools from throughout the Puget Sound area.  The Regional Championships pits the best teams from the conference against one another in order to determine the very best teams and the best overall school  in the conference.  Patriot Company qualified the following teams:

Color Guard Team 1  (Olivia Van Ry, Kerrek Matson, Daniel Tsang,  Colby Van Ry)

Color Guard Team 2 (Faith Ellis, Mathea Caole, Chandler Alexander, Carson Tucker)

Physical Fitness Team (Justin Le, Taylor Nicole Le, Emily Lew, Kaitlin Lew, Daniel Tsang)

Academics Team (Lenna Weiss, Evan Rosenflet, Jacob Hill, Carson Tucker, Khanh Dao)

Precision Air Rifle (Faith Ellis, Chandler Alexander, Olivia Van Ry, Christopher Lew, Mathea Caole)

While Patriot Company did not fair as well overall as they had hoped we did achieve the following noteworthy team results:

Physical Fitness finished 2nd

Precision Air Rifle finished 4th

Color Guard Team 2 finished 6th

Individual awards went to:

Mathea Caole (11th grade) for finishing 4th in Precision Air Rifle

Kaitlin Lew (9th grade) was crowned the Conference Iron Woman for being the female Cadet to score the most points on the physical fitness test.

Patriot Company finished 6th overall in the conference.

Cadet Seaman Kaitlin Lew (9) stands by to receive the Conference Iron Woman Award which is given to the female Cadet who scores the most points on the physical fitness test.  Cadet Lew finished with 409 points outpacing her nearest competitor by 72 points!

From left to right:  Cadets Olivia Van Ry (11), Christopher Lew (11), Chandler Alexander (12), and Mathea Caole (11) take aim during the precision air rifle competition.  Mathea Caole led the team with a season high score of 572 out of a possible 600.

Cadets Chandler Alexander, Kerrek Matson, and Olivia Van Ry push Cadet Taylor-Nicole Le (10th grade) to finish strong during the mile run.  

Cadets Daniel Tsang (10), Carson Tucker (10), and Christopher Lew (11) compete during the Individual Armed Drill Down. 

Patriot Company Wins the Todd Beamer Drill Meet, 23 February 2019

NJROTC had a very successful drill meet on Saturday and 2018-19  drill season overall.  In addition to winning numerous awards at their last regular season meet of the year, they also brought home several Northwest Drill and Rifle Conference Puget Sound Division awards.

We competed against the following local high school JROTC teams:  Graham Kapowsin (Army JRTOC), Kentwood (Marine Corps JROTC), Federal Way (Air Force JROTC), Todd Beamer (Air Force JROTC), Auburn Mountain View (Army JROTC), Bremerton (Navy JROTC), and Spanaway Lake (Navy JROTC).  As usual, it was a spirited competition with Liberty narrowly beating Kentwood High School 48-46 for the overall win!

Todd Beamer Drill Meet Team Awards:

Color Guard Team 2           - First Place                Academics Team                - First Place

Physical Fitness Team        - First Place                Precision Air Rifle               - First Place

Color Guard Team 1           - Third Place              Armed Drill Team               - Third Place

Sporter Air Rifle Team       - Third Place

Todd Beamer Drill Meet Individual Awards:

Khahn Dao      - Academics - First Place

Carson Tucker - Academics - Second Place

Lenna Weiss    - Academics - Third Place

Kaitlin Lew       - Female Individual Physical Fitness - First Place

Emily Lew         - Female Individual Physical Fitness - Second Place

Katelin Ovsak   - Female Individual Physical Fitness - Third Place

Mathea Caole           - Precision Air Rifle - First Place            

Christopher Lew       - Precision Air Rifle - Second Place

Chandler Alexander - Precision Air Rifle  - Third Place

Daniel Tsang              - Armed Drill Down - Second Place

Northwest Drill and Rifle Conference Puget Sound Division Awards for the 2018-19 drill season:

Color Guard Team 1:     Puget Sound Division Third Place  -  Regional Drill Competition Qualifier

Color Guard Team 2:     Puget Sound Division Champion   -  Regional Drill Competition Qualifier

Academics Team:          Puget Sound Division Champion   -  Regional Drill Competition Qualifier

Physical Fitness Team:  Puget Sound Division Champion  -  Regional Drill Competition Qualifier

Precision Air Rifle:         Puget Sound Division Champion   -  Regional Drill Competition Qualifier TBD 

Sporter Air Rifle:            Puget Sound Division Third Place

Kaitlin Lew:                     Puget Sound Division Iron Woman Champion

Cadet Petty Officer First Class Christopher Lew WOWS the Crowd at the Liberty High School Snowcoming Assembly - Watch the video!

Color Guard Presents for the Sounders

On Sunday, 28 October 2018,  Liberty's NJROTC Color Guard Team, consisting of Cadet Petty Officer Second Class Olivia Van Ry (US Flag), Cadet Petty Officer First Class Lindsay Carvalho (Navy Flag), Cadet Petty Officer First Class Carson Tucker (Right Rifle)  and Cadet Petty Officer First Class Faith Ellis (Left Rifle) presented the Colors before the Seattle Sounders FC final home game of the regular season at Century Link Field on Sunday. The Sounders won 2-1.