Tour of duty
Tiger Shark Cadets visit Navy facilities
Port St. Joe High School’s NJROTC Tiger Shark Cadets recently completed a three-day field trip, in which they toured the Naval Aviation Water Survival Training and Physiology school and the Naval Aviation Museum, and spent the night at the Blue Angel campground in Pensacola.
In addition, they also toured and spent the night on the USS Alabama in Mobile, Alabama.
While at the training facility in Pensacola, the cadets saw first-hand just what it takes to become a naval aviator, observing waterborne survival techniques and physiology training. After spending the morning on the pool deck and in the classroom, they were treated to lunch aboard the naval base, stopping for some “Navy chow” before heading to the Naval Aviation Museum.
At the museum, they toured hundreds of noteworthy aircraft gaining exposure to the rich history of naval aviation and modern maritime technology and innovation. Later, they spent the night at the Blue Angel campground where they conducted team building exercises such as watch standing and security shifts, while experiencing primitive camping.
They also spent the night in Mobile on the USS Alabama where they underwent a once-in-a-lifetime experience of living aboard the naval vessel. While on the retired battleship and touring the USS Drum, a World War II-era submarine, they learned about each ship’s contribution to World War II in the Pacific. The massive 680-foot vessel and the museum’s adjacent 155-acre property is home to many historic aircraft, exhibits, and memorials.
The cadets learned many skills and life-lessons which showcased America’s basic values of liberty, self-discipline and self-sacrifice. Donations to the ROTC unit can be made through the school administration office to help ensure these field trips continue in the future.
Anna Van Heerden is a cadet in the Port St. Joe High School Navy Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps program.
Meet the Editor
David Adlerstein, The Apalachicola Times’ digital editor, started with the news outlet in January 2002 as a reporter.
Prior to then, David Adlerstein began as a newspaperman with a small Boston weekly, after graduating magna cum laude from Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts. He later edited the weekly Bellville Times, and as business reporter for the daily Marion Star, both not far from his hometown of Columbus, Ohio.
In 1995, he moved to South Florida, and worked as a business reporter and editor of Medical Business newspaper. In Jan. 2002, he began with the Apalachicola Times, first as reporter and later as editor, and in Oct. 2020, also began editing the Port St. Joe Star.