Old Bridge ROTC cadets learn through teamwork
BY MARLENE CANTY
Staff Writer

Old Bridge High School students in the Air Force Junior ROTC program stand at attention during their recent trip to Washington D.C.

OLD BRIDGE - A group of 61 high school students in the Junior Air Force ROTC program won Honor Unit status including ribbons, medals and a certificate for achievement at the recent Reserve Officers Association Freedom Walk.

The event, which took place Oct. 21-22 in Washington, D.C., is an annual 24-mile walk held to promote health and fitness and is awarded to the individuals who walk the farthest and finish as a team. It is sponsored jointly by the Surgeon General's Office and the Japanese Embassy.

"We started as a group and finished as a group, and everyone tried to motivate each other as we got tired, by singing jodies," said Michael Tomkiewicz, one of the student leaders from Old Bridge High School. The high school junior said the activity, like ROTC itself, was attended by a mix of freshmen, sophomores, juniors and seniors.

Jodies are military shout-out songs where a team leader sings a lyric and the group responds with a reply.

The ROTC group dedicated its certificate and honors this year to Dan Lynch, an ROTC cadet who was involved in a car accident on Aug. 27. In addition to dedicating their honor status to him, the students held a fundraiser in which they raised $1,300 in his honor.

According to Frank Flaugherty, the Washington trip was both educational and eventful, encompassing trips to the Goddard Space Flight Center, hurricane tracking systems, the Hubbel telescope and a demonstration of a canine unit for security patrols at Andrews Air Force Base and a tour of Air Force I.

Cadet Anna Urbak said the 24-mile walk helped to foster a real sense of the importance of teamwork, stressing that a team member who was unable to finish the race was aided by members who got him a wheelchair to help him complete the event.

"When we got up to around mile 19, the jodies we were singing really began to help us focus and keep going as a group," said Greg Biedrzycki.

Biedrzycki, who wants to be an airplane pilot, said he joined ROTC because he wanted more discipline and to develop leadership skills. He said he wants to go to college, and he believes ROTC will help.

"We marched 12 miles each day, but toward the end the only thing that can keep you going is the encouraging voices of the members of your team," he said.