On Thursday April 17th, the Lebanon Air Force Junior ROTC (AFJROTC) program had their end of year recognition ceremony.
The Cincinnati Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution (CCSAR) were there to recognize two outstanding cadets with certificates of accomplishment and medals to add to their uniforms.
The Sons of the American Revolution has ROTC themed contests which ROTC cadets can be submitted for consideration by their high school ROTC leadership team.
The Lebanon AFJROTC program is led by Lt. Col. USAF (Retired) – David Alvarez.
The two contests which Lebanon cadets participated in were:
Enhanced JROTC Award – this competition is for a Junior in High School
The cadet must be in the top 10% of their JROTC Unit as verified by the Senior Military Instructor. The cadet be in the top 25% of their high school class as verified by the Principal. The cadet must complete an original essay, of 500 to 700 words. The topic is – “How JROTC has prepared me to be a better citizen of the United States of America” . The cadet must be recommended by the high school principal and Senior Military Instructor.
This year, the CCSAR is pleased to announce that Lebanon High School Junior – Mason Bowers was – 1st place Cincinnati chapter winner. In addition, Mason’s essay won 1st place as the State of Ohio SAR winner. Mason will be invited to the State of Ohio Board of Management meeting in Dayton on May 2nd to receive his state of Ohio award.
Next will be Mason’s essay for consideration at the National SAR level, to be selected at a later date.
Annual SAR Award – in addition, the CCSAR presented AFJROTC Cadet Kaedyn Israel with an SAR Annual Award, selected by the Lebanon AFJROTC leadership team.
SAR ROTC and Youth Programs:
More information about the SAR Youth Education Awards opportunities including the ROTC awards can be found by going to our CCSAR website and clicking on the “Youth Programs” tab. If you have any questions, please leave a comment on our website, or reach out to any of our CCSAR members / leadership team.
The link is: Cincinnati SAR Youth Education Programs
Program Activities:
- This years event was held in Lebanon Ohio at the School District Performance Center (DPC) which is a wonderful venue for this award ceremony.
- There was a Color Guard of Cadets posting the colors to start the event, followed by a Cadet led announcing of various awards by local civic groups (including CCSAR).
- There were announcements of the next Cadet leadership team for 2025-26.
- To conclude the ceremony, there was a slide show of the graduating seniors photos from birth to graduation.
Very moving and the Cadets were thrilled to see the lives of these impressive Cadets.
Until next year!
Thank you again.
V/R
DAVID ALVAREZ, Lt Col, USAF (Ret)
Senior Aerospace Science Instructor
AFJROTC OH-771, Lebanon High School
(513) 934-5145
