MACDILL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. -- It’s zero dark thirty and the cadets are up, preparing to face the day.
The mission: to earn plank owner status as the inaugural class of the Recruit Training Command-Tampa Recruit Training for the U.S. Naval Sea Cadet Corps.
This tenacious group of 13-17 year olds spent two weeks immersing themselves in naval culture and traditions, learning naval history and skills exhibited by Sailors every day. All 65 cadets endured physical training in order to pass the rigorous Physical Readiness Test, a key factor towards graduation.
“It was considerably harder than I thought it would be,” said Seaman Recruit Serenity Siu-Mullins of Tampa Bay, Florida. “I’m proud of myself for making it all the way to the end.”
Recruits and support staff traveled from as far as Oregon to Central Florida specifically to be a part of this incredible undertaking and brain child of the Command Officer Training Contingent, Lt. Cmdr. Kevin MacFarland, NSCC.
After a challenging training period, MacFarland felt that he owed the cadets and their families an auspicious graduation ceremony and selected Hangar 3 as the site “To provide an impressive site for Pass in Review and shield our honored guests and families from the elements, Hangar 3 was the obvious choice.”
During his inspirational keynote address to an audience of nearly 400, Capt. Shaun P. Murphy, USN, Commanding Officer of NOSC Tampa, averred: “They are a really impressive group of young people.”
The U.S. Naval Sea Cadet Corps is a federally chartered non-profit civilian youth organization for young people from 10-17, sponsored by the Navy League of the United States and supported by both the U.S. Navy and Coast Guard. For more information, call 813-777-1345 or email kmacfarland@seacadets.org.