NJROTC Hosts Rear Admiral for Visit

Liberty High School hosted a very special guest last week, when Rear Admiral Craig Mattingly visited the NJROTC (Navy Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps) unit. Mattingly is the commander of the Naval Service Training Command and visited two other Washington schools while in the Pacific Northwest. Liberty was nominated by the Navy Area Manager Commander Vince Quidachay. 

“Being nominated for this visit is a great honor and is indicative of all the hard work and success the cadets of Patriot Company have had, not only this year, but over the last four years,” said retired Capt. John Deehr, who leads Liberty’s program along with Chief Matthew Spear. “The cadets were extremely impressed with the level of caring the Admiral showed for their success, both in and out of the NJROTC program.  Having the opportunity to meet and speak with an Admiral is likely a once in a lifetime event for many of the cadets and one that will be remembered forever.” 

During the visit, cadet staff offered a “State of the Unit” brief to the admiral. Mattingly talked with cadets about “Caring and Competency in Leadership,” and also pinned cadets who were advancing to the next higher rank in the program. Superintendent Heather Tow-Yick, School Board Director Marnie Maraldo and Director of Career and Technical Education Lisa Neighbours also attended the visit and talked with the admiral. 

Because the admiral is the commander of the Naval Service Training Command, he is responsible for training at Navy Boot Camp, all Navy ROTC Schools (Colleges), and all Navy Junior ROTC high schools. So far this year, he has visited about 50 of the 638 NJROTC high schools in the country. 

Congratulations, Patriot Company, on a well-deserved honor!