CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL
Cadet Capt. Carly Territo, regimental executive officer of the Central High School
NJROTC unit in Brooksville, Fla., and Cmdr. Phylicia Irons, regimental executive
officer, stand with their Legion of Valor Bronze Cross Awards for achievement
and trophies the program earned as second “Most Outstanding in Nation” and
“Most Outstanding” in NJROTC Area 7 during a ceremony at the school last fall.
Everglades Councils, together with
members of Broward Navy Days.
Iron Duke, namesake of the Duke
of Wellington, spent two months on
Caribbean duty in the fall during
which, with the assistance of the
U.S. Coast Guard, it tracked down
and captured a high-speed drug
smuggling vessel and confiscated
four and a half tons of cocaine, a
record drug bust for the Royal Navy.
Iron Duke is commanded by Capt.
Andrew Stacy and has a complement of 180 British Sailors.
Iron Duke was accompanied in
the Caribbean by British support
ship Fort George, which visited
Fort Lauderdale a month earlier.
Winter Harbison, William Holden,
Kristen Miller, Christian Parsons,
Collin Reedy, Ryan Swartz and
Derek Valle.
Bravo Platoon, commanded by
Austin Martin, was awarded the
honor platoon pennant.
In late September, Skip Witunski,
Central Florida Area president, presented trophies to the Central High
School NJROTC unit in Brooksville,
Fla., in honor of it being selected the
second “Most Outstanding in
Nation” program and the “Most
Outstanding” program in NJROTC
Area 7 during a ceremony at the
school. Area 7 encompasses all units
in the state except for those in the
Jacksonville and northwest Florida
areas, which are parts of Area 12 and
Area 8, respectively.
Cadet Capt. Carly Territo, regimental executive officer, and
Cmdr. Phylicia Irons, regimental
executive officer, accepted the trophies. In addition, the two cadets
received Legion of Valor Bronze
Cross Awards for achievement.
For a program that is less than a
decade old, Central High School’s
NJROTC unit maintains a high level
of achievement, having earned simi-
lar national recognition three times,
including first “Most Outstanding in
Nation” in 2006. The unit now
boasts about 300 cadets who work
tremendously hard with NJROTC
instructor, retired Lt. Gen. Mike
North, according to Witunski.
Broward Council
Hosts Party for
Royal Navy Ship
The Broward, Fla., Council hosted
an “All Hands” party Halloween
night for the officers and crew of the
British frigate HMS Iron Duke during
its four-day visit to Fort Lauderdale.
The reception was held at Briny’s
Irish Pub with a number of ship’s
company in attendance, according
to Robert N. Hein, the Broward
Council public relations officer. The
crew was formally welcomed and
gifts were exchanged with the hosting representatives including Briny
Irish Pub proprietors, Michael and
Aileen Brennen.
The event was attended by representatives of the Fort Lauderdale and
Chattanooga Receives
Ship Model Gift
The Greater Chattanooga, Tenn.,
John J. Spittler Council accepted the
gift of a built-to-scale model of the
World War II Fletcher-class destroyer Nicholas from builder Frank Hill
during a Veteran’s Day ceremony at
the Alexian Village retirement community in Signal Mountain Nov. 11.
The special observance permitted
those who are unable to attend ceremonies at Chattanooga’s National
Cemetery to honor veterans and recognize those in the Alexian community who served in U.S. military.
Council namesake John J. “Jack”
Spittler introduced Hill and Council
President Bill Leonard, who accepted the “Nicholas DD 449” model on
behalf of the council.
Spittler also gave a short history
of the Fletcher-class of destroyers.
More than 700 were built during
World War II. Nicholas, named for
Samuel Nicholas, the first commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps,
was the flagship of destroyer Squadron 21.
Spittler served on the ship in
1943-45 and participated in 21
major battles. Nicholas received the
Presidential Unit Citation and was
officially named “Fightingest Ship”
in U.S. naval history. Only three of
