Oak Harbor Wildcats NJROTC to Represent Area 23 at Florida Nationals

Oak Harbor High School’s Wildcat NJROTC will travel to the U.S. Navy JROTC National Championship in Florida March 27-28, 2026 as the sole representative of Area 23, following first-place finishes at qualifying meets in South Kitsap in November and Marysville in January, Cmdr. Allen Hall and Chief Bill Thiel said.

Cmdr. Hall and Chief Thiel confirmed that the program’s primary armed drill team - Armed drill team one - and other competitive squads advanced on those results. “Finishing in first place at an event in South Kitsap in November and another in Marysville in January qualified them for nationals,” Hall and Thiel explained, and Oak Harbor will serve as the sole representative of Area 23, which “encompasses all units in Oregon, Washington, Alaska, Hawaii, Guam and Japan.”

At Oak Harbor’s first home drill meet since spring 2023, Armed drill team one performed its rifle-flipping exhibition routine on Saturday and the Wildcats “collectively earned first place at Saturday’s meet, meaning drill, marksmanship, color guard, PT and academic teams qualify for a regional competition March 14 in Oregon,” Hall and Thiel said. The exhibition phase, where rifles are thrown and spun, follows a regulation marching phase and is the portion a cadet identified only as Miller called the “fun stuff,” Miller explained.

A separate account from the meet’s host staff offered overlapping results and different scheduling details. NJROTC Commander Vince Quidachay wrote that Oak Harbor “took first place in most of the events, including armed drill, unarmed drill, sporter and precision marksmanship and physical fitness, as well as many individual events.” Quidachay said eight schools participated, “The meet was hosted by OHHS, and it went flawlessly,” and “The support we received from parents was amazing.” He added that at least 50 parents attended to serve food and that Oak Harbor High School Principal Nate Salisbury presented awards. South Whidbey Record noted a regional meet listed for March 26 at Marysville High School, a conflicting date and location compared with the March 14 Oregon regional cited by Hall and Thiel.

Oak Harbor’s NJROTC program, established in 1973, fielded 217 active cadets at the start of the current school year, and the battalion lists award-winning Color Guard, Armed Drill and Unarmed Drill teams among its community-facing units. Practices for Armed Drill, Unarmed Drill and Rifle Team run Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday at 6:00 a.m.; Color Guard practice is listed at 7:00 a.m. Appearance requests and program questions may be directed to Chief Bill Thiel at wthiel@ohsd.net.

Oak Harbor cadets now prepare for the national stage March 27-28 in Florida while a regional schedule discrepancy remains to be clarified with NJROTC leadership and area coordinators.