The Hixson High School Air Force Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps had another amazing year in 2019-2020, according to officials.
Headquarters Air Force JROTC announced the unit as a recipient of the Air Force JROTC Distinguished Unit Award. Additionally, both instructors Major (Ret.) James Carbone and Major Sergeant (Ret.) Doug Burhans were also recognized with AFJROTC Outstanding Instructor Awards for the academic year 2019-2020.
The Distinguished Unit Award recognizes Air Force JROTC units that have performed
well above and beyond normal expectations, and that have distinguished themselves through
outstanding service to their school and community, while meeting the Air Force JROTC citizen
development mission for America.
The AFJROTC Outstanding Instructor Award represents the “Best of the Best” in AFJROTC. Through this recognition, Colonel Stephen T. Sanders, director, Air Force JROTC wrote, “We honor their exemplary contributions and impact on their cadets, school and community. I extend my deepest appreciation to all winners for their dedication, hard work and personal investment they put into our AFJROTC program and into our cadets. They represent the highest examples of the Air Force Core Values which are crucial to the success of the AFJROTC mission.”
The objectives of the Air Force JROTC program are to educate and train high school cadets in citizenship and life skills; promote community service; instill responsibility, character and self-discipline through character education; and to provide instruction in air and space fundamentals. Enrollment is open to high school students who are in the ninth to 12th grades.
Air Force JROTC is located in close to 890 high schools across the United States and at
selected schools in Europe, in the Pacific and in Puerto Rico. Air Force JROTC enrollment
includes more than 125,000 cadets who do over 1.5 million hours of community service each
year.