U.S. Navy photo by Doug Davant Calvert High School’s NJROTC unit salutes CBIRF judge to end drill competition.

A lot has happened in the 81 years since the first high school drill team high stepped it out on that Texas field. Much of what happened was on display Jan. 31 at Patuxent High School in Lusby, Md., when seven sharp NJROTC drill units from Maryland and Virginia high schools lined up in close order competition to be judged by Marines from Indian Head’s Chemical and Biological Response Force and the Marine Barracks at 8th and I Street in Washington, D.C.

The schools included: Gaithersburg (Md.) High School, Herndon (Va.) High School, Calvert High School (Prince Frederick, Md.), Great Mills (Md.) High School, Bowie (Md.) High School, Patuxent High School, Huntingtown (Md.) High School and Dahlgren’s own King George High School.

The teams were judged in five separate areas: marching with rifles and without arms, on inspection, color guard and in academics. Each team was required to do the complete manual of arms, to march to standard commands (left and right column, oblique, flank; reverse or rear, extend and close) in precision. Teams were given points for ‘‘fancy work” such as special rifle maneuvers or marching steps. However, deductions for missteps, such as dropping a rifle or getting out of step, were tallied among the drill members.

According to the CBIRF judges, a drill routine is precision-oriented. A variety of marching and traveling steps, ripples, contagions, group work and good use of levels are common in the drill routine. A variety of styles may be combined, or one single style may be used. Emphasis was placed on presenting a well-balanced mixture of precisely executed dynamic moves, creativity, difficulty and maximum visual effect created by the use of patterns and movement.

According to Cmdr. Mike Hupes, area coordinator for the JROTC programs in the Greater Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia region, there are 57 high schools that compete each year in drill. Included is the mentioned King George High School as well as Lackey High School in Indian Head.

‘‘This (Jan. 31 event) featured only Navy Junior ROTC units,” he said, ‘‘but most competition includes Army and Air Force ROTC drill units too.”

The teams compete for the top two spots to advance to the national meet later this year, he said.

The National High School Drill Team Championships remain the most famous Junior ROTC military drill & ceremony competition in the world. This all-service competition takes place every year in Daytona Beach, Fla. each spring and brings together most of the nation's finest performance military drill units from throughout the United States. It is scheduled for the first week of May.