This past May, I attended one of the most impressive ceremonies it has been my privilege to witness, the graduating and upcoming senior class honors assembly for Southeast Guilford High School’s Naval Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (NJROTC). Snapped-to-attention teens resplendent in military dress blues and crisp khakis were on deck to accept dozens of awards for distinguished service to their community, academic excellence and individual achievement earned over the school year.

A highlight that evening was the women’s drill team executing the precision routine that solidified their standing in 2026 as one of the finest in the nation. Weaving rhythmically through a cascading series of formations with intense precision reminded me (archaic pop-culture references incoming) of a 1930s Busby Berkeley musical or the June Taylor Dancers from a mid-century episode of The Jackie Gleason Show. In other words, top-tier showmanship.

As the ceremony culminated with the coronation of the unit’s new Commanding Officer, a nattily-attired lady behind me politely — but firmly — nudged me out of the way. “That’s my son,” she exclaimed with pride, moving in closer to get a better photo.

That son being junior Jonathan Vanhook. I couldn’t help noticing that he and his twin brother, Joshua, were frequently called forward that night to receive recognition, advanced rankings and commendations. They, along with Torrie Shaw and Genevieve Canupp, were canonized as 2025–26 Color Guard champions, best in the nation at the ritualistic presentation of flags, accompanied by firearm acrobatics, often reverentially performed at military funerals and formal public gatherings.

When asked about his reason for joining NJROTC, Jonathan recalls gazing behind the middle school cafeteria window. “I would see the male drill team out there spinning their rifles, doing drills, and how structured it was, how disciplined it was. Everything they did was with structure, with intensity and effort.” What he saw was individuals moving together as one. “I wanted to be a part of it simply because I see that everyone here gives everything.”

Brother Joshua insists, “I would have definitely done this even if [Jonathan] didn’t.” He too was magnetically drawn to the curriculum’s exacting standards. “This is going to set me up for a career in general. We have fun and that’s really what I like about NJROTC.” Jonathan agrees: “You put in work and you get a lot out of it. This is a very give-and-take organization.”

Southeast Guilford engaged in competitive skirmishes all around the country, including North Augusta, Georgia, Washington, D.C., and Sacramento, California. Cadets are expected to arrange financing for these excursions. “I wouldn’t call it a problem, it’s just something we have to do,” says Jonathan. “The communities around us help fund things we do, [GCS] has also helped us out.”

While school days commence at 9:30 a.m., JROTC cadets are expected to arrive for practice at 8. But, Joshua attests, “They really mean 7:45.” Weeks leading up to drill league competitions, squads might assemble as early as 2 a.m.

Fortitude and fastidiousness rarely go unnoticed beyond school grounds as Jonathan notes. “I was at my job and they were looking at me funny.” Mannered and exceptionally well-spoken, JROTC students naturally attract attention, desired or not. “So I had to explain to them what ROTC was, where I was in it, how good our school is. They call me ‘Commander’ at work now. It’s just a little awkward but really, it just tells people that they can depend on you.”

Both brothers credit an uncompromising upbringing for their dedication to service, an environment that was, “structured, a very organized household. Our mother brought us up in a way that says, ‘You can do anything you want to do if you put yourself up to it.’”

I later caught up with that proud (if a bit nudge-y) mother, Queen E. Sweeper, who told me about finding herself 41 and pregnant with twins 18 years ago, gripped with the realization that “as an African American mom, I’ll be raising them by myself.” She had her hands full. “I had to keep these young boys under control. I couldn’t take them a lot of places because they were off the chain.” A veteran herself, she issued a royal decree before her hellcats entered elementary school: “You’ll go into the military when you graduate high school, not college.” What if they didn’t wish to enlist? “My answer was, ‘You don’t have a choice!’” This Queen rules.

The Vanhooks could have easily been redirected into athletics. “They played football, baseball, they’ve wrestled, they’ve done it,” Sweeper says. But she had mentally mapped for uneven terrain ahead, swept for cultural minefields torpedoing Black youth, determined to avoid a rudderless voyage for her offspring “because we can still raise excellent young men. And mine have followed that path and look at where we are.”

The National Defense Act of 1916 established JROTC in our nation’s high schools. These days it boasts a curriculum tailored to every branch of the military.

Southeast Guilford’s program is administered by Capt. Frank Shearin (who retired in June of 2026) but most especially under the commanding presence of 1st Sgt. Thomas Hilliard, entering his 20th year teaching NJROTC at Southeast after two decades of service in the United States Marine Corps. The mission? Excavating authentic selves from cadets before life’s gale force winds trim their sails, unlocking unrecognized potential and releasing powerful capabilities and outstanding aptitudes that otherwise might become submerged under superficial peer pressure and society’s suffocating hum of low expectations.