16 Units Compete at Virginia AFA’s 21st AFJROTC Drill Meet

The Annual Virginia State Air & Space Forces Association Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corp (AFJROTC) Drill Meet returned for its 21st year on April 25. Sixteen AFJROTC units competed, including Jefferson High School, the one school from West Virginia. It was held at Atlee High School in Mechanicsville, Va., near Richmond.

Virginia AFA turned out in strong support of the meet. A representative from every chapter attended, reflecting its commitment to helping young civic leaders learn and make a greater impact on our country wherever their careers take them. On Friday afternoon, personnel from the Richmond Chapter helped unload supplies and food, set up tables, and arrange the hospitality room. On Saturday, they helped tabulate scoring sheets, sell T-shirts and clean up afterward.

The 2026 meet was co-sponsored by the Richmond Chapter and the Scott Van Cleef Chapter. The meet was first organized by the Tidewater and Richmond Chapters over 20 years ago and has been held annually since, except in 2020 and 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic. The drill meet’s directors were Jay and Robin Thompson of the Scott Van Cleef Chapter.

The competition featured six events: Inspection, Color Guard, Unarmed Regulation, Armed Regulation, Unarmed Exhibition, and Armed Exhibition. The judges were members of the Langley Air Force Base Honor Guard.

The AFJROTC unit from Unity Reed High School in Manassas, Va., was the overall meet chamption. It was Unity Reed’s fifth straight victory as Virginia state champions, chasing the record holder, EC Glass High School, with seven straight wins.

Two Air Force recruiters from the local squadron spoke to the AFJROTC cadets about Air Force and Space Force opportunities.

After observing the cadets in action, Richmond Chapter President Harper Alford said, “I was greatly impressed with the enthusiasm and excitement the cadets showed not only to their individual unit’s performers in the competition events, but also to the other AFJROTC units during the awards ceremony.”