Randolph-Macon Academy Air Force JROTC Unit Receives Distinguished Unit Award with Merit

The 091st Virginia Air Force Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (AFJROTC) at Randolph-Macon Academy has received the Distinguished Unit Award (DUA) with Merit from AFJROTC Headquarters. The Randolph-Macon unit is one of only 81 units to win the DUA with Merit. There are 863 AFJROTC units worldwide; this puts Randolph-Macon’s unit in the top 9.4%.  

“A unit can only win the DUA with Merit in the year they have had an external assessment,” explained Senior Aerospace Instructor Lt Col R.G. McManus. “This marks the sixth year in a row we have won an award.”

Senior Aerospace Instructor Lt Col R.G. McManus '80, P'08, '13, Cadet Corps Commander Ben Gillis '14, Cadet Vice Corps Commander Grace Alexander '14, and R-MA President Maj Gen Maury Forsyth place the Air Force JROTC Distinguished Unit with Merit ribbon on the R-MA flag.

Another 233 units earned the DUA and 70 units earned the Outstanding Organizational Award.  A total of 384 JROTC units won an award (44%) for this school year.

The overall rating from HQ JROTC report established R-MA as “Exceeds Standards”, though it is broken up into eight sections including Compliance, Instructor Performance, Equipment Management, Curriculum, Cadet Operations, Unit Operations, and Special Interest Items.  Of these categories, R-MA met the standards for each of them and exceeded standards for Instructor Performance, Cadet Operations, and Unit Operations. R-MA competed for this award against 883 others schools with over 117,000 cadets.

R-MA faculty and staff worked diligently to perform with the utmost excellence.  Therefore, receiving such an award displays R-MA’s excellence in the AFJROTC Program. R-MA has received the Distinguished Unit Award 16 times in the last 30 years, and of those16 times, R-MA received the “with merit” distinction in 2012 and 2009.

As indicated by this award, R-MA AFJROTC instructors worked ardently to perform to their best abilities. For this, each instructor received the Outstanding Instructor of the Year Award.  This marks the third time McManus, MSgt Doug French, and MSgt Stephen Pederson have earned this award. Furthermore, the instructors prepared the cadets to do the same.  French explained, “It was a great honor to receive the awards.  The cadets deserve it as much as we do. They worked hard to get it.”

Randolph-Macon Academy (R-MA), founded in 1892, is a college-preparatory, coeducational day and boarding school for students in grades 6 through 12.  Students in grades 9-12 participate in R-MA’s 91st Air Force Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (JROTC) and have the option to participate in a unique flight program. R-MA is affiliated with the United Methodist Church and is located in Front Royal, VA.

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