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| Matthew Bullard & Kortaize Gilyard |
Three days after school was back in session, on a Saturday
when most were catching those extra hours of sleep after an exciting first week of school, Matthew Bullard and Kortaize
Gilyard were already sitting in another classroom at 7 AM.
While the school was quiet everywhere else, the JROTC wing resonated with rifle
safety terms and rules, team procedures and the infamous safety exam. Before a
cadet can even touch a rifle they must undertake and pass the Civilian
Marksmanship Program’s extremely rigorous safety exam with nothing less than a
score of 100%. Cadets only get two attempts to pass the exam with a perfect
score. Anything less and they are sent home. The stress is palpable when the
examinees are told “Begin!” Once the exam is complete, the stress however does
not end as the “wanna-be’s” must then negotiate 10 hours of hands-on training
and a series of shooting tests, ultimately concluding with a 1 hour and 15
minute scored competition during which only the top competitors “survive the
cut” to be members of the Blazer Rangers Rifle Team. At the end of an extremely
long day when the door to the rifle range opened and the day nearly gone, two cadets
emerged victorious in their quest to become the two newest members of the
Blazer Rangers. Please congratulate cadets Matthew Bullard and Kortaize
Gilyard.
