Rockport - Fulton Strong!

The unit at Rockport-Fulton High School was officially commissioned on May 2010 for the 2009 - 2010 school year.  The Plank Owner instructors were, Captain Jeffery Carlson, United States Navy (Retired) and Senior Chief Emilio Del Rio, United States Navy (Retired).  Both instructors are credited for creating a solid foundation of excellence here at our NJROTC annex and have since retired from teaching but are still actively involved with their local NJROTC units.

Since inception the RFHS NJROTC unit has qualified for the NJROTC Area 10 Texas State Championship Drill Meet.  The first year was a building year and the program was not eligible to compete in it's first year, however the unit was very competitive and driving to Navy Nationals finishing in the top 10 respectively from 2014 - 2017.  Although  the Pirates have not qualified for Navy Nationals to date, this unit has steadily been progressing while facing challenges head on!  In 2018 RFHS finished 16th after a devastating Hurricane Harvey season and one new Naval Science Instructor.  In 2019 the competitive fever was rejuvenated after a very difficult summer and a loss of two instructors, when Senior Chief Emilio Del Rio returned to revive the program with a newly hired Naval Officer, Lieutenant Commander Jose Luis Sanchez, Medical Service Corps, United States Navy (Retired).  Although finishing 15th in 2019 a new team and newfound commitment to the program was established by a new bread of cadets. 

In 2020 RFHS NJROTC returned to state finishing 8th overall.  This was a huge leap to where they were in 2019!     They won 1st Place at the Corpus Christi Invitational Drill Meet and the Coastal Bend Classic beating the defending Area 10 State Champions.  Every area of their competition improved since the 2019 Area 10 Texas State Drill Meet to include: Drill from 7th to 6th, Physical Fitness from 16th to 10th, Academics 15th to 9th, and Inspection 9th to 5th.  Overall Drill Team results also improved from 7th to 6th in 2020:  Color Guard from 9th to 6th, Armed Basic 7th to 3rd, Unarmed Basic 15th to 10th, Armed Exhibition from 6th to 5th, Armed Commander from 5th to 4th and Unarmed Commander from 13th to 4th.  These are huge strides for RFHS NJROTC, especially since welcoming a new Naval Science Instructor, Chief Christian Salas, United States Navy (Retired) and although Senior Chief Del Rio retired again in 2019, he continues to volunteer and show his support to the RFHS NJROTC program as a coach.

See you all at Texas A&M University, College Station in 2021!