On Saturday, January 23, 2015, PMA’s freshman drill team and color guard competed in their first citywide drill competition.

The competition was held at Harlan High school, where both teams had to rise up to the challenge and compete against other drill and color guard teams from various JROTC programs throughout the city.

Freshman Destiny Ortega is the Drill Commander for the Drill Team at PMA. During the competition, she upheld a big responsibility by leading her platoon and executing commands that led the Freshman Drill Team to place in the competition.

“The team and I won third place overall within the competition and third place overall for individual drill,” said Ortega.

This is Ortega’s first time being a drill commander. Leading her platoon to victory, she marched the Freshman Drill Team to their first platoon drill award in nine years.

“Placing in the competition was a very fun experience for me! With only just one month of practice, we were able to do more than what we expected,” said Ortega.

Not only did the freshman drill team compete, but PMA’s Freshman Color Guard marched to success as well.

“The freshman color guard won second place in the competition. We accomplished a lot by placing in the competition and bringing the gold back home to Phoenix,” said freshman Color Guard Commander Jeffrey Ren.

Placing second in the Color Guard competition was no easy task. The four individuals who make up the color guard team spent a lot of practice time making sure that their commands are concise and their steps precise.

“While many students were at home playing video games or relaxing, we came to the school during winter break and practiced non-stop. Everyday of the week, we practice from 6:30am to 7:15am,” said Ren.

Both the Drill Team and Color Guard Team placing in the citywide drill competition was a huge accomplishment for not only those who competed, but the entire Battalion here at PMA.