On Feb. 6, the East Paulding High School Raider Air Force JROTC, Junior Reserve Officers Training Corp, Drill Team won the 2010 JROTC National Indoor Drill Team Unarmed Champions much to their surprise.

“It’s hard to judge how good you are while you’re constantly practicing,” said USAF Master Sgt. Jim Greene, aerospace science instructor.

The East Paulding High School Air Force JROTC, Drill Team, competed at The American Legion/Coca-Cola National Indoor Drill Team Championship at the Garrett Coliseum in Montgomery, Ala. They won first place in color guard, exhibition, and inspection. These wins gave them the highest aggregated score to earn the Unarmed Championship Title, competing against more than 40 of the best drill teams in the United States. They placed in the three out of four total events. All participating schools competed in the unarmed category, along with the select schools that competed in the two armed categories. The team’s success was a surprise to senior aerospace science instructor, retired USAF Col. Paul Neiheisel, because they defeated schools that have regularly won first place and national championships.

“We’ve competed every year for five years now and this is the best we’ve ever done here,” said Neiheisel.

Though the attention can fall upon the instructors, Neiheisel and Greene said the driving force of the drill team’s success is not on them, but on the cadets. There are 38 students on the drill team, with 126 students involved in the JROTC program. Neiheisel said that the students inherently become better once they put on the uniform. The cadets are responsible for each other, and hold each other accountable to do well and the senior students are leading the younger ones by setting the standards. Both Neiheisel and Greene stress that they are not a recruiting arm of the military, but more so a guidance force.

“The kids are the real driving force,” said Greene, “We’re just here to keep them out of trouble.”

This national title win is not the end for the drill team as they have a full plate of upcoming competitions within Georgia. The drill team has scheduled to compete at The Air Force National Championship on March 19, in Macon, Ga., and finally attend the National High School JROTC Drill Team Championship, in Daytona Beach, Fla., May 1. They competed for the Georgia State championships on March 6 at East Paulding High School placing second place overall, while winning first place in the unarmed categories of Color Guard, Regulation, and Inspection.