Cadets plan mini training cruise

Dick Benoit

Thursday, Dec. 7, 2000 | 10:21 a.m.

A fleet will weigh anchor in Clark County over Christmas break, when Navy Junior ROTC cadets from Las Vegas area high schools, along with California high schools in Redding, South Tahoe, Torrance and Fontana, head to sea on the open waters of Lake Mead.

The cadets will muster in at two sessions. One group will assemble at Echo Bay Resort for four days of "at sea" training, while the other group reports Dec. 18 for two days of training at Clark High School.

The faculty cadre and cadets of Clark High School's Navy JROTC, along with parents and other volunteers, are hosting the mini boot camp and cruise. Following two days of training at Clark, the cadets there will travel to Lake Mead, and the cadets at Lake Mead will report to Clark for ashore training.

The 54-foot houseboats at Echo Bay will be organized similar to a Navy ship with a cadet captain, executive officer and crew, according to Marine Lt. Col. Ron Rogers, naval science instructor at Clark. Retired Navy and Marine Corps personnel will instruct the cadets in navigation, boat handling, deck seamanship, communications and leadership. Training at Clark High School will include physical training, military drill and first aid.

Green Valley grad earns wings

Jennifer L. Woodall, a 1993 Green Valley High School graduate, recently graduated from Joint Undergraduate Navigator Training at Randolph Air Force Base near San Antonio. The graduate also received her U.S. Air Force wings.

The Air Force second lieutenant is the daughter of Col. James and Cora Woodall of Henderson and a 1998 graduate of Clemson University.

The 24-week joint flying training course prepares Air Force, Navy and international graduates for navigator or naval flight officer duties in airlift, tanker, transport and patrol type aircraft. Training consists of academics, simulator and flight training in navigation systems and procedures; and celestial, global and maritime navigation.

Foreign presence

Navy officials report that at least three Las Vegas sailors are part of an ongoing "forward-deployed" effort to maintain a continuous presence in foreign waters.

Unlike most U.S. Navy ships, which periodically deploy to overseas regions from U.S. home ports, these vessels and crews spend long periods at sea near areas of potential conflict. Michael Gilbert, Eric Relph and Erik Roybal of Las Vegas are part of that effort.

Gilbert, a 1998 Las Vegas Academy graduate, is serving aboard the destroyer USS O'Brien. Son of Lawrence and Catherine Gilbert of Las Vegas, the seaman is a personnel specialist.

Relph, a 1988 Clark High School graduate, serves as the leading quartermaster and assistant navigator aboard the guided missile cruiser USS Cowpens. The first class petty officer is the son of Jerry Relph of Las Vegas.

Roybal, the son of Danny and Diane Sims of Las Vegas, is an aviation weapons handler aboard the aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk.

Barring the need to respond to a conflict, the crew of the Kitty Hawk and rest of the forward-deployed group will spend at least some of the holiday season in port at Yokosuka, Japan.