They’ve seen the movies and heard the stories about life aboard
a naval ship.
Hollister – They’ve seen the movies and heard the stories about life aboard a naval ship.
Now a group of 25 San Benito High School students will get a small taste of life in the Navy with a trip to the San Diego Naval Station where they will see Navy Seals training, tour the bay in a navy vessel and visit airplane squadrons.
“This is a good chance for the students to look at the full spectrum of what the Navy does and the range of career options it provides,” said Cmdr. Dean Whetstine, who teaches Navy Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps classes at the high school.
The purpose of the trip, scheduled for Jan. 26, is not to encourage students to join the military but rather to teach them important life skills such as leadership and responsibility using a military model, Whetstine said. Every morning students will wake up on the floating berthing barge, go for a brisk run before the sun comes up and then don a Navy uniform which they will wear throughout their days in San Diego. The group, which includes eight girls, will not do any training, but will observe Navy Seals in action and visit the naval Air Station and the Submarine and amphibious bases before returning to Hollister three days later.
The trip is the first of its kind for the high school and costs a little more than $3,000, most of which is paid for by the students. The Navy Junior ROTC class has been a part of the high school since 2002.
About 110 students are involved in the ROTC program, which was established to encourage teens nationwide to become physically active, learn citizenship skills and discipline. In class, besides learning about the Navy, students march, learn appropriate salutes and receive military-like awards and ribbons.
“We use military drills to teach kids to control their bodies and to be quiet when someone is talking,” said Whetstine.
Prior to teaching at San Benito High School, Whetstine spent 24 years on board ships traveling to all parts of the world. He was posted on special assignment in the Pentagon and served on diplomatic duty at the US Embassy in Tokyo. But after an illustrious career in the Navy, he was ready to explore the world of education, he said.
Whetstine hopes that students will come with a renewed appreciation for the American Navy as a sophisticated and complex branch of the Armed Forces. “We want to show them the high standards that are required to be a part of it,” he said.
