To the moon and back

VILSECK, Germany – Cadets from the Vilseck High School 18th JROTC “Falcon” Battalion set their sights on another national title and traveled to Johnson City, Tennessee to compete in the National Robot/Drone League Competition. Cadets had been designing, building, and testing their robot and drones for over four months. This was the first time cadets will not only have to apply skills in getting their robot and drones to work in tandem to accomplish several missions, but they also got firsthand experience in taking part in an actual mission being conducted by NASA.

The Artemis program was designed to not only return to the moon but to build a functional lunar base that will sustain human life. The team tested their coding and piloting skills to perform tasks that will be critical in establishing a base and providing a platform that can conduct groundbreaking research, harvest lunar resources and test new technologies.

“I love working with robotics and engineering, my dream career is to become an aerospace engineer,” said team captain Cadet Staff Sergeant Kaleb Bischof. “For me to be as successful as I want to be it is going to take lots of practice. Working with robotics has helped me immensely with teamwork and communications skills by allowing other team members and myself to work on a common project and to work through a myriad of ideas and problem-solving challenges with people we normally would not even converse with. I personally have seen myself grow my leadership skills and the ability to truly value the input and vision from all my teammates. And to know that what we are doing is related to a real-world project, just ups the stakes and makes us want to push harder.”

In 1961, President John F. Kennedy challenged Americans with the goal of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to earth. On 20 July, 1969, astronauts with the Apollo 11 mission completed the first part of that task with these simple words, “One small step for man, One giant leap for mankind.” They completed the second half four days later with a splash down in the Pacific Ocean. The cadets from Vilseck were looking to keep that spirit alive in their work. “We are on our way to pushing the needle forward,” said teammate Cadet Private Dominick Valadez.

The cadets from Vilseck, along with cadets from Ansbach High School, travelled the furthest to work alongside cadets from Revere, Belleville, James Hillhouse, and McNair High Schools. Cadets got to speak directly with the top leadership from the United States Army Cadet Command, BAE Systems, Engineers from NASA, and sponsors from the Glenn W. Bailey foundation.

At the end of the day, young people from a myriad of backgrounds, honeybee together and communicate, collaborate, problem-solve, and celebrate overcoming challenges and laying the groundwork for the challenges yet to come. Although they did not bring home the top title, the knowledge, experience, camaraderie, and the drive to keep the title in sight, has set the path for next year's tournament. The mission for 2026/2027 has been announced and its about to get even hotter with the Emergency Urban Rescue where teams will step into the role of first responders.