We are proud of all of our cadets when they successfully take on the challenge of Sea Cadet Advanced Training. We are especially proud when one of our cadets is named the Honor Cadet of their training contingent. BZ to Cadet PO3 Paul Conroy, who was named Honor Cadet in Submarine School (Advanced) at Naval Base Kitsap and the Trident Training Facility Bangor, WA. 

Cadets at the two-week training course learned fundamentals of engineering for communication systems, fire control, sonar, hydraulics, air systems, ballast/compensation/trim and drain. They were also able to navigate a simulated submarine, using the same bridge and control room simulators used by US Navy submariners. A highlight of the school was a tour of the USS Pensylvania (SSBN-735), including visits to the missile compartment, missile control center, officers' wardroom, control room, torpedo room and more.

PO3 Conroy thought that Submarine School was the most authentic training he has experienced of the six he has attended. He enjoyed being trained by active-duty sailors using real equipment on an operating Naval base. Unfortunately, most of the training was conducted where cameras are not allowed, so we do not have many photos to share on this post.

However, Submarine School was not PO3 Conroy's only summer training. He also attended a two-week Master-at-Arms school in Riverside, CA, where he was trained by a number of civilian and military police forces, including Marines from the Special Reaction Team at Camp Pendleton. The photos below provide just a taste of the training opportunities available to Sea Cadets.

Three of the Alamo Battalion's Sea Cadets learned a range of seamanship skills at Texas A&M University in Galveston Texas. The Alamo Battalion's Cadet PO3 Isaac Arredondo, Cadet PO3 Christavella Arredondo and Cadet SN Paola Quintanilla practiced navigation, damage-control and other seamanship skills during a one-week training.

Cadets participated in an advanced shipboard navigation simulator, learning how to navigate a large open ocean vessel.  Cadets also drove high speed vessels in response to emergencies, learned how to plot navigation on charts, and we able to go underway in a merchant marine vessel.

Bravo Zulu, cadets! 

Some of the toughest advanced training in the Sea Cadets is at the Naval Special Warfare Orientation Course in Panama City, Florida. The Alamo Battalion congratulates Cadet Seaman Apprentice Zachary Vasquez on earning the NSCC Special Warfare Combatant-Craft Crewman (SWCC) Device, marking him among the elite of the Sea Cadet Corps.

Cadets in NSWOC training are in either the SEAL, SWCC or EOD Tracks, each of which is conducted in four phases: ​Conditioning, Water Operations, Land Warfare, and Scenarios. Of course, cadets get wet and sandy.

Later, cadets from all tracks receive firearms training. SEAL and EOD cadets are familiarized with explosive demolition and explosive breaching demonstrations. SWCC Cadets participate in waterborne boat operations including insertion/extractions/cover techniques and Boat maintenance.

All NSWOC cadets participate in squad contact drills, E&E Drills, operational planning, communication, navigation, and other classes relating to the specific training tracks.

BZ to Cadet SA Vasquez and all his shipmates in the NSWOC 2019 graduating class. To learn more about NSWOC training in the Sea Cadets, visit their website at nswoc.org.

In the Sea Cadets, summer is training season. The Alamo Battalion's cadets have travelled coast-to-coast this summer for advanced training. We are so proud of what they've accomplished that the next few posts will highlight some of what our cadets have been doing.

The Alamo Battalion is hosting the Petty Officer Leadership Academy this week, and what could be more appropriate than a trip to the Alamo. Twenty cadets from New Jersey to California came to the Alamo City to make the transition from Sea Cadet followers to Sea Cadet leaders. They studied a variety of subjects to prepare them for their anticipated promotions to leadership billets in their home units, learned from the experience of Army and Marine Corps combat veterans, and had fun practicing marksmanship, small boating, and doing lots of PT.