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Young Marines join encampment at Westover

Pvt. Zach Ebert and Lance Cpl. Corey Hennebery, both representing Westover's Young Marine unit, participated in the first aid competition, attending to the mock leg wounds of Pvt. Paige LaFlamme of the Three Rivers Young Marines unit. Reminder Publications photo by Lori O'Brien
By Lori O'Brien

Correspondent



The Westover Young Marines had a banner weekend.

During the Southern New England Regimental Encampment competition at Westover Air Reserve Base this past weekend, the Westover Young Marines were the only unit of the nine participating to place in all competitions. More than 100 Young Marines (YM) from across southern New England competed in a variety of activities ranging from Color Guard, field meets and drill competitions to basic first aid skills, YM knowledge and orienteering.

The weekend began on Friday night as units arrived and set up a "Tent City" in the Dogpatch area at Westover. Once all units were settled in it was time for Sgt. Maj. Edward Mitrook, USMCR, Commanding Officer, to review the rules and regulations for the weekend encampment.

By 11 p.m. it was lights out for most of the YM's, with the exception of two YM's every hour who conducted fire watches accompanied by an adult. Also during the evening, a regimental encampment staff meeting of the Commanding Officers, Executive Officers and Senior YM's met to discuss the weekend plans and training schedule.

Under cloudy skies, the morning reveille at 7 on Saturday started off the day, followed by formation promptly at 7:45. By 8 a.m., Morning Colors was observed at the flag pole, followed by chow in the pavilion. The YM Regimental Staff determined the order of chow, based on their decision of the "best ditty" done by each unit, according to Sgt. Maj. Mitrook. Dennis Rivard (RIYM) was the "kitchen commander" and head cook for the weekend.

During an interview with Reminder Publications, Pvt. Danny Farias, 12, of Chicopee, explained one of Westover's ditties was based on the theme music from The Addams Family television show.

At 9:30 the Color Guard and drill competitions were underway and among those participating from the Westover unit were Pfc. Christiana Jamroz, 12, of Chicopee, and Pfc. Brittney Ala, 13, of Westfield. Both Pfc. Jamroz and Pfc. Ala have been YM's for nine months.

Morning competitions wrapped up at noon and once again the chow order was determined by the "best ditty" as judged by the Regimental YM staff.

From the Command Post, Sgt. Maj. Mitrook kept an eagle eye on all of the logistics, however, it was the Senior YM's who kept the competitions on schedule and the events flowing smoothly.

After chow the sun broke out and temperatures reached the mid 80's. By 1:30 p.m. there were more competitions and team-building exercises for the YM's to experience. YM's who were not participating in the land navigation or first aid competitions were lined up and had to count off "1-2-3-4-5, 1-2-3-4-5," and were then broken into five team-building teams who had to use their training in communications to accomplish the task put in front of them as a team.

The Westover YM's who were eager to speak to Reminder Publications said the team-building exercises are always a surprise for them. All also agreed that one of the benefits of the yearly encampment is to interact with other unit members from across the region.

"We also get to have fun," said Pfc. Jamroz.

"We're also all psyched to do well," added Pvt. Jacob Wilson, 10, of Chicopee, who has been a member of Westover's unit for two years.

All too soon the afternoon competitions came to an end and the day began to wind down. After evening chow, the remaining competition a YM knowledge test was underway, and for those not participating, a movie was shown.

On Sunday morning after formation, an awards ceremony was conducted to acknowledge those YM units that won in various competitions. Westover YM awards were: drill, first place; Color Guard, first place; first aid, third place; land navigation, second place; knowledge, third place, and physical fitness, third place.

Westover's YM unit consists of Pfc. Brittney Ala, Westfield; Sgt. Michael Cosgrove, Wallingford, Conn.; Sgt. Sheila Cosgrove, both of Wallingford, Conn.; Pfc. Luis Crespo of Springfield; LCpl Ryan Dolan, Granby; Pvt. Dylan Donze, South Hadley; Pvt. Zachary Ebert, Lee; Pvt. Daniel Farias, Chicopee; Sgt. Jason Franciosa, East Longmeadow; SSgt. Justin Gelgut, Westfield; SSgt. Mackenzie Godbout, South Hadley; LCpl. Corey Hennebery, Belchertown; Pvt. Katherine Hennebery, Belchertown; Pfc. Christiana Jamroz, Chicopee; Pvt. Gregory Lambert, Jr., Springfield; GySgt. Megan Leahan, Northampton; LCpl Shaun Leahan, Northampton; SSgt. Nicole Miller, Enfield, Conn.; Pvt. Jacob Reilly-Wilson, Chicopee; Pfc. Samuel Rexer, Blandford; LCpl Emysha Robles, Springfield; LCpl Amanda Santa, Springfield; 1st Sgt. Stephaine Stetson, Chicopee; Cpl. Joseph Titus, East Windsor, Conn.; Cpl. Christopher Twining, Hampden; Pfc. Tiffany Veguilla, Holyoke, and Pfc. Ian White, Agawam.

For more information on Westover's YM Unit, contact Sgt. Maj. Mitrook at (413) 525-0924 or via email at usmce9ed@charter.net.