Local News - August 2003

Military vets team up for ROTC program

First year at WLHS

By JEREMY ASHTON, LTN Staff Writer

 Navy Lt. Cmdr. Karl Jordan and retired Coast Guard Chief Bill Shipley just met one day last week; they were finishing each other’s sentences by the next day.

The two quickly started thinking on the same wavelength — a good thing considering how much work is ahead of them in the next week. They have until Thursday to finish preparations for West Lincoln High School’s first year of Navy Junior ROTC.

“I’m really excited because I think (Jordan) and I are going to make a great team, and I think that’s going to be a good foundation to build on for the kids,” Shipley said.

Every Navy ROTC program is led by two retired service personnel, one of whom can be from the Coast Guard or Marine Corps. The senior position is filled by a former officer, while someone from the ranks of the enlisted takes the other.

Shipley, the enlisted man, brings four years of ROTC experience to West.

His previous school, McDowell High in Marion, had one of the top-rated Navy ROTC programs in the country. The challenge of starting a new unit, however, lured him to West.

Shipley considers himself lucky to have had a “pretty cool” career in the Coast Guard.

He served for a couple of years in Washington as the leading petty officer in the Coast Guard Presidential Honor Guard. His last assignment before retiring was serving as an enlisted aide to the Atlantic area commander, a three-star admiral.

Jordan is the higher ranking of the two instructors but is new to ROTC. His career in the Navy didn’t end until this week, so he’s been traveling a lot between Lincoln County and Norfolk, Va.

In the brief time they’ve known each other, Shipley has developed a healthy respect for his fellow instructor. Jordan enlisted in the Navy like his counterpart and gradually worked his way up to being officer.

During his 23 years in the Navy, Jordan served on six ships. He ran patrol boats for two years and was part of a Naval construction unit called the Seabees for three.

With his career coming to a close, he wanted to become an ROTC instructor to pass on his knowledge of the Navy. He’s anxious to delve into subjects like Navy history, oceanography and navigation with students.

“I can take seven stars and put my position on the earth and figure out how to get to the next point,” he said. “I get excited about that.”

Both men are quick to stress they will not be running a recruiting program for the Navy. Jordan and Shipley said ROTC is more about teaching students valuable leadership and life skills whether they want to join the military or not.

To do that, the two may be involved in students’ lives more than any other staff member at West — and sometimes more than the students would like.

If a member of the drill team gets suspended from school, for example, the student can expect to hear about it in ROTC because it “just affected 30 other people,” Jordan said.

“Are we tough on kids sometimes? Absolutely, and yes, they are going to rise to the occasion,” Shipley said. “But with that said, I care an awful lot about the kids.”

For the last few days, Jordan and Shipley have been bouncing ideas for the program off each other.

They will start a color guard and would like to have a commissioning ceremony to dedicate the unit. Jordan wants to start a sailing club and take students out to Lake Norman. Shipley has talked about entering orienteering and rifle competitions.

Despite all their plans, they insist none of this can happen without help.

“The ones that are going to carry the force forward are the parents, the kids, the town, the administrators because that’s what it’s all here for,” Shipley said.

The community, which will benefit from the color guard and community service activities, must support the program, Jordan and Shipley said. They’ll need fund-raising support for extracurricular activities and contributions like hangers for uniforms.

More importantly, students will have to want to participate.

Some will be so interested in ROTC that it will become the most important thing in their lives, the instructors said. Others may not be that dedicated, but Jordan and Shipley think the program can provide something for all of them.

And by the end of the school year, they hope all of their students will be as proud to wear the uniforms as they are.

“I walk into a room like this, (Shipley) walks in like that, and you know what, we’re the special people,” Jordan said.

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Staff Writer Jeremy Ashton can be reached at 704-735-3031 or jashton@tnews.com.

© 2001 Lincoln Times-News  

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