We featured the United States Naval Sea Cadets Corps in the beginning of this month, sharing how even the youth are being given a taste of the Navy life. These youngsters usually take their Navy training and apply them to their daily lives. They are kids who maintain a high level of academic performance and make positive contributions to their respective communities. Yesterday, an article on edhat.com features three cadets who were recognized for outstanding achievement as they graduated from high school this month.

LTJG Dawn Rademacher, the commanding officer for the AIRPAC Squadron, congratulated and recognized the cadets during a ceremony in Santa Barbara. The accompanying stories to the three cadets below were lifted from LTJG Rademacher’s remarks during the ceremony, as featured on edhat.com.

Chief Petty Officer Cody Roberts recently graduated from the Bishop Garcia Diego High School. He joined the AIRPAC squadron in November 19, 2005, and has the distinction of being the only cadet in the AIRPAC squadron to reach the level of Chief Petty Officer. As featured in our previous post on the Sea Cadets, the cadets are provided with the opportunity to take advanced training courses of their choice, and CPO Roberts completed eight.

The second honoree was PO2 Tyler Bray, who graduated from the Santa Maria High School. He joined the Sea Cadets on December 10, 2005, and reached the rank of PO2 in January last year. Among the various accolades he received as a Sea Cadet is a commendation ribbon for participating in search and rescue efforts for an elderly Alzheimer’s patient who had gone missing for 40 hours, as well as a Physical Fitness ribbon for reaching Presidential Fitness Level and passing SEAL PT qualifications. PO2 Bray is set to attend Westmont College on a full ROTC scholarship.

The third honoree was PO2 Steven Zubiate, who finished high school at Righetti High School. He joined the Sea Cadets on September 21, 2006, and achieved the PO2 rank in March 2009. Like PO2 Bray, among his awards is the Physical Fitness ribbon for reaching Presidential Fitness Level and passing SEAL PT qualifications. This led to his acceptance into EOD/Dive Training in Norfolk, Virginia, which he is set to attend in July. Among his rather fitting future plans is to “enlist in the Navy and become a SEAL.”