COASTAL OBSERVER

Nearly 20 students at Waccamaw High School will be the first in the school’s history to sport Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps uniforms.

The Army JROTC program will kick off this spring semester at Waccamaw High since principal David Hammel made an initial pitch to the district office almost two decades ago.

“I’m excited to get to be a part of it and to see it start now after something that was really just a dream of our community and our stakeholders and our students,” Hammel said. “I’m looking forward to what it can be and to see it actually come into place, to see those students in uniform for the first time this spring.”

He said he has high hopes that more students will jump on the JROTC bandwagon as they may adjust their schedules when they returned to school last week.

Waccamaw became the final high school in Georgetown County School District to introduce JROTC, launching the district’s only Army JROTC program.

Georgetown and Andrews High offer Navy JROTC programs. Carvers Bay High offers Marine Corps JROTC. The Air Force JROTC is the only military branch Georgetown County schools do not have, and the Coast Guard does not have a JROTC program.

Ernest Lambert, a 1999 Georgetown High graduate and retired Army sergeant first class, was hired as the program’s military instructor last month. He was a cadet in Georgetown’s program under Petty Officer Charles Clark.

“He gave me so many skills, and I fell in love with JROTC back then,” he said. “I’m actually very excited to hopefully get to see him for the first time since I graduated.”

Lambert joined the Army in 2002 and served in three combat tours, totaling 42 months of deployment. He received his bachelor’s degree in secondary education at the University of Kentucky, where he was an adjunct professor of military science and Army ROTC from 2017 to 2021. Lambert retired from the Army in 2022 and shifted to teach JROTC in Irvine, Ky. He currently resides in Andrews.

James Stephenson, a retired colonel who served 30 years in the Army in various roles, is due to join in early February as the senior Army instructor once he receives clearance from the military to teach. He said he wanted to get involved with the community after moving to Pawleys Island in 2022.

Stephenson is currently volunteering at the school to start developing connections with Lambert and the students.

“I’m doing what I can behind the scenes,” he said.

Lambert said he is interested in offering co-curriculars such as archery, color guard and marksmanship clubs once the program attracts more students.

Hammel said he has confidence in Lambert and Stephenson to build and grow the program from the ground up.

“This is really going to be a soft launch for us here in the spring. They’re going to really be recruiting, I think, hard in the spring for next year,” Hammel said. “We feel like having these two people in place are going to be, sort of, anchors for this program to allow it to really grow and be competent.”

Hammel said the program will fill a hole in Waccamaw’s curriculum that will benefit students beyond academics and high school.

“A lot of people think this is a recruitment tool for the military. It really isn’t. This is all about teaching students character, integrity, leadership,” he said. “There will be some students that come into this program and just say, ‘I want to be a part of the military.’ But for a large portion of our students, it’s going to be leadership development.”

Lambert and Stephenson agreed that the program is not a recruitment tool for the military. Lambert said it’s about instilling discipline and confidence in the cadets.

“It’s about creating better citizens. I’ve had a lot of good, active students that really loved JROTC because we were able to help them get into trade school and a lot of other programs,” he said. “A lot of these kids, they need someone that’s going to be in their corner to say, ‘yes, you can do these things, and this is how we can help you get there.’ That’s really important.”

Stephenson said that the program also serves as exposure to different career avenues. He transitioned from being an Army aviator to the grain industry and to corporate offices.

“No matter what path you’re going to go, you’re better prepared,” Stephenson added. “You know, opportunities present themselves.”

Hammel submitted a proposal for an Air Force JROTC program to the district office in 2008, when he first became principal. The state had overallocated JROTC programs at that time, he said, and former principal Adam George suggested Army JROTC because there are more instructors available for that branch.

“We had a better shot of getting a program off the ground because these instructors are very hard to find and very hard to get cleared through the military,” Hammel said.

Hammel returned as interim principal in 2023 when George was removed as principal following a senior prank that involved students entering and vandalizing the school overnight. That led Hammel to resurrect the idea for an Army JROTC program in 2024. 

The school board allocated approximately $385,000 for Waccamaw’s program to cover the cost of instructors, equipment and supplies for three years. It will cost the district $180,000 a year going forward. 

The program was intended to start in the fall of 2024 when Waccamaw was accepted. Hammel said the delay since the recent pitch was to secure two certified instructors.

Hammel returned to the high school for a second term last September, filling in for Hunter Eddy who retired as principal due to health reasons. Eddy, a former Army helicopter pilot, was another major proponent for the program. 

Hammel said he is blessed to see the program come to fruition.

“It’s been a real slow process,” he said. “It’s one of the best investments that they could have made.”

“We’re optimistic. Hopefully we can rise to the expectations,” Stephenson said.