Raucous cheers and shouts bounced around the field as NJROTC Commanding Officer Matteus Juza (12), Operations Officer Zoey Reese Espiritu (12), and Master Chief Samuel Kim (12) played capture the flag with new NJROTC recruits, sprinting the length of the field with cadets at their heels, Aug. 8. The morning’s timid cadets had transformed into bold team players, running the length of the field with military-like grit for their capture the flag team.
A few days before the start of school, NJROTC hosted its annual NS1 (Naval Science 1) Academy, an introductory one-day camp for incoming freshmen (NSIs) joining the unit. Juza said the event gives new recruits a chance to learn more about NJROTC, exploring things such as marching drills to physical training.
“It’s a day in the summertime where the NS1s can experience what it’s like to be in ROTC,” Juza said. “They have very basic drill opportunities to introduce them to the program before the school year actually starts.”
While the NS1 Academy is not a new event at Westview, the incoming NJROTC senior staff took a new approach to the event. Kim said that they placed a higher emphasis on team bonding and community over traditional military aspects.
“[In NJROTC,] we use military culture as a way to teach lessons, but at the end of the day, we’re all high- schoolers,” Kim said. “[Military culture involves] the way we talk, report, write, and conduct ourselves with discipline, which may be a little shocking to people who have never seen it before. So we tried to limit that and do more engaging things that they are already used to, like capture the flag.”
From 8 a.m. to 3:15 p.m., new cadets engaged in a series of team-building activities, ranging from simple icebreakers to heated tug-of-war matches. NS1 Aashi Iyer (9) said that the experience gave her a foundational understanding of NJROTC.
“It was like a preview of [NJROTC],” Iyer said. “It helped me with the basics of drill, learning about [physical training], and what we might be doing later on. [Because of NS1 Academy,] I got used to certain things faster, like saying ‘ma’am’ or ‘sir.’”
Outside of drills, Iyer said that NS1 Academy was important in introducing her to the unit as a whole.
“I learned a lot about how it would be going forward, and I think that made me really interested in it,” she said. “It was fun to get to know everyone and learn why they decided to join. I was a little intimidated at first, but afterwards, I felt like this is going to be a really good place for me to grow and change.”
Iyer said that she believes NS1 Academy is a formative opportunity for incoming freshmen like herself.
“It might be a little confusing or overwhelming if you’re getting thrust into it all at once on the first day,” Iyer said. “So having that one day of just slowly learning about it and getting incorporated into it can really help you adjust.”
As NS1 Academy progressed, Espiritu said she witnessed a strong community beginning to take shape.
“In the beginning, [the cadets] were all super shy and nervous, and none of them talked to each other,” Espiritu said. “But in the end, we saw that they started forming bonds and friendships, which was cool. Right at the end, when they were all leaving, I saw them waiting for each other and talking as they exited the room. As they were leaving, they still had that bond.”
Kim said that he witnessed this community taking shape during an icebreaker where Juza asked questions to the new cadets. When he ran out of questions, the NS1s jumped in to continue the activity.
“I was really happy to see them taking initiative, especially because that’s something we emphasize a lot in ROTC,” Kim said. “The fact that they’re already picking up on that is a really good sign.”
In the weeks leading up to NS1 Academy, the officers met up often to lay out the specifics. Juza said planning out and executing the event with the senior officers felt like a full-circle moment.
“We did that event as freshmen, and now we’re the ones teaching,” Juza said. “[NS1 Academy] was our first event as the 2025-2026 staff, so it felt like we’d come so far from being the NS1s we are now teaching.”
To Juza, NJROTC is not just about the military and leadership; it is about building a close-knit community.
“We live and breathe as one,” Juza said. “For me, it’s my home base. [In NJROTC], you always have this safe place where you know you can go at any time. The people are always great, and everyone’s always looking out for each other. There’s always someone to tutor you in math or help you with French or even look over your resume. I feel like that’s the most important thing about ROTC.”
Kim said he is looking forward to watching the new cadets grow in NJROTC this year and absorb the discipline, perseverance, and integrity that the program emphasizes.
“I really want them to take this class where they can learn life lessons and apply it to all other aspects of their lives,” Kim said. “To me, [NJROTC] is like a small miniature of the world. You are able to experience everything that you’re going to experience in society. Whenever you go to college, whenever you go to work, whenever you get a job, you’re gonna do these things [that we do in NJROTC]. It’s like a tutorial.”
