The North Penn JROTC met last Wednesday during their unit meeting to celebrate cadet achievements throughout the year.
The celebration, called the Commander’s Call, is held twice a year. In addition to celebrating the cadets’ achievements, they also celebrated Chief Doris Sullivan’s pending retirement and announced that the AF JROTC cadets will be flying to Normandy, France this June to march in the D-Day parade.
Sullivan enlisted into the U.S. Air Force on Oct. 5, 1982. She was stationed at several different bases across the country and in Europe, including California, Texas, Germany, South Carolina, and retired after 25 years of service. She applied to become an instructor for North Penn’s JROTC in 2007.
“Even though I absolutely love the military, I've been wearing the United States Air Force uniform for 39 years, so I'm looking forward to hanging that up,” Sullivan said. “It's bittersweet. I love my job at North Penn as the JROTC instructor.”
Sullivan would spend two hours a day commuting to work for the past 15 years. While the long commute is something she definitely won’t miss, she will miss her cadets, Major Jean-Andre Parmiter, and the rest of the North Penn community. For her final Commander’s Call, Sullivan was given an Air Force flag from the squires and an American flag from her cadets after the formal flag folding ceremony.
The program instills the values of the Air Force in the 100 cadets who are a part of it.
“1,500 young people's lives have been touched by Chief Sullivan and taking those skills, commitment, integrity into their adult life,” NP AFJROTC Squires Treasurer Tanis Marquette said. “It's just an amazing career to have spent 25 years in the Air Force, and then finish 15 more years dedicated to instilling those values in young people. North Penn has just been exceedingly fortunate to have had somebody with her level of commitment for so many years.”
Cadet Colonel Liam Lynch said, “Chief Sullivan has a personality that you always want to be around.”
“In my four years of being with the core chief, [she] has always been there for us. She [has] always put the cadet's interest before her own. Whether it be in the classroom or at an event, chief was there,” Lynch said. “I would like to wish chief a happy and a well-earned retirement… I personally want to thank chief for all of her guidance, support, and kindness throughout the years. We miss you chief, but your legacy will live on within the unit for years to come.”
Marquette hopes that the next person to take Sullivan’s place will create the same bonds that she had with the cadets.
‘When you look at [the cadets], all of them look [at Sullivan] with such admiration, and commitment, and they just really want to make her proud every day when they're there and when they're out in the community,” Marquette said. “If you were to sum up the emotion for the day, it would be loss. There's going to be a huge gap to be filled in the coming years.”
Last spring, Parmeter and Sullivan received an invitation to attend the 78th anniversary of the D-Day invasion of Normandy, which is a hand-selected group of people who are nominated through their communities.
“It was a big honor that we're blessed to be part of all the ceremonies of the celebrations over in Normandy, and I think it's a great opportunity for our kids as well as major and I in our other chaperones to experience the gratitude that our great country has given to other people,” Sullivan said. “It just solidifies that even though America has its share of problems, we are the best country in the world and I'm very proud of our nation. I'm very excited that our cadets are going to have this opportunity to actually see how much America has given to others.”
The cadets chose to go to Normandy instead of Disneyland. Other than the COVID-19 pandemic, Marquette said that many young people in this generation have never seen major atrocities occur, which makes the trip to Normandy important.
“For them to go and honor those veterans is something that it's incredible learning that they'll carry with them the rest of their lives and a lot of students get the opportunity in their final year to go on a school trip and for these cadets to have chosen Normandy over going to Disneyland just tells you a lot about their character.”
See also:
Free Screening of ‘Intelligent Lives’ Scheduled for April 20 at Pennbrook
North Penn School District Holding Knights of Honor Ceremony
North Penn School District Educational Foundation Receives Award for Publications
North Penn School District Holding Community Conversations with Superintendent Dr. Curtis Dietrich
North Penn High School Students Competing for National Merit Scholarship
