COUNTYWIDE : SIMI VALLEY : Cadets Drill to Raise Money for Uniforms

Mary Savage shouted a stream of orders at the 11 uniformed teens marching in place inside the Mountain Gate Plaza in Simi Valley on Sunday.

“Left face, right step, right halt, left step...”

One cadet, eyes locked forward in concentration, thrust his right fist in the air, the arm bent at the elbow to form a perfect right angle.

“Permission to scratch,” he called out.

Permission was granted, so Nick Chacon, 13, of Simi Valley quickly scratched his face without breaking stride.

Precision movements and discipline were the order of the afternoon for Nick and his fellow cadets of the Civil Air Patrol, a volunteer auxiliary to the U.S. Air Force that assists in emergency rescue operations.

The 10-boy, one-girl team--Simi Valley Bravo Flight of the Los Angeles Composite Squadron 43--was participating in a drill down, a competition to test marching skills.

Sunday’s drill down had another purpose: so the cadets could raise funds to buy new uniforms for the national drill down competition in two weeks at Maxwell Air Force Base in Alabama.

Each cadet signed up sponsors for Sunday’s event. Together, they raised about $700, said Savage, the group’s deputy commander.

The national drill down will pit the Simi Valley cadets against seven other teams competing in races, tests of aerospace knowledge and marching drills.

Sunday, the cadets competed against each other. As parents, shoppers and a shopping center Santa looked on, Savage kept the cadets marching, giving them a new order every few seconds. Those who missed a turn, salute or step were called off to the side, rolling their eyes at their mistakes.

In the end, only Andrew Cottle and Mike Hibdon, both 13 of Simi Valley, were left.

Savage threw them a curve. She ordered them to present arms. Their right hands snapped up in salute. Then she called for them to “ready front,” a move in which they extend their left arms to the side to gauge distance from each other.

They should have held their salute. But instead, both boys dropped their right hands and immediately winced.

“Both of you are out,” Savage called.

Mike shook his head. “It was pretty hard, because I was all nervous,” he said. “And I was behind him,” Mike said, pointing to Andrew. “And his head was going like this.” Mike began holding his neck so stiffly that it twitched while Andrew laughed at the mockery.

The cadets will continue working on their drills for the next two weeks before taking an Air Force flight to Alabama.

“Who’s going to win this competition?” Savage barked, as her charges stood at attention.

“Squadron 43, Ma’am!”