Navy Cadets From Encino Center Win Flagship Award

They came from Nevada, Arizona and all over Southern California to see who had the “right stuff.”

The 385 members of the Pacific Southwest Region of the U.S. Naval Sea Cadet Corps waged a fierce battle before a review panel of commissioned officers for the 1996 Flagship Award.

At the competition’s end last weekend at the Navy base on Coronado Island, the 28-member Bryce Canyon Division turned in the best performance, returning the award to Encino’s Naval and Marine Corps Reserve Center. Bryce’s victory came at the expense of its sister unit, the Betsy Ross Division, which won the title last year.

Bill Diehl, who will assume the post of commanding officer of the Bryce Canyon Division on Monday, attributes the unit’s success to training and determination.

Diehl, a former cadet, said he is committed to the program because “it gave me a head start in life and I just want to pass that back.”

Rick Morrisette, the commanding officer of Encino’s all-female Betsy Ross Division, believes his unit “got a little too cocky. But it was still great, because they got to meet top people from all over the area and from many different cultures.”

The U.S. Naval Cadet Corps was established in 1958 to introduce youngsters between the ages of 10 and 18 to the basics of Navy seamanship, firefighting, nautical skills and first aid.

Nationwide there are more than 8,000 cadets in 260 divisions. Both Encino divisions train Monday evenings at the Naval and Marine Corps Reserve Center, 6337 Balboa Blvd., Encino. For more information, call (818) 344-3415.