JROTC Instructor Retiring Tuesday at Chamberlain High

Hillsborough County Public Schools Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps (JROTC) will honor Major Wayne Blankenship, senior Marine JROTC instructor at Chamberlain High School, on Tuesday . In addition, the district will honor 25 JROTC Cadets of the Year on Wednesday.

Maj. Blankenship is retiring after 45 years wearing a Marine uniform. His retirement ceremony will be conducted in the Chamberlain High School auditorium, 9401 N. Boulevard, on Tuesday at 4 p.m.  Maj. Blankenship served 22 years on active duty and 23 years as a senior Marine JROTC instructor, eight years at Venice High School and 15 years at Chamberlain.  

Colonel John Giltz, chief of plans, Directorate of Logistics, U.S. CENTCOM, will be the senior Marine officer to retire Maj. Blankenship.  Col. Giltz and Col. Steve Epkins, the district’s director of Army instruction, will present a plaque and a medal to Maj. Blankenship.  Speakers who will share thoughts about Maj. Blankenship include Pam Peralta, general director of Career, Technical and Adult Education and former principal of Chamberlain; Thomas Morrill, principal of Chamberlain; Sergeant Major Benn, who worked with Major Blankenship in the early years of Marine JROTC at Chamberlain; and Gunnery Sergeant Robert Hess, current Marine JROTC instructor at Chamberlain.  

The 25 JROTC Cadets of the Year will be honored at 4 p.m. Wednesday in the Hillsborough High School auditorium, 5000 Central Ave.

Superintendent MaryEllen Elia; School Board Members Doretha Edgecomb, Carol Kurdell, Jack Lamb, Candy Olson, and Susan Valdes; and Major General Mike Jones, chief of staff at U.S. CENTCOM, will be on hand to recognize the 25 JROTC Cadets of the Year and present scholarship checks to the top three.  

The top cadet receives $1,000, the first runner-up receives $750, and the second runner-up receives $500. The scholarships are donated by the Military Officers Association of America - Tampa Chapter and the individual plaques and medallions that all Cadets of the Year will receive were donated by the Pepsi Corporation. A reception sponsored by the Association of the U.S. Army - Suncoast Chapter will follow for the Cadets of the Year.