Xavier High School (New York City) - JROTC

JROTC

Xavier High School offers an Army Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps unit, known as "The Regiment", which is available to students in all grade levels. Before 1972, the Regiment was a mandatory piece of Xavier education, and thus helped to label Xavier as Manhattan's unofficial Military School. Many notable alumni have been former cadets in the Regiment, including Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, who spoke to the Regiment at a recent award ceremony, recounting the important role that the Regiment played in kindling his growth as a student and cementing the ideals that Xavier instilled in him.

Colonel Anderson of the Eastern Region Command called the Xavier Regiment one of "the top five in the Northeast". Under the leadership of LTC Roy E. Campbell, US Army (ret.), it achieved a school record overall score of 99.2 in the 2005 inspection. During its Army Formal Inspection on April 28, 2011, Xavier achieved a score of 99.1. The Regiment marches annually in the St. Patrick's and Columbus Day parades. Xavier's Regiment has three extracurricular teams: the Rifle Team, the Raider Unit, and the Saber Guard. The X-Squad and Saber Guard are a part of Xavier's current regimental drill team. X-Squad being the armed portion and the Saber Guard being the unarmed portion. They compete in local competitions in New York and New Jersey, as well as the National High School Drill Team Championship and Army Nationals. Formerly known as the Black Jacks, the Raiders are the Regiment's physical fitness team. They compete annually in the Raider Challenge and the Commander's Cup. The Rifle Team, one of the three oldest sports teams at Xavier, competes nationally in postal matches, as well as regional tournaments. During parades, the Rifle Team, Raiders,Saber Guard and the Blue Night Band, Xavier's jazz band, march alongside the Regiment. As a unit, it has twice has been named best high school marching unit in the St. Patrick's Day Parade.