Marysville Sea Cadets prepare for duty on water

Published 10:49 pm Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Sea Cadets in Marysville don’t have a boat, but they will go to sea.

Members of the busy group will scatter for training around the Northwest, including ship duty next week.

Public affairs officer Mike Leighton of Edmonds has a son in the program, Patrick Leighton, 13. New members are welcome, either sex, ages 10 1/2 through high school. Officially, they are formed into two different groups, the United States Naval Sea Cadet Corps or United States Navy League Cadet Corps. The second group is for younger kids.

Don’t be confused with Sea Scouts, a program of the Boy Scouts of America. Leighton said the Marysville group formed in August. There are also Sea Cadets in Everett.

Mitchel Wilson is a member of the new cadet corps, the leading petty officer for the Gadsden Battalion at the Smokey Point Commissary.

He is a junior at Stillaguamish Valley School in Arlington. Another student at Stillaguamish Valley School, Sean Barton, is training to be master at arms for the Gadsden Battalion.

Both plan to serve their country.

“This program helps you out greatly in the military,” Mitchel said. “It teaches you the endurance you need, and also, when you go enlisted into any branch, you will automatically be bumped up to the pay grade of E3 instead of starting out as an E1.”

That is a huge advantage, Mitchel said.

He mentioned training programs in Sea Cadets, including airman training, scuba diving, firefighting, medical training and even music school.

“The list is endless,” he said.

They drill twice a month and learn to be a color guard and drill team.

This summer, some of the Marysville corps will stay at Fort Lewis. Leighton said they will receive training in medical and legal fields and take leadership training. Next week, cadets will take a sea cruise on a U.S. Coast Guard ship.

For more information, go to gadsdenseacadets.com.

Leighton said Congress in 1958 asked the U.S. Navy League to form a kids organization to build leadership skills, patriotism and teamwork, thus the formation of Sea Cadets.

The cost for training programs is very reasonable. It’s $180 to go through the nine-day recruit training, held several times a year, and that price includes room and board. For $240, Sea Cadets can get two weeks of training in the summertime in their field of interest.

Master at arms training is being planned in Everett this summer.

You could say the program is junior military, but there is no enlistment requirement at the end.

The Sea Cadet program will help students in ways they never imagined, Mitchel said.

“One of our main goals is to train new recruits into leadership positions,” Mitchel said. “We can teach you everything you need to know about leadership.”

Those training for medical careers get right in the action.

“One young gal dissected a human eyeball,” Leighton said.

Kristi O’Harran: 425-339-3451, oharran@heraldnet.com.