Gavin Alatar, a senior at Alpharetta High School, has
achieved the highest rate in the United States Naval Sea Cadet Corps (USNSCC), a
youth organization supported by the US Navy and US Coast Guard. He was promoted
to Chief Petty Officer on September 20, 2015 by his commanding officer, Senior
Chief Brian Fleming, at a ceremony on the Clay National Guard Base. Only 1
percent of the USNCSS’s 10,000 cadets receive this appointment. All cadets have
to take the US Navy correspondence courses and pass US Navy examinations to
advance in rate. They must have a minimum time served in each rate before
moving to the next higher rate.
The United States Naval Sea Cadet Corps, which was founded
over 50 years ago, is a federally-chartered non-profit civilian organization
that serves to teach individuals about the sea-going military services, U.S.
naval operations and training, community service, citizenship, and an
understanding of discipline and teamwork. The USNSCC is composed of two
programs - the senior program for cadets age 13 through the completion of high
school and the junior program which is for cadets ages 11 through 13 (NLCC).
CPO Alatar is the senior cadet officer for the 2745th Seabee
Battalion, comprised of 60 cadets, that meets for drill weekends on Dobbins
Airforce Base. During the last four years, he has been recognized as the honor
cadet at the Advanced Scuba Training in Key Largo, FL, and has been awarded the
Veteran of Foreign Wars medal, the Sea Cadet of the Year ribbon, and the Sons
of the American Revolution medal. He is an Expert Marksman and has been awarded
the Sea Cadet Citation ribbon twice.
He was the recipient of the William T. Schwendler
Scholarshipin 2013. This scholarship recognizes cadets that demonstrate
leadership, integrity and excellence both within and outside the USNSCC
program.
Alatar attended Petty Officer Leadership Academy in
Tennessee and has been a staff cadet at Recruit Basic Training in Camp
Pendleton, VA. His advanced trainings
include: Master at Arms (Kings Bay, GA), Seabees (Branford, GA) also Basic and
Advanced Scuba (Key Largo, FL).
Alatar is co-captain of the AHS Fencing team and is the son
of Sam and Heidi Alatar of Alpharetta, Georgia
