At a drill competition, cadets pile off the buses at 7 a.m. at the host school — a three-hour drive from Pisgah — and at 8 a.m., 16 cadets sit down for an academic test.

The unarmed and armed divisions of Bixby's drill team will travel to Texas to compete in The Pride of North Texas JROTC Drill Meet Oct. 18.

Students in the Air Force Junior ROTC program at Roanoke's William Fleming High School took their semester exam Wednesday in the gymnasium -- in the form of a drill competition.