Uniforms are not uncommon at the Ike Skelton Training Site in Jefferson City. However, once a month, the uniforms belong to youth ages 10-18 with the Thomas Jefferson Division of the Sea Cadets.
Like their Missouri National Guard counterparts who drill at the headquarters site, the Sea Cadets are learning character-shaping and leadership skills, in addition to the hallmarks of discipline and military-style training.
Some are drawn to the hope of a future career in some branch of the military. Others seek the structure and predictability. What they find through the Sea Cadets is a place to grow in responsibility, reliability and friendship.
From classes to "chow," they line up in formation. The older cadets inspect the younger and provide instruction.
Because the division of more than two dozen has new recruits attending almost every month, directions are frequent.
Petty Officer 1st Class Hayden Deckard, 17, of Vienna, takes the plans from the adults and puts them in motion through the other older cadets.
"When I came in, I was a 'nothing,'" he said. "But I've worked hard to become a 'somebody.'"
By modeling the behavior of the adult volunteers, Deckard said, he leads with the goal of making things easier for the cadets.
Just as he has seen himself mature through participation in the Sea Cadets, he hopes to help build character in the younger cadets coming in.
Although adults prepare for the weekend's logistics and teach classes, it's the older cadets who lead.
"We're just around to make sure the training doesn't crash," Officer Regina Kilmer said.
The local division is 27 years old. However, the concept of training youth in naval knowledge goes back at least 300 years across the globe, according to Kilmer, who retired from the Missouri National Guard after 29 years.
However, the Sea Cadets program is not tied directly to any official military organization, she clarified.
"We have no vested interest in what they do when they grow up," Kilmer said. "We go for those 'aha' moments in character shaping."
A lead cadet, Quincy Sloan, 12, has enjoyed learning skills like firefighting, medical response, tactical team and swimming through the Sea Cadets, so far.
He joined because he thought the overnight weekend away from home sounded exciting, Sloan said. However, he soon found he liked the simplicity and order within the military-style environment.
It also helps that the division provides the four required uniforms for each cadet and helps cover the costs of travel for training, Sloan noted.
In a typical weekend, they arrive in time for work detail at 8 a.m. followed by classroom lessons, such as basic seamanship and shipboard damage control. After Saturday lunch, provided by another adult volunteer, the cadets might do a hands-on training, such as the splint and litter carry process.
Often they have a guest speaker, like U.S. Army PFC Dylan Evers, 19, who spoke about his training to be part of the 82nd Airborne Division. Then they bunk overnight in Missouri National Guard billets.
The cadets are up with "Reveille" at 6 a.m. for physical fitness. After breakfast, local retired U.S. Marines lead the cadets in march and drill techniques.
The youth benefit from the collective knowledge of adults with a variety of military backgrounds and personal experiences to share.
In between drill weekends, the cadets study toward new ranks and tasks, which they can be recognized for with decoration for their uniforms.
They also have the opportunity to attend week-long, advanced specialty drills.
"I knew I wanted to be in the military," Petty Officer 3rd Class Caleb Noble, 17, said.
Similarly, Petty Officer 3rd Class Lukas Pfitzinger, 16, of Columbia, said, "I've never wanted to be anything else."
Pfitzinger plans to become a medic. For example, he's already taken specialty training in advanced combat medicine and treatment of IEDs.
In addition to other specialties, Noble said he was excited about the combat SCUBA training.
"It's real-time military training that puts you to the test," Noble said. "It gives you a big taste of what it's like to be in the military."
Time spent in the Sea Cadets will give them a pay bump on the military scale, if they join later, too.
The color guard is an important part of what the local division does. It is a significant way for them to show what they are learning to the community at veterans events and parades.
In 2016, the cadets contributed more than 1,100 hours to community service efforts, including welcome home ceremonies for the Central Missouri Honor Flights and assisting at the Museum of Missouri Military History.
The local division also has helped clean up every night of the Jefferson City Jaycees/Cole County Fair, distribute buddy poppies, clean up for Marine Corps League barbecues and participating in Wreaths Across America events.
Training in other interests is available through the Sea Cadets, too, such as photojournalism and culinary arts.
The special training opportunities allow cadets to explore particular military jobs to see what they may or may not like, Pfitzinger said.
That exposure has assured Pfitzinger he wants to be in the "dirt Navy" on land with the U.S. Marine Corps, not a "blue sailor" on the water, he said.
"I thought I wanted to be on the ship," he said. "But once I actually was there and went to combat dive school, it changed my mind."
During that two-week training in North Carolina, Pfitzinger and a few other Mid-Missouri Sea Cadets learned skills, including diving, repelling, jumping out of helicopters and casting off a high-speed boat into the water.
The older cadets agreed those times when they are pushing themselves or are put into positions where they have to depend on one another, it builds a closer bond.
"We all love the military," Noble said. And, "we all love our country," Pfitzinger added.
They come from different towns and schools in Mid-Missouri, from Harrisburg to Owensville. However, their Sea Cadet friendships are the strongest, they agreed.
"There's a bond and brotherhood," Pfitzinger said.
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Some 2016 facts about the Thomas Jefferson Sea Cadets Division:
12 lead cadets, ages 10-13
22 sea cadets, ages 13-18
18 adult officers, instructors and auxiliary members
19 correspondence courses completed by cadets
1,121 community service hours
20 color guard events
45 cadets attended 20 advanced training events at 13 locations, from Michigan to Florida