By Danielle Ray
Landmark correspondent
RUTLAND — Joshua Graves is thriving in the Navy Sea Cadets program, which recently brought him to Buffalo, New York, for league orientation.
The 10-year-old was there for a week in July living on the decommissioned battleship USS Little Rock. He and other cadets were educated on all things Navy, including how to drill, elementary seamanship, basic damage control, Navy subjects, quarters maintenance, and more.
The rising Paxton Center School fifth-grader said he has “been interested in the Navy for a long time.”
“My grandfather was an electrician in the Navy, and I want to be just like him,” Joshua said.
He is considered a League Cadet until he turns 13 and transitions to Sea Cadet. In the spring, his group spent time at Joint Base Cape Cod for a competition called Flagship, where they competed with other divisions of the sea cadets in knot tying, flags, military drill, Morse code, first aid, and more.
One activity involved Joshua sending word a teammate using flags that each represent a letter of the alphabet; the teammate then had to write down what he was spelling with the flags. His unit took third place at the competition that was held April 28 through 30.
“Flagship competition was good,” he said. “My favorite part was competing in heaving lines. You have a rope with a ball on the end of it, and you see how far you can throw it.”
The orientation program at Buffalo Naval Park was July 23 through 28. Joshua said he ate, slept, showered, and took classes on the ship along with more than 100 cadets doing four different trainings — and only had PT and liberty off-ship.
“The experience was good but hard,” he said. “I have never been away from my family that long before, which was hard. My favorite parts were learning the phonetic alphabet and damage control. It was fun but didn’t go well; our ship sunk in damage control.”
Longtime Rutland resident and Navy veteran Chase Smith is one of the Navy Sea Cadets’ adult volunteers. Smith has been involved with the program since 2015, when one of his sons took part in it.
His son “graduated from the program in 2016, but I continued … since I recognized the program’s positive impact on those who choose to become involved,” Smith said.
“We are proud that the program provides a unique experience and an introduction to naval life through basic seamanship,” he explained. “Additionally, the program is valuable to young adults in learning leadership skills, teambuilding, STEM topics, and engaging with the community. We also pride ourselves on preparing the cadets for our Sea Cadet summer training opportunities.”
When asked what he liked most about Flagship, Joshua said PT and “learning new things and having older cadets to look up to.” A photo of him holding his League Basic Orientation graduation certificate shows a beaming and rightfully proud kid.
His mother Jamie Graves, who shared that her son has double deficit dyslexia and is in a language-based learning program at the Paxton school, said Navy Sea Cadets “is a wonderful program with so many amazing opportunities.”
“This program has been absolutely wonderful for Joshua,” she said. “If you asked me a few months ago if he would go away with no one he knows, six hours away from home for a week, I would have said not a chance. This program is giving Joshua so much confidence — it’s amazing to see. To have such a hard time in school, seeing him thrive is amazing. He’s learning that even though he learns differently, he can still be successful. To have leaders who see so much potential in your kid with only knowing him six months really hits you in the feels.”
Joshua said being a League Cadet has made him “much more confident, which helps with everything,” including his dyslexia.
“It has taught me to work my hardest,” he said.
