- May 3, 2024
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When Lt. Col. Jay Bradin walked into the commissary at Camp Flying Eagle, his eyes opened wide with shock.
More than 100 of his former Braden River High School students applauded and yelled, "Surprise."
Bradin had to stop a moment to absorb the scene.
After 18 years of teaching, Bradin couldn't believe so many of his former Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps students gathered to celebrate his retirement June 10.
Bradin's impact is far reaching, and students who now live as far as Alaska and Germany virtually attended the retirement party.
"It's good to see all those faces," Bradin said. "They're all being successful adults. Our mission is to make them better citizens, and it looks like they're killing it."
Former students had the opportunity to tell Bradin how he impacted their lives.
Garry Montague, who graduated in 2008 and helped organize the party, said Bradin is one of three men in his life who steered him in a positive direction toward becoming a man.
"He helped you realize what's actually important and what's going to get you where you want to go in life," Montague said. "I was only with him for three years. It felt like I was with him for a lifetime because he was in a section of my life that was the most impressionable."
He said Bradin taught him about ethics and what was right. He recalled Bradin giving him the confidence to be a leader from the moment he came from Southeast High to Braden River and joined the JROTC program his sophomore year of high school.
Montague said he uses the leadership skills he learned in high school in his job a technical sergeant in the Air Force.
Nicolas Wigington, who graduated in 2020, said Bradin made the JROTC program feel like a family.
Wigington credited Bradin and the program to his transformation from a shy freshman who struggled his first year of high school to a a confident leader who felt empowered his senior year.
He felt Bradin and the other JROTC instructors provided guidance that led him to now being a junior at Florida State University and being in the Florida National Guard.
"I can't pay him back," he said. "I wouldn't be where I'm at now without him."
Bradin said he has loved every minute of his time at Braden River High School. He was able to develop relationships with students throughout the four years he had them in class.
"To watch them go from a shy, typically introverted freshman to a leader as a senior, you can't shut them up because they know what they're doing and they're excited and confident in their capabilities," he said.
Many former students said their first impression of Bradin was that he would be a strict instructor given his 22 years of service in the Army.
But it wasn't long before they found out he balanced being strict with being a "big goofball," as Josh Bickford, who graduated in 2008, described.
Esteban Soto, who graduated in 2008, said Bradin always came up with weird quips or "dad jokes."
Soto's favorite was when Bradin would tell him he was "about as useful as a chicken wire canoe," which is military slang for someone that is useless.
Ashley Wickline, who graduated in 2010, said Bradin is a caring person who treated each of his students if they were his own children.
Many students were grateful for the life skills Bradin taught them, including what some might seem as basic knowledge like how to write a check or create a budget.
"He was very focused on making sure that you have the tools to be able to successfully lead and not just teach you the criteria that's required," Bickford said.
Braden River High School's JROTC program has built a legacy of success among its rifle, raiders and drill teams, winning several state championships.
Bradin was instrumental in building the foundation of the program and its success.
Bickford said the key to the program's success has been the importance of teamwork that Bradin instilled in every student.
"He stressed teamwork like nobody's business," Bickford said. "Starting a program from the ground up, his dedication and our teamwork allowed us to dominate other schools in our first year, which was unheard of at the time, especially for a bunch of people coming from different schools to band together and work as one cohesive unit."
Bickford recalled one raiders practice where they were running several miles. He was exhausted. To help him stay on pace and ensure he finished, Bickford said Bradin ran besides him the rest of the way.
Bradin taught him to use light posts to dissect the run into more manageable pieces. Once he passed a light post, he just had to get to the next one until he reached the finish.
Wickline said she still uses the light post method when she runs.
Whether his students went into the military, college or the workforce, Bradin always wanted them to be prepared for their futures.
"I know a lot of you wanted to join the military, but that wasn't my job," he said to his former students. "If you did, that's great. If you didn't and you're out there in the community just being a good citizen, that's was our mission. I know a lot of you are out there killing it."
Bradin plans to spend his retirement fishing and volunteering at organizations such as Habitat for Humanity or Samaritan's Purse.
Brittany Bowling, who graduated in 2010, hopes Bradin's life in retirement "moves more like pond water."
Bowling said if students were moving slow or not where they needed to be, Bradin would tell them, "You're moving like pond water."
"I hope his life gets to slow down and chill out," Bowling said.
