Braden River High senior headed to West Point

In earning the appointment to the United States Military Academy at West Point, Braden River High senior Kyle Krage is assured his life will be filled with one thing he requires above all else.

Discipline.

"I love discipline," said Krage, who received his appointment letter Feb. 24. "I like order and everything about it. I like waking up to schedules because I am a planner. West Point gives me routine."

The appointment gives Braden River and its Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (JROTC) program a dose of pride.

"Young people who attend the service academies are very special people because they are committing to a difficult four years of college followed by at least five years of service in the profession of arms," said Lt. Col. Jay Bradin, the senior Army instructor at Braden River. "Kyle's appointment demonstrates his character, intelligence and the time and quality his parents and family put into developing him as a young man."

Bradin didn't mention being humble, but that is obvious with Krage, who wasn't convinced he would get into West Point until he received the acceptance letter.

"You are going up against the best of the best," Krage said. "I wasn't way over the top as a student. I was slightly above average.

Average if you consider a 3.9 grade-point-average and 4.59 weight grade-point-average as being run of the mill.

Krage is convinced his community service was a big part of his earning a spot. Besides his work with JROTC, he also is a volunteer usher at Bayside Community Church in East County. "I love that place," he said.

He filled out an application at the United States Military Academy in January of his junior year, and then went about his life, which was focused on school and JROTC.

"JROTC identifies young people of the quality needed in our service academies and educates them on the requirements for getting an appointment," Bradin said. "We could not be more proud of him for taking on this educational and service challenge."

Although joining JROTC as a Braden River freshman was an important decision for Krage, he said he has loved the military as long as he can remember.

"I've always respected veterans and I've been surrounded by them ... my family and friends. But JROTC mostly helped me with leadership. My freshman year, I tried to stand up and talk to the class. I kept looking down, being nervous. I was shaking."

He isn't shaking anymore.

On Saturday, Krage and his Braden River JROTC teammates head into the State Drill Championships at George Jenkins High School in Lakeland. The Pirates already have won the Area 5 Regional JROTC Drill Championships March 3 at Riverview High School in Sarasota.

"JROTC has been the best thing for me in my four years," Krage said. "It's been my life."

Besides the drill team, Parrish's Krage competes with JROTC in pneumatic air rifles and with the Raiders (which compete in physical fitness competitions).

Physical fitness has captured his attention as he heads to West Point. He has hired a personal trainer for three-times-a-week workouts. He arrives at West Point on July 2 and then must go through the BEAST (or basic training) program. Once he passes that test, he becomes a cadet.

He is looking to major in kinesiology or defense and strategies studies but isn't completely what direction he will pursue.

"Kyle models what every one of our cadet leaders would like to emulate," said Command Sgt. Major Alexander Figueroa, who coaches the Pirates' drill team. "He motivates and inspires all our students to become all they were created to be."

His parents are David and Amy Krage. He has two older brothers, Dylan Krage, a student at Central Florida, and Brice Banner.

With West Point in front of him, he won't let his attention waver from Saturday's state championships.

"For me, I focus on the present," he said. "I have a little binder. I plan what I am doing."

I won't be long, though, until he wears a different uniform.

"Obviously, our (JROTC) uniforms are nothing compared to the ones our armed services wear every day," he said.