NJROTC Chief Aron Ayers

By Andy McBride
Student Reporter
Los Alamos Daily Post

We all know how small towns work in the South, where everybody knows everybody. You might get one or two people to come around to that old run-down family-owned store and buy some sweet tea that only your grandma knows how to make. Well, a small town you might consider heading down to  is Grenada, Miss., – the original home of Chief Aron Ayers – well known at Los Alamos High School (LAHS) as an instructor of the Navy Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (NJROTC) program. His is an inspiring story.

­“It was a peaceful town where I grew up. I didn’t have to worry about much of anything, not much of any crime,” Chief Ayers said. 

As for the inspiration that sparked him to go into the military … Ayers explained that he was in the NJROTC during his high school career. His father was also in the military, so Chief Ayers already had it in his mind that he wanted to serve his country. He also had a plan to go to college but then ended up at LAHS.

“I think the best thing about the Navy was traveling the world but it is a double-edged blade because I am away from family for so long, there are good and bad things about traveling in many places,” Chief Ayers  said of his experience in the Navy.

Chief Ayers said he always wanted to teach, and found the job in the Los Alamos NJROTC program appealing to him because he could teach leadership. He assumed the title of Senior Naval Science Instructor in 2022  and oversees all the curriculum and other items that are needed to make Topper Company run smoothly as well as the unarmed regulation, armed regulation, female color, and male/mixed color guard competition teams. He also oversees the welfare of cadets and the planning and implementation of ideas proposed by cadet staff. Chief Ayers teaches academics on selected days while also performing his other duties around the unit spaces. Alongside running Topper Company, Chief Ayers also teaches Military Fitness and Oceanography courses.

“I like seeing the kids succeed in the melting pot of NJROTC,” Chief Ayers said.

He said that the melting pot is about how people from all around the school, people who never thought of the potential they had find their way. Chief Ayers is glad that he feels that the NJROTC classroom is a blending point for students including athletes from different sports including football, cheer and even band. 

His personal decorations include the Navy Commendation Medal, Army Commendation Medal, and two Navy Achievement Medals.

“Being a leader is not easy, you are taking care of other people. Life isn’t about you anymore, it is about them. The success is up to you but is part of them as well,” Chief Ayers said in talking about the lessons  that he enjoys teaching the cadets at LAHS.

Chief Ayers continues to teach students every day and continues living that story that he has stuck with from the beginning.