MMA Cyber Cadets Dominate Fourth Consecutive AJROTC Cyber CTF

For the fourth consecutive season, cadets from Missouri Military Academy’s cyber program delivered an outstanding performance in the spring 2025 Army JROTC (AJROTC) Cyber Capture the Flag (CTF) competition.

In the spring 2025 competition, MMA’s CY1 teams captured 1st and 2nd place out of 28 competing teams. CY2 teams earned 1st, 6th, 7th and 9th place out of 23 teams. Competing as CY3 teams, MMA’s CY4 Cadets swept the top three spots — 1st, 2nd and 3rd— out of 15 teams.

“We continue to succeed in our CTF competitions because of the strenuousness of our cyber program,” said CW4 Jason Landrum, USA (Ret), MMA's AJROTC cybersecurity instructor. 

Team rosters for the 2025 AJROTC Cyber CTF included:

CY1 Teams

• Goodboys: Cadets Tegan Compton ‘28, Gabriel Palmer ’28, Kaden Sparrow ’26 
• Badboys: Cadets Kennedy Barchigei ’27, Luis Rey ’26, Christopher Song ’26 

CY2 Teams

• ScriptKittens: Cadets Gunnar Ward ’27, John Farley '27, Daniel Drabinski ’26 
• PowerSurge: Cadets Daniel Bravo ’27, Dario Rodriguez ’27, Kenneth Burle ’28 
• Tippy: Cadets John Trippe ’26, Ho Khoa Tran ’27, Aaron Elford ’24 (PG)
• Jackwagoon: Cadets Tru '27 Jones, Kaleb Sweeney ’26, Gavin Dooley ’28 

CY4 (Competing as CY3) Teams

• ET: Cadets Eric Shellabarger ’27, William Larson ’27, Sean Mumm ’27 
• BCL: Cadets Tiago Rua Deluca ’25, Dallas Grantz ’25, Michael Pfeifer ’25

This year’s achievements go beyond competition results. Several cadets — including Cadets Mumm, Shellabarger, Bravo, Drabinski and Ward — successfully passed the CompTIA IT Fundamentals (ITF+) certification, a credential recognized across the IT industry. Some are now preparing for more advanced certifications, further building their technical skills.

As the academic year comes to a close, MMA celebrates the completion of its first full cyber cohort, having successfully completed the CY4 course sequence. Three of these CY4 cadets will return next year as IT interns and cadet teachers, mentoring a new CY1 class of over 20 cadets who will begin their cyber journey in the fall.

Congratulations, cyber cadets!