MAXWELL AIR FORCE BASE, Ala. -- Master Sgt. Candice Davis, a military training instructor at Officer Training School, Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama, has achieved a dream she’s held since high school. Her journey, however, has been anything but ordinary.
Davis attended West High School in Anchorage, Alaska. She described herself as “hardworking and dedicated,” but also “pretty quiet.” “I spent most of my freshman year in the library,” she said. Despite being a talented artist and musician, her true passion emerged unexpectedly.
Neither of her parents nor close relatives had served in the military, but her younger sister enrolled in Air Force Junior ROTC and joined the drill team. As a supportive big sister, Davis attended the first practice. That decision changed her life. She met retired Chief Master Sgt. Morris Pickel, the aerospace science instructor at West High School. “He walked in, told everyone to form up, and saw me sitting off to the side. He said, ‘I said, fall in!’ I replied, ‘I’m not in JROTC.’ He said, ‘I don’t care, fall in!’”
For the next hour, Davis learned to march with the new drill team cadets. The discipline, teamwork, and sense of family resonated deeply with her. “I fell in love with it and immediately switched classes,” she recounted.
Junior ROTC required sacrifices. Davis, an accomplished diver, had qualified for the state championships during her sophomore year. However, the championships conflicted with a Junior ROTC drill competition. Without Davis, her drill team, which had gone undefeated throughout that season, couldn’t compete due to not having the 10 members required for a competing formation. “I decided not to go to state for diving to be with my [drill] team. That trip was momentous because we flew in a C-130 from Anchorage to Fairbanks. The camaraderie within our team was like a family.” That drill meet was a turning point for Davis. “This is what I want to do. Not just in high school — I want to be in the military.”
Davis described her drill team’s commitment. They practiced “before school, at lunch, after school, during the summer — we were constantly practicing.” Their hard work paid off with an undefeated state record for their first-year team commanded by different commanders at every drill competition. The following year, they competed at the National High School Drill Team Championships in Daytona Beach, Florida, winning the national championship in the unarmed exhibition category. They performed their routine blindfolded and silent, demonstrating impeccable military bearing and precision. Chief Pickel’s guidance, repeated hundreds of times in rehearsal, was, “If you’re doing something, you’re doing it to the best of your ability.”
After high school, Davis enlisted in the Alaska Air National Guard. Her Junior ROTC experience came to light when she executed a perfect “about-face” before her flight had been taught the movement. She was made an element leader and relished the responsibility. Lessons from Junior ROTC, like “if you’re not five minutes early, you’re 10 minutes late,” were instrumental to her success at basic training.
Davis’s first assignment was as a life support technician for a pararescue unit in Alaska, where she served as a traditional guardsman for six years. During this time, she served at Fairchild Air Force Base and Lackland Air Force Base as a survival, evasion, resistance and escape civilian instructor. Due to her daughter having a medical issue when she was born, Davis did not re-enlist, but instead, made a promise: if her daughter was healthy after five years, she would re-enlist in the Air National Guard. She was able to keep that promise in 2016 when she re-enlisted and served as an aircrew flight equipment craftsman with the 142nd Wing in Portland, Oregon.
When the opportunity to apply as a military training instructor arose in 2021, Davis jumped at the chance. “I’d always wanted to be one but thought I couldn’t because I was guard,” she said. After extensive testing, she was ecstatic to be accepted. “I started in October of '21, and it was two months of rigorous training. I just absolutely loved it,” said Davis.
For the past two and a half years, Davis has been instructing future Department of the Air Force officers at Officer Training School. Her role is unique because she works directly with future leadership. “We’re here to help you build skills so when you leave, you have that in your toolbox. They leave here with more knowledge of how to take care of their people and be 'warrior-minded leaders of character.'”
Drill is the foundation of discipline. Teaching individuals to do something correctly leads to success in JROTC and life.Master Sgt. Candice Davis
Davis was selected as a drill judge for the National High School Drill Team Championships in May 2024. It had been 20 years since her high school team competed at Nationals, making this role particularly meaningful. “Drill is the foundation of discipline. Teaching individuals to do something correctly leads to success in JROTC and life. Everything in life takes discipline and work.”
Chief Pickel had passed away the previous September, and Davis remained close to him throughout the years. “He meant so much to us. To be a judge at Nationals 20 years later and honor his memory was indescribable,” she said.
Reflecting on her journey, Davis said, “Enrolling in Junior ROTC completely changed the trajectory of my life. It ignited my passion for the military and set me on a path to a fulfilling career. I love serving my country, and I owe so much of that to the foundation JROTC provided.”