BY MILES LAYTON
EDENTON — With nearly three decades of Army service and experience training both soldiers and students, First Sergeant Greg Newton has stepped into his new role as the JROTC instructor at John A. Holmes High School, determined to continue a proud legacy of leadership, discipline, and community service.
Newton succeeds retired Sergeant First Class Michael Jackson, who led the program for many years. His appointment marks a new chapter for a JROTC unit that has become one of the school’s most respected and decorated programs.
“My name is First Sergeant Greg Newton,” he began in an interview introducing himself in a military voice that speaks volumes about career spent in uniform. “A little bit about myself — I served 28 years active duty in the Army.”
Newton retired from the Army in 2017 after a career that took him around the world and across the U.S. “When I retired, I was in Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania,” he said. “I worked at the Army War College, which was a second-tier strategic learning facility. I did that for four years and then I retired in 2017.”
After leaving active duty, Newton stayed in education. “From there, I taught high school junior ROTC at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania,” he said. “I did that for four years as well. And then I found a job working at the college level, teaching and recruiting for an Army program at Shippensburg University. I did that for three years. I looked for warmer, greener pastures — and the water brought me to the Edenton area.”
He and his family have now lived locally for about a year and a half. “I live in Snug Harbor,” he said with a smile. “So I’m local.”
A lifetime of service
Newton’s Army résumé spans continents and conflicts. “Career-wise, I was an infantryman,” he said. “I served as a recruiter as well in Central Pennsylvania. Prior to that, I was in Germany — a couple of tours in Germany.”
His service record also includes deployments to Bosnia, Iraq, and Afghanistan. “I did two tours in Bosnia,” he said. “From ’95 through ’98. That’s exactly when Bosnia was hot. I was there for a total of 19 months in Bosnia. Came home, did recruiting, got stationed at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, and then immediately turned around right after 9/11 and deployed to Iraq twice and Afghanistan once.”
After his final combat tour, Newton accepted orders to Pennsylvania. “That’s when I worked at the War College there for four years and opted to retire instead of continuing on,” he said. “And that brought me here.”
A family tradition
Newton said joining the Army was almost inevitable given his upbringing. “Historically, it was out of the Army,” he said, chuckling. “My dad was a 28-year career officer.”
His father, Colonel Anthony Newton, retired just as his son was entering basic training. “He retired a month after I joined, exactly,” Newton recalled. “I got a box of cookies mailed to me while I was in basic training from my mom saying, ‘When I’m not allowed to tell you where I’m at, your dad retired and enjoy these cookies.’”
The family’s military roots run deep. “I was born in Germany,” Newton said. “My brother and sister were born in Ethiopia. Been around the world a few times. It’s the family business, we’ll say — pretty much, yeah. Uncle’s Korean War, World War II. Dad was Vietnam.”
Teaching lessons learned
Newton said he enjoyed every part of his 28-year career — especially the people and the challenges. “I enjoyed a lot about it,” he said. “I enjoyed getting to know great people and was always looking forward to a new challenge.”
Those values, he said, are what he wants to pass along to Holmes High School cadets. “Big shoes,” he said when asked about following Sgt. (Michael) Jackson. “I just want to continue teaching the next generations about community service, leadership, being the standalone to do the right thing and to work with people.”
At 54, Newton said the transition to teaching felt natural. He had already spent a year in the school’s in-school suspension classroom before taking over the JROTC program. “Sergeant Jackson retired, so I transitioned into here,” he said. “It’s fun. And it’s great to work with the kids.”
A seamless transition
Lieutenant Colonel Neil Parks, who has led the Holmes High School JROTC program for years, said the addition of Newton has been smooth and successful. “Yeah, absolutely,” Parks said. “He’s already hit the ground running. I mean, he got to see basically how we ran the program while he was managing ISS, and then it was basically a seamless transition.”
Parks said small-town schools like Holmes are fortunate to have a full JROTC team. “Sometimes there’s a gap,” he explained. “Especially in smaller communities where they might not be as popular for instructors to go to. Sometimes you can be without instructors for a while.”
Holmes, he said, is lucky to have avoided that fate. “We’ve got a very good program,” Parks said. “You can see all the composite photos on the wall and the trophies. We’ve got a lot of history and a lot of community support behind us.”
“To motivate young people to be better citizens”
Parks said that support — from parents, teachers, and the community — helps the program thrive. “We are very fortunate as a program that we have great support from the community to the school and to the district as a whole,” he said. “From the teachers, the principal, the superintendent — and then it goes without saying how the community can rally around us. That is important because it’s sad to say, some programs don’t get that much support. They don’t look favorably on JROTC. But that’s one thing that I think sets us apart from a lot of other schools.”
He emphasized that the program’s goal is not recruitment but readiness. “The mission of JROTC is very simple,” Parks said. “It’s to motivate young people to be better citizens. I’m not here to recruit kids into the military. That’s not our goal. It’s to give them options.”
Those options, Parks said, include college, the workforce, and the armed forces — but with a clear plan for each. “All we tell them is, have a plan,” he said. “When you walk across that stage with a diploma, you should have a plan for where you’re going with your life — labor force, college, or military.”
For students considering college, Parks said the instructors make sure they’ve thought through every step. “We ask, ‘How are you paying for it?’” he said. “Have you gone to Mrs. (Jennifer) Cobb (guidance counselor)? Have you looked at that list of all the scholarship applications that are out there? Have you written your essay for those scholarships? Just have a plan.”
Building values through leadership
Both Parks and Newton said the heart of the JROTC program lies in its core values. “The values really align with the seven Army values,” Parks said. “The acronym is LDRSHIP — loyalty, duty, respect, selfless service, honor, integrity, and personal courage.”
Newton said those principles are what guide his teaching each day. “It’s a benefit to us that we teach what we know,” he said. “It’s lessons learned throughout our careers that allow us to do this. We take the curriculum that’s provided and we add our little bits and pieces to it.”
Newton said his goal is to challenge students to take initiative and responsibility — skills that will serve them no matter what they pursue. “It’s about teaching them to be leaders and to stand alone to do the right thing,” he said. “That’s what this program is all about.”
Looking ahead
As he settles into his new role, Newton said he’s grateful to work alongside Parks and to carry on the program’s legacy. “It’s great to work with the kids,” he said. “And to be part of something that helps shape the next generation.”
Parks said Newton brings both military expertise and teaching experience that will help sustain the program for years to come. “We’ve got a great team,” Parks said. “And with the community’s continued support, I think we’ll keep building leaders here for a long time.”
For Newton, that mission is simple — and personal. “After 28 years in the Army, this is how I keep serving,” he said. “By helping young people find direction, build confidence, and lead — both in uniform and out.”
