This morning in the Performing Arts Center, the JROTC held its annual Commanders Call. The Commander’s Call is a planned formation where the whole unit comes together to recognize members for their accomplishments.
“The Commanders Call is a military tradition,” Chief Lauren Owens said. “It allows the commander the opportunity to address the entire unit in one formation.”
During the Commander’s Call, the head members of JROTC recognize other members’ first-semester accomplishments and promotions, and announce their flight of the semester. Each JROTC class period is considered a “flight”, and during this ceremony, the class that has made the biggest growth throughout the semester will be recognized as the flight of the semester.
“It’s a team award, so everybody will win it,” Owens said. “It’s up to the senior instructor and me to see which class has what we’re looking for. They may have been a train wreck in August, and couldn’t figure out how to do anything, but they have come together as a team. They’ve learned where people’s strengths and weaknesses are. Now they are in a better place as a whole, so we award that entire flight.”
The current corps commander is senior cadet colonel Cade Sanchez. The corps commander in JROTC helps organize and operate the class with their duties. The head Chief Lauren Owens selects a student to be corps commander by their dedication, ability to inspire others, and work ethic as a team.
“I got there because I spent a long time in our Corps,” Sanchez said. “From my freshman year all the way to my senior year, there have only been five of us who have stayed for four years. So, through longevity and just showing a lot of service, they entrusted me to watch over all of the other hundred cadets.”
Another significant moment during the Commander’s Call is the change of command ceremony, where the corps commander passes a guidon, a flag that represents their unit, to the next corps commander. In this case, Sanches passed the guidon to junior Will Messerli.
“I feel very proud,” Sanchez said. “I’m very happy to give someone else the experience because it’s been a great learning experience. I have learned a lot, and grown, so I’m really happy to be able to share that experience with someone else.”
