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Making History in the Battalion

ROTC: The JROTC program wins big in the All-City Drill Competition

By Lucas Shim | Entertainment Editor
January 31, 2018

The Van Nuys High School JROTC Battalion participated in the annual All-City Drill Competition at Monroe High School on Saturday, Jan. 20.

Cadets arrived at Van Nuys High School at 4:30 AM for a final uniform inspection and routine review. Once prepared, the cadets convened at Monroe High School, where Army JROTC battalions from the Los Angeles County, including Manual Arts High School and Franklin High School, competed against each other.

The Wolfpack Battalion made Van Nuys High School JROTC history by placing top-five in all five categories of drill: Armed Drill for second place, Unarmed Drill for third place, Squad Drill and Company Drill for fourth place, and Platoon Drill for fifth place.

“With months of practice, the Wolfpack Battalion was able to show other JROTC schools what they had to offer. After years of constant improvement, we were finally able to break top five in all categories of drill, an impressive achievement which had never been done before.” – Chandler Beon

Although the competition was originally set to take place on Dec. 9, it was postponed due to the California wildfires. It was advantageous, however, because it provided the Wolfpack battalion more time to refine their routines.

Each individual team was accompanied by a commander: Matthew Egu for Armed, Joshua Kim for Unarmed, Jason Oh for Squad, Patrick Huelgas for Platoon, and Beon for Company.

Squad, Platoon and Company-level drills are graded based upon the synchronization of a group of cadets marching under the command of a leader who provides both cadence and instruction. Depending on the level of drill, the number of cadets may range from 8 individuals to 44.

The unarmed and armed drill teams, more commonly known as the special teams, specializes on being able to create a routine from scratch and are graded based on originality and complexity. The only difference between the two types of drill is that armed drill utilizes replicas of rifles to perform spins and flips, while unarmed specializes on specific body movements and maintaining a beat.

As the battalion and their Army Instructors, Colonel (Retired) Andrew Flynn and Sergeant First Class (Retired) Jorgé Martinez, celebrate their successful performance, the cadets strive to do even better for next year’s competition.

“Although this year’s result is quite an accomplishment, I see it as a stepping stone to progressively improve in the following years. To my successors in the program, I expect nothing less but the best for next year.”

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