BY DAN HILDEBRAN
Monitor Editor
KEYSTONE HEIGHTS— Members of the Keystone Heights High School Indian Battalion told a civic group that the primary goal of JROTC, contrary to popular belief, is not to create future soldiers but rather to develop future citizens and leaders.
The battalion’s leadership team made a presentation to the Lake Region Kiwanis Club during the group’s Jan. 13 meeting at the Montgomery Center.
The battalion’s instructor Lt. Col. Richard Hall greeted the Kiwanians in Spanish and each cadet followed with a greeting in a different language. Hall then recited the JROTC instructor’s creed with the cadets reciting the cadet creed.
The leadership team consisted of the battalion’s commander: Cadet Lt. Col. Elizabeth Anderson, executive officer Cadet Major Owen Hunter, command sergeant Cadet 2nd. Lt. Brian Rutkowski, operations and training officer 2nd Lt. Elizabeth Carlson and special projects officer Cadet 2nd Lt. Trista Harrison.
The students told the club that public service is a big part of their mission, with battalion members assisting with the local special Olympics competition, food drives, a cleanup of Gold Head Branch State Park, events at Lake Region veterans’ organizations and participation in the Kiwanis Club’s own Easter Sunrise Service.
In an interview after the presentation, Hall said the JROTC program at Keystone is the only opportunity in the nation for students to dual enroll at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University for a course in homeland security.
“All of the other dual enrollment programs with Embry-Riddle focus on aviation or unmanned aerial vehicles,” he said. “Ours is the only one that focuses on homeland security.
Hall added that last year, the battalion earned a score of 98.5 out of a possible 100 points during its accreditation, with the US Army’s Cadet Command, Sixth Brigade designating the battalion as an honor unit with distinction. The designation entitled Indian Battalion members to wear gold stars on their uniforms.
Steve Hart of Lake Region Kiwanis provided reporting for this story.
