Leadership doesn’t come overnight, and in the military, there are certain skills that students have to master in order to receive a higher role. With the growing Military Leadership Club, the current leaders hosted a promotion ceremony on September 11th to reward their cadets with a higher position on the board. Standing tall in front of their previous commanders, the students of this club are prepared to take on their new leadership positions and lead the new members through such an honorable club.
Their commander, junior Ryan Perez, describes the ceremony as “…recognizing our cadets that have demonstrated mastery in their positions.” As each of the returning members continues to thrive, these cadets will now be able to receive a promotion to the next chain of command. This will ultimately give them a more crucial role to play within the club.
Since this club was also founded in 2019, not many promotional ceremonies have been hosted. With that, many of these cadets were honored to take part in this grand accomplishment.
Officer Bucknam was the one who had suggested the Military Leadership club. Perez further explains that the “JROTC program, [is] a club containing a militaristic function that can help students prepare for the real world.” Not only do these students get to learn about military life, but they can also learn many useful skills, like leadership, which further prepares them for their years in college.
This promotional ceremony happens twice a year and is used to fill the vacant positions that are in need of a member. Occurring at the beginning of each year and in the third quarter, Perez mentions how these ceremonies “…help our cadets grow as they get more responsibility to take care of.”
At the start of the ceremony, a moment of silence was held to remember the lives lost on September 11th. After recognizing the lives lost, Officer Bucknam began his speech on the meaning behind the club’s ceremony. Passing down the microphone to the commander Perez, who began pinning the cadets to signify their official promotion and the beginning of a new era for the members.
By hosting the promotional ceremony, it marks the new year with their new commanders: creating a new atmosphere for the MLC’s board. With being given these positions allows for jaguar cadets to be challenged and “…take charge…the cadet will be able to plan and execute rather than just plan or just be involved in the plan,” Perez explains. Also, all of the cadets who are promoted are capable of learning many new skills in the following months after the ceremony, which truly makes the ceremony unique for the club.
With the ceremony coming to an end, the new positions are fulfilled and they all have many skills awaiting for them to learn. As they earn a new a position with such large responsibilities can be a very nerve-wracking experience since new tasks now must be taken on. Relaying his words to the new and returning cadets, Perez says to always ask questions, and to always remember that there will be bumps in the road. Essentially his biggest hope is, “The more they strive to learn, [the greater the leaders] they will [soon all] become.”
