(THE SECTIONS OF THIS FORM WILL EXPAND AS YOU ENTER YOUR REPORT)
Date:
April 26, 2016 / School :
Saipan Southern High School / School Address:
P.O. Box 500268, Saipan, MP 96950
JROTC Unit Name:
Manta Ray Battalion / Unit Telephone Number:
670-664-4002 / Unit Email Address:
JLAB Team Member Names:
C/1SG Alipio, June, C/1LT Javier, Natalia, C/CPT Kapileo, Matthew, C/1SG Mendiola, Joshua, and C/SFC Rafanan, Ezekiel / Name of SAI/AI:
CSM Richard S. Basa
JROTC Unit Best Practice (one per form only):
Armed Drill Team
Discussion (The who, what, when, where and how of the Best Practice, e.g., components of the function, organization (staff responsibilities, command and control), resources needed (money, people, supplies, transportation, and equipment) timeline from planning to completion, etc.)(PLEASE LIMIT YOUR DISCUSSION TO ONE PAGE IF POSSIBLE):
Together, everyone achieves more. Where there is unity, there is strength. When there is teamwork and collaboration, wonderful things can be achieved. The Manta Ray Battalion’s Best Practice is their famed Drill Team. The Manta Ray Battalion’s Armed Drill Team consists of 16 cadets from different companies. The team is commanded by two senior cadets; a Cadet Command Sergeant Major for Armed Inspection, Armed Regulation, and Color Guard, and the other a Cadet Captain for Armed Exhibition. The Manta Ray Battalion’s Armed Drill Team has achieved great heights due to teamwork, commitment, and dedication. The Manta Ray Battalion Armed Drill Team has won numerous times in the Inter-Island Competition, Golden Bear West Coast National Drill Meet in California, and had the opportunity to compete in Fort Knox, Kentucky. The Armed Drill Team this year won 1st place overall in the Inter-Island Competition, and will represent the CNMI in the Golden Bear West Coast National Drill Meet for the Armed Division on April 30, 2016. The team will be competing against over 40 schools and will try, to the best of their abilities, to come back home as winners.
The team started off with a rough beginning due to the fact that the island of Saipan suffered a major typhoon - Typhoon Soudelor. Typhoon Soudelor caused damage upon our campus so severe that it took a couple of weeks for the damages to be repaired. The team was supposed to start right after the first day of school; however, because of the effects from Typhoon Soudelor, the team did not start until the following month. This gave them less time to practice and hone their skills in drill, also considering that there was also a fair number of first-timers in the new drill team. The time constraint was their greatest challenge, especially since all of the cadets naturally had other priorities--including academics and repairing from Soudelor--all while under an extended school schedule that school administrators executed in order to make up for lost study days. In effect, it seemed as if cadets were showing a lack of dedication and participation towards the drill practices. In order to resolve this minor setback, the Cadet Command Sergeant Major (C/CSM) and the Cadet Captain (C/CPT) have implemented a time schedule to which all drill members agreed. The drill practices were during after school lasting for an hour and a half, and during the weekends (Saturdays only) for four hours long. Each day on the time schedule indicated what they are practicing; for instance, one day the Drill Team practices specifically for Regulation and Exhibition, while the next practice day is dedicated to Color Guard and Inspection. The method of not doing all events in a single day is a compromise that gives drill members, who are not part of those categories set to practice on a certain day, more time for other priorities that naturally come before Drill such as academics. This allowed the Drill Team to make a major comeback.
The cadets displayed even more dedication and hard working efforts when they decided to take the initiative to practice for the drill competition even during their lunch breaks. In addition to that, the cadets watch videos, study daily, and practice every day of the week in order to enhance their knowledge and skills for the competition. With that positive mindset, the Manta Ray Battalion hopes to secure yet another victory in the Golden Bear West Coast National Drill Meet. It is no doubt that our Unit’s Best Practice is the Drill Team because it is evident through the incredible efforts that the cadets display while practicing drill. Their passion for drill outweighs every hindrance that comes their way and with willpower such as their own, the drill team will not disappoint their homeland while competing in California.
At JLAB, you will participate in a forum on JROTC Unit Best Practices. You are to prepare and submit a report on your unit’s best practice. Below is a non-all-inclusive list of possible unit best practices.
Your Team must also prepare a presentation (Power Point or other presentation program) on this best practice. Your team will give your best practice presentation at the Unit Best Practices Forum, so be prepared. Guidance on how and when to submit this report and the Best Practice Presentation will be provided separately.
· Academic Team
· Drill Team
· Orienteering Team
· Raider Challenge Team
· Rifle Team
· Color Guard
· Marksmanship Training
· Awards Ceremony
· Awards support from outside organizations
· Cadet retention in JROTC / · Fundraising
· Annual Inspection
· JCLC
· Service Learning/Community Service
· Military Ball
· Cadet Commander and Staff Organization and Functions
· Cadet Scholarships
· Technology support of unit from school and community
· Educational and Orientation Trips
· Cadet Challenge
THIS REPORT IS NOT IN ITSELF A GRADED ASSIGNMENT BUT IT IS THE BASIS FOR YOUR FORUM PRESENTATION WHICH IS GRADED.
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