Story/Photos by Mililani High School Army Instructor, 1SG (Ret.) Marlon Rice and Senior Army Instructor, Lieutenant Colonel (Ret.) Tim Schiller
Trojan Battalion activated on 1 July 2012, scored a 98.6 on the recent JPA on 30 March 2023, the highest in the State of Hawaii, securing Honor Unit with Distinction (HUD).
This year was much more challenging coming out of the pandemic, it was the first time to showcase the hard-work that the Trojan Cadets accomplished, and they accomplished so much this School-Year (SY). One of the highlights of the Battalion this year was conducting eight Service Learning Projects, with Accessurf. Taking individuals with cognitive or physical limitations into the water to surf and swim. These service learning projects gives our cadets a real-life need, to assist these wonderful people, just to enjoy the warm blue waters of Hawaii.
The Battalion Continuous Improvement Plan (BCIP) goal of the Trojan Battalion for SY 2022/23 was to have a cadet enrollment of 150 cadets. That problem was identified last SY with a decreased enrollment from and average of 151 cadets over the past several years, to only 124 cadets for SY 2021/22. This was an alarming decrease and so the Battalion’s leadership started to recruit at the Middle School with a National Guard and U.S. Army Organizational Day. The event took place on 10 November 2022, right before the Middle-school students register for High School. Working directly with the Middle School, the Organizational Day was a huge success.
The opening enrollment report in October 2022 was 145 cadets, just shy of the goal of 150 cadets. Keeping the cadets retained in the program is always a goal as well. By having all the after-school activities to include Drill and Raiders, and Cyberpatriots and our newest program is StellersXplorer’s. The after-school programs gives unlimited opportunities for cadets to explore team-work, leadership, physical fitness and technical skills.
Additionally, this was the first year that Mililani Army JROTC cadets were using the new Cadet Portfolio, and going over the ten required lesson plans for each LET level, proved to be a tedious task, especially for our newest LET 1 cadets, since it was their first JPA. But, everyone hit a home run scoring a perfect score in the Cadet Portfolio review in all four LET levels.
The JPA continued with a 100 percent in-ranks inspection, and a Color-Guard. “It was my first year as the Army Instructor for the Trojan Battalion, and I am very proud of all the cadets that led us to such a high overall score, truly amazing”, said 1SG Marlon Rice.
“As the school year winds down, the cadets are still very busy with end of the year activities such as the upcoming selection board for the Command and Staff for SY 2023/24, the Seniors farewell luncheon at Chilis, graduation with our Color Guard and Honor Guard saluting the 607 graduating seniors. Additionally, the selection for the JROTC Cadet Leadership Challenge that is right after school, is another event the cadets are looking forward to, said LTC Tim Schiller, SAI, Mililani High School Army JROTC.
