Reyes is MHS Dolphin’s new battalion commander

C/LTC Jose Reyes was named this year’s Marianas High School Dolphin Battalion commander during a change of command ceremony last Aug. 23 at the MHS grounds.

The battalion commander is the highest rank a junior reserve officer can go within the Junior Reserve Training Command, according to MHS Army instructor SFC Albert Lujan, who said they’ve already postponed the ceremony due to the pandemic situation.

The ceremony was initially meant to be held last Aug. 25, however, due to the new directives that Gov. Ralph DLG Torres implemented that imposed stricter rules on in-person social gatherings, the Dolphin Battalion had to do the change of command and promotion last Aug. 23. Also, since social distancing must be followed, only JROTC officers and parents were allowed to be present at the event.

For the next school year, Lujan expects from 150 to 160 students to participate in the program. Again, since social distancing must be implemented, Lujan said they still have yet to find another way on how to do the drill exercises for the cadets without violating the directives that are related to COVID-19 safety measures.

Also, most classes for JROTC will be done online, however, Lujan expects the program to still do in-person training for the younger students who are new to the program.

“Our leaders are going to be challenged to get them to do what they need to do—whether uploading a video of doing exercises and learning the ranks and whatnot,” said Lujan. He said the real challenge is instilling discipline and responsibility in the cadets. This means that officers in the JROTC will have to figure out how to discipline cadets online.

“My leadership’s focus is to improve our communication in order to accomplish all our plans for this year. One of them is enhancing the JROTC class online,” said Reyes.

Former Dolphin BC C/LTC Daryll De Luna said that he has high hopes for Reyes and his leadership, adding that he believes that the pandemic will not “hinder” them from what they want to do this coming school year.

The rest of the Dolphin Battalion officers are the following:

-C/Major Jessica Liu, Dolphin Battalion executive officer
-C/CPT Denzel Gatbonton, adjutant officer
-C/1LT Jaibelle Nelmida, security and intelligence officer
-C/MAJ Lance Asistores, operations and training officer
-C/CPT Eejai Metran, supply and logistics officer
-C/1LT Christina Kim, public relations officer
-C/CSM Teody Valenzuela, responsible for the training of the enlisted cadets and assists the BC to reach the battalion’s goal
-C/LTC Jose Reyes, Dolphin BC