The California Baptist University Army Reserve Officer Training Corps was honored by President Ronald L. Ellis March 28 after taking first place in the color guard event at the John J. Pershing Memorial Drill Competition in Richmond, Va., on March 13-14.
“(ROTC) provides a wonderful opportunity for our students to be involved, serving their country, learning discipline, learning teamwork and a lot of the types of things that you can really have a tremendous opportunity to do,” Ellis said. “Plus, you have a job waiting for you, and then you’ll be able to serve your country immediately upon graduation. So we are really proud to have an Army ROTC here on campus.”
During the drill competition, the Army ROTC participated in the color guard event, where both all-male and all-female teams performed.
SFC and Military Science Instructor Jay Villasenor said he was thrilled when he discovered the results.
“I had no idea that we won until one of my cadets started jumping with joy and told me loudly that we won first place,” Villasenor said.
Ellis said the success of the Army ROTC in the Pershing Memorial Drill Competition is a great honor for the university, because CBU was the only schools west of Kansas that was represented in the competition.
“The competition gets CBU out there and allows them to have a presence nationally,” Ellis said.
