WILLIAMS, CA (MPG) – Last Thursday morning was an important one for the students enrolled in the California Cadet Corps at Williams High School as not only did they undergo an inspection, they saw one of their own promoted in rank in addition to five others receiving medals for participation in a competition held several weeks prior.
Founded in 1911, the CACC today is a state-funded program that focuses on providing some 7,000 students with leadership opportunities that help them develop the tools they need to build their futures.
At Williams some 90 students, grades 7-12 participate in the program that is in under the direction of SFC Benjamin Federici, who serves as the Commandant and instructor.
“We are not a boot camp, nor are we branch specific,” said Federici. “We offer students real world experiences. Whether that be culinary, first aid or fire training, we want to open up their minds to what the future holds. It’s an opportunity for them to flourish”
Some of the discipline they have developed was on display at the inspection where cadets stood in formation with their respective companies while visiting First Sergeant Dustin Dionne, the CACC Program Director, spoke to each individual asking questions about what they had learned thus far.
promoted to Cadet First Class in a ceremony at Williams High School on Nov. 6.
In a special moment that illustrated the support cadets show for one another, after Cadet Angel Hernandez was promoted to Cadet First Class the squad cheered and then proceeded to sing Happy Birthday to Hernandez, who also happened to be celebrating his birthday.
Following the completion of the inspection, the five members of Williams Extreme Team Challenge (XTC) received their third place awards after a miscalculation during tabulation caused them to initially be’ placed in fourth.
inspection on Nov. 6 at Williams High School.
XTC is a competition in which teams compete in 10 events that challenge them both physically and mentally and the Williams group that included Cadet Major Aaron Sillas, Cadet Captain Brianna Tapia, Cadet Lieutenant Sebastian Cano, Cadet Lieutenant Issac Rodriguez and Cadet Lieutenant Julian Camarena, proved themselves more than capable having made the 600 mile roundtrip to Riverside County in order to participate.
This year marks the third year of existence for the Williams 330th Battalion and is something that is accomplishing its mission as Cadet First Sergeant Jesus Zuniga summed up by saying, “It helps us find a path in life.”
Zuniga, who is in his second year in the program, completed his basic training over the summer and will serve in the U.S. Army National Guard as a generator mechanic following his high school graduation.
While not all cadets venture into the military, the skills and confidence they acquire through their involvement certainly gives them a head start as they move forward to a new chapter of their lives.