It’s quite a time commitment to be a part of the Española junior ROTC team.
The team meets daily before school, after school, and during lunch. But despite many high-school cadets also having jobs and schoolwork, they do everything they can for the program.
“They’ve learned to multitask,” said program instructor Sgt. Wilbert Romero. “That’s one thing we teach in leadership. They know how to adapt and overcome situations. Excuses are short-lived here.”
The Española Valley Army JROTC program placed second, behind Los Alamos, at the April 12-13 state championships, a year after placing first.
“It means a lot to this program,” said high school senior and battalion commander Andres Pacheco. “This is our second time competing, and we got first and second.”
Romero said that much of the year was focused on their accreditation, which occurs every three years, and on keeping their status as a gold star unit. They did so, but it took away from the time they had to prepare for the competition.
“I’m very proud of our cadets,” said executive officer and high school senior Anelia Holterman. “They have put in so much effort, so much time, so much work. And it shows, it paid off.”
Still in the team’s memory is Major Mark Gonzales, the longtime team instructor who died in March 2022.
“He always had something to say, some sort of story he wanted to share with us,” Holterman said. “He was a very giving person. He will always be a part of this program.”
Gonzales did not prioritize competitions, so this was just the second year that Española competed at state. Both times they performed exceptionally.
While finishing in second overall, the Española teams won first place in both male and female physical fitness, male and female drill teams, and male color guard. The precision rifle team placed third. That was more first-place trophies than they had last year even when they won overall.
“We brought back a trophy in every category,” Pacheco said. “Everybody brought back a medal as well. Bringing back a trophy for everybody keeps the motivation up for next year. That way, they can go back and bring back more trophies.”
The team had a long weekend at their competition. Competition over two days includes marksmanship shooting, color guard performances, fitness drills and inspections.
“At the end of the day, we went and we competed our hearts out,” Pacheco said. “We did our job, we brought back trophies.”
Holterman said the best part was seeing her teammates throughout the competition.
“Seeing how happy our cadets were after we finished a specific sequence,” she said. “Seeing their faces after, knowing that we had done a good job. That was the best part for me … We’ve truly become a family.”
Romero has been with the program now for six years, and for two years has been the main instructor. During that time, he has seen students graduate and enter the community with the impact from the program. Romero said that many former cadets work at the Los Alamos National Laboratory. Others are in the Air Force, Marines and National Guard.
“We have employers that are reaching out to us for our cadets,” Romero said. “They know that they’re dependable … they’re going to actually have that integrity and respect that these employers are looking for.”
Throughout the year, the program did community events including a drug take back day and community cleanups.
“For the Española valley, this is such a huge program,” Romero said. “Española is very blessed to have a program that’s dedicated and does so much for the community.”