Officer candidates from the Guam National Guard, and ROTC Cadets from the University of Guam, train together in Barrigada on June 17. The joint exercises mark the first coordinated training effort between the two commissioning sources in over 10 years.
Officer candidates from the Guam National Guard, and ROTC Cadets from the University of Guam, train together in Barrigada on June 17. The two commissioning sources are combining resources in an effort to continue training during COVID-19 travel restrictions.
Officer Candidate Steven Cruz, of the Guam National Guard's 203rd Regional Training Institute, leads his mixed squad of Guam National Guard officer candidates and University of Guam ROTC cadets, through training exercises in Barrigada on June 17. "We train to fight, and we train to win," said Cruz.
Officer candidates from the Guam National Guard, and ROTC Cadets from the University of Guam, train together in Barrigada on June 17. The joint exercises mark the first coordinated training effort between the two commissioning sources in over 10 years.
Officer Candidate Steven Cruz, of the Guam National Guard's 203rd Regional Training Institute, front, leads his mixed squad of Guam National Guard officer candidates and University of Guam ROTC cadets, through training exercises in Barrigada on June 17. "We come out to the field, and we get missions done as a team.We are in this fight together," said Cruz.
A Guam National Guard Lakota helicopter awaits officer candidates from the Guam National Guard, and ROTC cadets from the University of Guam, during MEDEVAC training in Barrigada on June 17. "This is the first joint officer training between OCS and ROTC in a long time," said Lt. Col. Jumar Castro, commander of the Guard's 203rd Regional Training Institute. "We're glad to have these relationships with our partners, to enhance our leader development. They are our future leaders."
BARRIGADA, Guam – They emerge from the 6-foot-high sword grass one by one, carrying carbine paintball guns and wearing different uniforms. Command Sgt. Maj. Celso Leonen, commandant of the Guam National Guard’s 203rd Regional Training Institute, must suppress his urge to make uniformity corrections – for now.
This is a joint exercise between the Guam National Guard’s Officer Candidate School and the University of Guam’s Reserve Officer Training Corps. As distinct commissioning sources, the two programs traditionally have separate curriculum and training (and uniforms). Due to restrictions imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic, however, the normal training events in the mainland U.S. have been postponed for both OCS and ROTC.
“This doesn’t mean we just walk away from our obligations,” said Leonen. “The training doesn’t just stop. These are our future leaders, and we owe it to them to give them the best training possible.”
Under the leadership of Lt. Col. Jumar Castro, 203rd RTI commander, Leonen and the RTI staff worked with the UOG ROTC program to combine resources and offer realistic and valuable training. The weeklong training, which took place in the stifling heat of Guam’s tropical savanna, included tactical movements, communications and reports, conducting ambushes, reacting to contact, calling for artillery fire, calling for medical evacuation, and more.
In the culminating training event, the trainees called for a live Guam National Guard medevac and were treated to a ride in a GUNG UH-72 Lakota helicopter.
“We come out to the field, and we get missions done as a team,” said Officer Candidate Steven Cruz, acting squad leader for the trainees. “We have OCS here with our ROTC brothers and sisters, and we’re in this fight together. We train to fight, we train to win, and we cannot lose.”
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