By TR Robertson
Friday night, Vista High School Dick Haines Stadium was the scene of a special event for the cadets of the Vista High School Air Force Junior ROTC Program, under the directions of U.S. Air Force Colonel (Ret.) Vincent J. Lostetter, Jr. Lostetter is the Senior Aerospace Science Instructor for the Unit. The event, known as Pass-In-Review, involved the Change of Command Promotion for the Unit, Awards Presentation to Cadets, honoring graduating Seniors and a Military Pass-In-Review for invited dignitaries, family members and guests.
An Open House was held prior to the ceremony where cadets provided a tour of their new classrooms recently opened in the large facility that was just completed. Cadet Airman Basic Destiny Peak, a senior, met this reporter at the entrance to the new classrooms, showing and describing the various simulators students are trained on including a small Cessna reconstructed as a Project Aircraft Simulator. The aircraft also won a ribbon at the San Diego County Fair in the student section awards program. The next room, adjacent to the simulator room, was offices for the Cadet Commander and for Colonel (Ret.) Lostetter. A large classroom was the next room where the cadets meet throughout the day according to their daily schedule. The Junior ROTC program also has access to the massive newly completed weight room for Vista High School.
Charles Thompson, Vista PE Instructor, was in the weight room. Charles said this weight room has been a project for him for the past few years. Once the weight room had been completed, no plan was made for new equipment for the room. Thompson said he was able to furnish the weight room through a series of grants. He was able to acquire $70,000 from a grant from the LA Chargers, a $20,000 mini-Cal Grant and $50,000 from the 21st Century organization. Thompson also said he was able to get a few days off from his normal instruction to build all of the stands for all of the equipment in the large weight room. He said he practically lives in the weight room, offering his free time for the room to be open for those interested. He also said the Cadets use the weight room as part of a PE program of their curriculum.
Moving to Dick Haines Stadium, the ceremony began with an introduction by Master of Ceremonies Cadet Dakota Benner of the proceedings and what those in attendance would be seeing. Numerous dignitaries in attendance were introduced, some of which included Vista Unified District Superintendent Dr. Matt Doyle, Assistant Superintendent Christine Olmstead, Vista Unified School Board Member Cipriano Vargas, Vista Chamber of Commerce representative Kent Leithold, Channel 10 News journalist Jared Aarons, and Vista High School Principal Megan Ratliff. A number of other special guests for the evening that would be taking part in the awards presentations were also introduced. Colonel (Ret.) Lostetter spoke informing those in attendance about the Junior ROTC program, stating the Vista Air Force Jr. ROTC branch is one of 892 units involving 121,000 Air Force Cadets. The current Vista Air Force Junior ROTC program has 91 cadets. The award-winning program has been in existence since 1995 and CA953 will soon be receiving a Distinguished with Merit Award for 2024. The Vista High School Air Force Junior ROTC is the only program with an aviation program offered for the cadets. Lostetter said the Vista Cadets had been involved in 250 community events accumulating a total of 7,800 service hours. He said their pride and dedication was an inspiration and he was proud of their development in turning into citizens of character. The Colonel (Ret.) finished by thanking the senior cadets for their dedication to the program.
Colonel (Ret.) Lostetter next introduced the Guest of Honor, Colonel (Ret.) Patricia Battles who was the guest speaker for the ceremony. Colonel (Ret.) Battles has a diverse military background and had many duty stations during her career. She spoke to the cadets about leadership and its responsibility in their lives. She said she wanted them to be able to recognize the difference between followership and leadership and to be able to tell the difference between a good leader and a bad leader. Colonel (Ret.) Battles said it takes teamwork to complete any mission and she wanted them to take the opportunity to always step out and be a leader. Colonel (Ret.) Battles finished by telling them they all will go through various phases of life, learning something new along the way. She wanted them to always use their leadership skills to achieve success.
Next on the Agenda was the presentation of National and Unit Awards, announced by Chief Master Sergeant (Ret.) Donna J. Goodno. The Chief Master Sergeant read the Vista Junior ROTC cadets winning the awards and the dignitary presenting the award. Each cadet came up to receive the award and receive congratulations from Colonels (Ret.) Lostetter and Battles and Vista High Principal Ratliff. A list of the National Awards, recipients and presenters is listed at the end of the article.
After the Awards Presentation the Junior ROTC Unit went through a New Commander Promotion and a Squadron Change of Command. Taking over as the new Commander for the squadron is Cadet Lt. Colonel Juan Blancas from Echo Company. Blancas received his new rank from Colonel (Ret.) Lostetter helped by Blancas’s parents. Following this a ceremony was held that recognized the Change of Command going from the former Squadron Commander Cadet Lt. Colonel Alondra Ryes to Cadet Lt. Colonel Juan Blancas.
The Vista High School Air Force Junior ROTC Cadets were then dismissed to the field to form their companies of Alpha, Charlie, Delta and Echo. Colonel (Ret.) Battles took part in this from the viewing platform as the cadets went through the ceremony involving March On, Formation of Parade, Officers Center, Presentation of Command, the National Anthem and then a final Pass-in-Review to those in the stands. Assisting in this time-honored celebration as Adjutant was Cadet Hannah Peralta, whose tremendous voice repeated orders to the squadron and also a drum line from the Vista Band. The drum line consisted of Isiah Altamirano, Nick Bursvold, Joseph Gonzalez, David Inzunza, Jay Mendoza and Geovanny Ramos.
The overcast evening held off until the very end of the ceremony when a light misty rain fell as the Junior ROTC Officers and Squadron Passed-In-Review in front of the stands and the dignitaries with Colonels (Ret.) Lostetter and Battles acknowledging the cadets. A tremendous amount of work went into this celebration and the Vista High School Air Force Junior ROTC Cadets and their leadership are to be congratulated for their accomplishments and the presentation those in attendance witnessed.
National Award Recipients:
