Students encouraged to consider military academies
CALEXICO — Despite having participated in the campus’ Navy Junior ROTC program for the past three years, Calexico High junior Carlos Villareal said he wasn’t certain about enlisting in the armed forces upon graduation.
On Monday, Villareal said he is giving the option more serious consideration, after having listened to Congressman Juan Vargas speak about the benefits of the armed services and, specifically, about the honor associated with being accepted into one the country’s five military service academies.
Vargas, who has the opportunity to nominate a total of 40 graduating high school students from his congressional district for possible acceptance into four of the prestigious military academies, promised to include deserving Valley students among his recommendations this year.
“It’s encouraging to know someone is willing to help you,” Villareal said. “It’s something rare that doesn’t happen all the time.”
The 17-year-old junior joined more than a dozen of his fellow Navy Junior ROTC cadets for Vargas’ press conference Monday at the campus library announcing an upcoming U.S. Service Academy & ROTC Fair at Imperial High School.
The event is open to students and parents who are interested in finding out more about the opportunities that are offered by the competitive service academies, which include the U.S. Naval Academy, U.S. Military Academy at West Point, U.S. Air Force Academy and the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy. “It’s always a challenge to go through the applications and decide which student will receive a nomination,” Vargas said. “I’m always amazed at how much these students have accomplished in so little time.”
Last year, one local student received a nomination and was accepted into one of the service academies, a representative of Vargas’ office stated.
The vice president, members of Congress and U.S. senators are allowed to make 10 nominations to each of the four service academies on an annual basis, Vargas said. The U.S. Coast Guard Academy, the fifth of the nation’s military service academies, does not require a nomination to apply.
While the academies’ tuition, room and board is paid for by the federal government, all service academies require usually a minimum of five years of duty.
Vargas also advised the Navy cadets present on Monday that the physical and academic challenges that come with being accepted into one of the military academies would transform their very beings.
“I’m very proud to have in my district a number of men and women who have gone on to the academies and who have gone on to very successful careers and leadership in the U.S. military and in the United States in general,” he said.
On Monday, Vargas also sat down with the Navy Junior ROTC cadets to speak about his own academic and career path and the obstacles he and his nine siblings encountered and overcame throughout their respective lives.
He commended the students for their participation in the program, the only one of its kind in the Valley and which in its three years of existence has been recognized throughout the state and country for its successes and rapid growth.
Vargas’ nominations to the academies are also aimed at bolstering the number of women and people of color, who historically have been underrepresented at the academies and in the upper ranks of the armed forces.
“We want to see more people from the entire Valley go to these elite schools,” Vargas said. “We know we have the talent.”
Vargas also shared the story of the late Sen. John McCain, who had attended the Naval Academy and had finished near the bottom of his class. Despite such academic shortcomings, McCain was as noble a public servant and Vietnam War hero as could be asked for, Vargas said.
Although Villareal admitted he often struggles academically, he said he has found the campus’ Navy cadet program to his liking — so much so that he was one of two cadets selected to participate in a leadership training program last year at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton.
Besides possibly enlisting in the U.S. Marine Corps, Villareal also said his participation with the Navy cadet program has also inspired him to possibly pursue a career in law enforcement. To date, none of his immediate and extended family have considered such options.
“I’m basically the first one looking into all of this,” he said.
The campus’ Navy Junior ROTC has also been of great benefit for junior Fernanda Carrion, who is now hoping to join the Navy and train as a nurse upon graduation.
She, too, credits the program with imparting her with a greater sense of responsibility and a bigger commitment to public service, as well as helping her slowly shed her normally very shy personality.
“This program has been helping me to become more social and to speak more in public,” Carrion said.
The U.S. Service Academy & ROTC Fair is scheduled for 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Sept. 26 at Imperial High School. The deadline to submit an application to be nominated by Vargas for a military academy is Nov. 1.
More information is available by visiting Vargas’ local field office at 380 N. Eighth St., El Centro, or by calling (760) 312-9900.