Young Marines graduate

Published 12:00 am Wednesday, July 14, 2010

By ROBIN SHANNON

L’Observateur

RESERVE – Boot camp may be over, but the journey is just beginning for a group of 20 area youth who are now known as the Alpha Platoon of the St. John Parish Young Marines.

The inaugural class of boys and girls from across the parish completed a 26-hour training course Saturday with a graduation ceremony at Riverside Academy in Reserve.

“You all faced a decision to either be a leader or a follower,” St. John Sheriff Wayne Jones told the recruits prior to their ceremonious march into the graduation hall. “There are plenty enough followers in the world, and we need more leaders like you. You will always be known as the first class.”

Jones said Saturday he was excited and impressed by the recruits’ progression from timid, reluctant boys and girls to confident and respectable young men and women.

“Your dedication and determination is a tribute to your true character,” Jones told the class. “This is your first step to becoming leaders in the community. This is just the beginning.”

For every other weekend over the last three months the Young Marine recruits, ages 11 to 14, have been engrossed in lessons on leadership, public speaking, drug resistance, life saving and survival skills.

They have been taught how to march, how to present themselves in uniform and how to address people of all ages.

St. John Young Marines Unit Commander Brian Bertrand said the transformation has been “unbelievable.”

“You can see it in their faces,” said Bertrand, a newly minted lieutenant in the St. John Sheriff’s Office. “They hold their heads higher; they act with more confidence. At the end of boot camp, there was this feeling among all the adult leaders that we really accomplished something.”

Bertrand, a former Marine, said he and the other adult leaders made every effort to make the Young Marine experience as close to what it was like for him going through actual Marines boot camp.

“When you get started that first day you get this overwhelming feeling of ‘what have I done? What have I gotten myself into?’ But by the end you are ready to go through it again,” Bertrand said. “That is the attitude we got from this group. When I told them we wouldn’t be meeting again until Aug. 21, they were really upset.”

Adam Hoover, one of three recruits in the class promoted to the rank of YM Private First Class, said the appeal of the program comes from knowing that in order to succeed all members must work as a team and support each other.

“It feels good to be a part of something like this,” Hoover said. “To be a leader or to be a person of good character takes work, and you have to be willing to do the work.”

Jordan Brown, another recruit in the inaugural class, said he was one of those hesitant to follow through at first, but he said his attitude gradually changed over time.

“It was really hard at first, but it really paid off in the end,” Brown said. “I learned a lot about self discipline and how to control myself.”

Jamie Anderson, mother of recruit Austin Anderson, who was also promoted to YM Private First Class, said she began seeing a definite change in attitude from her son after the first few weekends.

“He was less lazy and much more responsible,” Anderson said. “He brags about what he gets to do and wants to go more often than what they have asked.”

Anderson said at first she wasn’t sure if the program would be right for Austin mainly because he would have to cut his shoulder length hair.

“There were some fights at first, but as he got more involved, the attitude changed. It’s great,” she said.

Bertrand said Alpha Platoon will resume training in August, but the next recruiting class will not start until January.

He said the St. John branch is aiming for two recruiting classes in 2011.

For more information on the program, visit www.sjpsoyoungmarines.com.

Members of the Alpha Platoon are: Austin Anderson, Jhase Bellaire, Jordan Brown, Charles Bryant, Kenjatte Cannon, Kenyatte Cannon, Gabrielle Combs, Brittany Fleet, Amanda Hebert, Chase Henderson, Erica Holloway, Erin Holloway, Adam Hoover, Corey Ladner, Dawnisha McCall, James Mitter, Chaston Mollere, Tyler Schaeffer, Erlan Sobalvarro, and Jonathan Troxler.

Awards were presented to the following recruits:

• Honor Recruit – Adam Hoover

• Academic Achievement – Gabrielle Combs and Brittany Fleet

• Physical Fitness – Kenyatte Cannon

• Most Improved – Jhase Bellaire

Those promoted to YM Private First Class were Adam Hoover, Austin Anderson and Kenyatte Cannon.