The Long Island City JROTC Battalion

The Long Island City Battalion started out in 2002 in room 301 led by SAI Major Evans and AI First Sergent Gonalez. They opened the program in September of 2002 with ZERO cadets and expanded so much that by November 15, 2002 they had nearly 312 cadets. Major Evans began by building a power house Raider team and 1SG Gonzalez began by building a power house Drill Team. Both competed locally and made their mark…1SG Gonzalez states reflectively “L.I.C made sure everyone knew that we were on the map!” They also held thier First Annual Cadet Challenge.

In the year 2003, the LIC Battalion started out with a class of 310 cadets with a waiting list of nearly 100 students. The Drill team dominated everywhere they went including Leagues and Brigades taking First, Second and Third Place. They got accepted to go to Regionals and Nationals but were unable to go due to insufficient funds, thus they decided to start fund-raising. The LIC Battalion also got to go to their very First Summer Camp.

In 2004 the Battalion declared a state of massive fund-raising. The Drill Team was now able to go to Regionals in Maryland and took home 3rd place overall. They were also able to go to Nationals in Daytona Beach, Florida for the very First time and The Unarmed Team Dominated Challenge Level by taking 1st place overall. The Raiders also had a great year, they took 3rd place in Boston, Mass and 2nd place in the NYC league. The P.T Team Won the first ever Commanders Cup.

In 2005, The Drill Team continued their victory trail taking 2nd place in Regionals {Georgia} and entering for the First time in Master Level National and taking 14th place overall. The P.T Team defended the Commanders Cup and kept it, while the Raider Team took 2nd place in both League and Regionals {both at Fort Dix}. The LIC Battalion held their very First Annual Military Ball at Bruno’s with 330 cadets in attending.

In 2006 the LIC Battalion was Formally Inspected and were presented with Honor Unit With Distinction. it was during that year that they moved from their place in room 301 to 310 {a bigger place given to them by the principle Mr. Bassel.} The Drill Team was now in a state of rebuilding but continued on to win 4th place overall at Regionals and 6th place overall in Challenge Level National. The P.t Team defended their Commanders Cup and kept it, while the Raider won Leagues.

In 2007 the LIC Battalion opened a candy room for extra funds which were left under the S-5 to take charge. The Candy Room now supplies the LIC JROTC Battalion with over $30,000 in extra funds. The P.T Team and The Raider Team both came in 2nd place during this year and The LIC Battalion lost it’s 3 year defending Champions Commander Cup. The Drill Team came in 12th place overall in Master Level Nationals.

In 2008, the LIC Battalion welcomed a new AI, 1SG Oslizy to our Battalion. He has been a great addition to our Battalion and together Major Evans and 1SG Gonzalez make a great team. The Drill Team has been to various competitions and have received 1st and 2nd places overall. they are on their way to Regionals and Nationals and are expected to do great. 1Sg Gonzalez at the end of the year has finished his time and has gone to Texas to teach another school. During the summer, conduction of Drill practices and Color Guard has been successful.

As of 2009, the Raider Team attended Raider Nationals and returned with various trophies successfully in the PT areas and still in need of work with rope bridge and others, they have done well for their 1st time attending the Nationals. As of this year the leave of Major Evans has been overcome. The Bulldog Battalion will be a much better and stronger unit than it ever will be. 1SG Oslizly will re-build the Battalion Leadership with better quality people. The Sons and Daughters of Liberty competed in the Leagues Drill competition has given the fresh new team with only a few returning members has given them a new look on their drill and will work forward to newer and better success for next year’s team to beat Francis Lewis. The Drill Team appreciated the help of a former member of the Sons of Liberty, Petradelis.

C/1SG Wang, attended the Nationals High School Drill Team Championship, representing the Sons of Liberty, competed in the Masters Level Solo division for the first time and showed an outstanding display of showmanship and execution of Armed Exhibition Drill with the former Norwich University and NUDC Instructor Andrea Bryant. While supporting an Alumni of the Sons of Liberty, R. Garcia, competed in the post-High School competition, Isis World Drill Championship, and place top 10 against other 22 IWDC soloists.

A selected few students attended the The Nationals Drill Camp from our Drill Team. With the company of 1Sgt Oslizly they obtained ideas to get better with overall skills regarding the team. Our Bulldog Battalion also started fresh with the introduction of a new SAI Major Torelli who by the month of December received the first trophy for the corps. A second place in a Academic Bowl was obtained with joy by all cadets and instructors.

Stay tuned for 2010…