From JROTC to the US Navy

Carlette Dias is a senior at Rancho High School and had no idea that visiting the JROTC booth during her freshman orientation would change her life and career path forever.

JROTC stands for Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps and is a military regulated high school program whose purpose is to educate high school students about military leadership and grow their character in hopes that they will one day join the United States military.

“When I came into Rancho, I didn’t know we had a JROTC program. It was the freshman orientation day and I saw their little presentation stand, so I went over and asked them what it was. They said it was basically community service and leadership all in one class, so I joined it,” said Dias.

After three years of being a cadet and rising through the ranks, Carlette became the wing commander of the JROTC at Rancho, which means that she is partially in charge of all the cadets of Rancho’s JROTC and speaks on their behalf.

“Over the course of these four years, I have gone from an introvert and not talking to anyone to basically speaking on behalf of all the cadets in my program,” said Dias.

Many of Carlette’s closest friends are people she has met throughout her years at the program. One of those friends is Dillon Cassell who quickly got to know Carlette through their time together on wing staff. They both served in leadership, and Dillon can see how great of a leader Carlette is and aspires to hold her position one day.

“I believe Carlette is one of the best leaders Rancho’s JROTC has ever had. I have never seen her lose her passion or her immensely amazing attitude for the program, and I have learned so much from her,” said Cassell.

After many years as a cadet and Wingman of JROTC, Carlette decided that she wants to be a part of the United States military on an even higher scale. She recently enlisted in the United States Navy and is excited to fulfill what she believes is her calling from God to serve her country.

Being in and around the military can teach a young adult so much. Carlette believes that her speaking skills, leadership, and patience have been the biggest things she’s learned from her older peers and instructors. The relationships that she has built are one that will last a lifetime, and she will always remember what she has learned through JROTC and carry that on throughout her future careers.

“The biggest thing I have learned is definitely patience. There are a lot of times where we have to work as a team, and being wing commander, I have staff under me and we have to discuss plans and goals and sometimes we clash ideas. So, overall I have learned to have a lot of patience with people, and have an open mind to new ideas of others,” said Dias.

Carlette is excited to get started on the next step of her journey. Dias will be graduating in the spring and is going quickly into basic training for the United States Navy. She knows the skills she has been exposed to throughout her years in JROTC will help her in her pursuit to be the best possible asset to the United States Navy.