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I am Altin-Myka O. Hing a 2013 graduate of Ray High School currently enrolled at the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs. I was a four year cadet in the MCJROTC program through high school and served my senior year as the unit’s commander and also president of the student body.
The MCJROTC program is one of the most influential programs that the high school has an opportunity to offer. Throughout the years students have come and gone through this program, some have gone on to college, some have carried on to work in the mine, and some have gone on to dedicate their selves in service of their country. The students in this program are not the ones that you find on the football field or the basketball court, but are the ones who can be found dedicating themselves to the school and community.
Over the years many programs have come to an end, but not many have created the legacy and made an impact as the Ray High School MCJROTC program has. It is more than a military program, high school class, or extracurricular activity. There is not one way to simply define what this program has accomplished, but if there was ever at a time for actions to speak louder than words this is it. The unit has provided an outlet for community service, brings home countless achievements and awards, and a ray of hope, in a community and school that desperately needs it.
Each year the program provides hundreds of hours of community service for the local community and beyond. Students will give up their weekends to attend parades and festivals to march and represent the 1% population of American citizens that serve in the armed forces. For official events and many other school functions, the unit will present the nations colors, unlike the many other high schools that do not. Most significantly they will provide a funeral service to the men and women who sacrificed their lives defending our nation.
The program is unlike any other program in the state or country. Usually bigger units will have a set number of students only trained to do one thing. The Ray MCJROTC program ask more of its students, it asks them to know how to drill, to know how to handle administrative services for the program, to volunteer, and to compete. It builds responsibility and accountability amongst them. More importantly it provides a family to children of the community who really need one.
For me and many others this program was everything it was our pride and joy, something that one could not get anywhere else in the school. When I first came to Ray I struggled with trying to fit in. I was not the most athletic student, I was shy, I was unmotivated. I did not fit in here or there, but for whatever reason when I was in that classroom, I felt like I belonged somewhere for once. Whether it was a place I could go for lunch, a place to decompress, or even a home. I could tell you about the 200 hours of community service I did in just the program alone, or the time we won that parade year after year. What I want to tell you is how much this program has inspired me to push what it meant to be a student at Ray High School.
Why should I just do JROTC, why not play sports, why not be involved with the student body, why be more than just an academic focused student. It was a leadership and character development process. The most impactful moment of my life came to me and many others because of this program. When I was a Junior the first week of school I remember having to do a funeral service. At that point I had participated in over handful of funeral details. I remembered when I fired the last shot for the 21 Gun Salute, and TAPs played. Several other cadets and I stepped out of the detail to go fold the flag over the casket. When I received the flag after it had been folded I marched over to the surviving wife and handed her the flag. You’re supposed to hand the flag over, and whisper to them “On behalf of the president of the United States and a grateful nation, we honor you for your loved ones service.” This was the first time I was asked to do this, it was one of the most emotional moments for me to stand there before someone that I did not even know and try to give them one last condolence for their loved one. If you ask me, not a single program in our high school gives you this challenge, to stand there without shedding a tear, in a firm and clear tone and presence. But I did and many others before and after me have had to do this same thing.
When you look at the students who have been in this program, you are not going to find the smartest, most athletic, or even the best behaved. Instead what you will see are the ones who are struggling in school and at home. These students have all found a way to unite with one another to make an impact on themselves and the others around them.
I ask that you now make a sacrifice. Sacrifice yourself, your pride, and your beliefs to protect and hold on to a program for our district which represents an honor to our country. The youth in our community and our school needs that hope still, you take this away and the light goes out.
Thank you for your time and consideration of this matter.
Very Respectfully,
/s/ Cadet Fourth Class Altin Hing
United States Air Force Academy, CO
There are news or informational items frequently written by staff or submitted to the Copper Basin News, San Manuel Miner, Superior Sun, Pinal Nugget or Oracle Towne Crier for inclusion in our print or digital products. These items are not credited with an author.
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