Return to Pointer View home page March 4,  2005

O'Neill JROTC earns honors 

Submitted by O'Neill JROTC

The James I. O’Neill JROTC unit, known as the Buffalo Soldier Squadron, passed their first formal inspection Feb. 16.

The group achieved 578 points out of a possible 600 and earned the highest designation -- Honor Unit with Distinction.

Retired Col. Mike Anderson from Fort Dix, N.J., who led the inspection team, said only about 10 percent of JROTC units get this label.

“It is unheard of for a new program like O’Neill to get this after only three years,” Anderson said. “It is a truly remarkable achievement.”

During the inspection, Cadet Capt. Anthony Scott of Highland Falls earned a commander’s coin for having a perfect rating in his staff area -- operations.  Cadet 2nd Lt. Tierney Scott, Fort Montgomery, also got a coin for a perfect rating in public affairs.

All the O’Neill cadets can now wear a gold star on their uniform. Schools with lower ratings wear blue or white stars, so the gold star is a badge of honor when schools from across the nation meet to compete, said Lt. Col. Mike Beckstrom, the senior Army instructor at O’Neill. 

Beckstrom benefits in another way too. The senior Army instructor at a unit named “Honor Unit with Distinction” gets to nominate cadets to all the service academies, instead of just to West Point.