Leaders Of The Past, Present, And Future
Dallastown MCJROTC leaders explain the rich history of the program, which has been in place since 2005.
Lt. Col. Innerst was the driving force in bringing the MJROTC program to Dallastown. He headed up the program until he retired. He is still involved at DHS as a substitute teacher.
If a student walked through the Dallastown basement, they’d pass by room 10, home to the Marine Corps Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps community, better known as MCJROTC.
At first glance, this classroom looks like any other ordinary class. But Lieutenant Colonel (LtCol) Innerst knows otherwise.
Founder of the JROTC program and retired Marine Corps Officer, Innerst understands how difficult starting this program was, as well as all of the benefits that came with it.
“As a background, I worked for three and a half years to bring this program here,” Innerst said, “working with the principal, the administration and the school board. The Marine Corps for years was not accepting any programs.”
Dr. McHenry, the head of all MCJROTC at the time, told Innerst in order to start a program, one of his senators would have to call the Commandant of the Marine Corps.
Shortly after, Innerst contacted Congressman Platts, who contacted Senators Specter and Sanatorium; both senators called the commandant.
“Two weeks from that phone call that I had with Dr. McHenry, he called me back; he said, ‘I don’t know what you did, but I’ve been directed to open Dallastown JROTC immediately.’”
On July 1, 2005, 152 Dallastown students joined the MCJROTC program. However, LtCol Innerst didn’t initially think of creating teams.
“We were worried about the curriculum. We had to build our curriculum based on the information in the Leadership Education Level-I (LE-I) book; the extra curriculars came later.”
The first extra curricular team created was Drill.
“We actually participated in a Drill meet the first year,” Innerst explained. “Marksmanship, Physical Training, Cyber… all of that came later. First Sergeant Corwin was the one who really brought that program to where we were very, very competitive.”
Innerst has retired from the JROTC program, but still helps the class when he can as a substitute teacher. He is encouraged every time he sees students walk around the school in uniform. This program took me away from being a boss, and made me more… of a leader. — Cadet Lieutenant Colonel Maxwell Iacono
The JROTC program is now led by Major (Maj) White, another retired Marine Corps Officer. While the program isn’t as large as it used to be, it’s still making progress.
“Currently our program has about 110 students,” White explained. “We fluctuate anywhere as high as 125.”
The JROTC program’s primary focus is leadership. But Maj White’s noticed another primary focus: family.
“I’ve seen the natural maturation of students coming from ninth grade to twelfth, a certain level of confidence that they’ve found in themselves because of the program, and also I’ve seen a collective bond, kind of a family team member type thing that has grown and groomed together.”
And it’s not just the cadets that have grown closer; Maj White also has felt this special bond.
“One of the things that I didn’t plan to happen is how I’ve kind of taken on this kind of fatherly responsibility for the cadets. I feel like the cadets are my kids, my responsibility; I have to manage the way that I present myself, the way that I communicate, the way that I mindfully think about life and the choices that I make because I have 113 kids counting on me.”
Major White continues teaching leadership to his cadets, influencing each of them to become leaders. One such cadet is Cadet Lieutenant Colonel (C/LtCol) Maxwell Iacono, battalion executive officer (XO) of the JROTC program.
“I feel like this program gives me confidence,” Iacono explained, “but I also feel like this gives you leadership skills, structure and order. Obviously you’re going to need that in something like a job, or military or in the real world, but I also feel like it gives you comradery, friendships with different people, and I know a lot of these people who I’m friends with here, will be friends with for life.”
Interesting enough, Iacono didn’t see himself as a leader when he first joined.
“I moreless saw myself as a boss. I was more like, very bossy and everything, but as I started to grow, I’ve realized, like, that’s not being a leader. This program took me away from being a boss, and made me more… of a leader.”
Iacono certainly has learned a lot from leadership, but he never expected that he would become the XO of the program.
“When I first started my Freshman year, I became Logistics Chief, and I wanted to be the Logistics Officer eventually. But once I made it there, I realized how fun it was and I knew that there was more that I could do, than I had then. That’s when I really started to want to be one of the Big 3 (Three top leadership positions in the Battalion).”
Iacono continues teaching cadets the importance of leadership, just as White and Innerst did before him. He hopes the program will continue to grow as the next generations discover the rich history of Dallastown MCJROTC.
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