THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, June 4, 1995 TAG: 9506030086
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 12 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Cover Story
SOURCE: BY JANIE BRYANT, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 287 lines
TEN YEARS AGO, Matthew Thomas didn't know anything about the military, much less the Marines' Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps.
He was a freshman at Churchland High School looking for an elective.
``I just kind of showed up,'' he remembered.
When he graduated in 1989, he was the unit's company commander.
Thomas showed up again this week, this time as a former cadet who came home to help celebrate the unit's 25th anniversary at Churchland High.
The Wednesday event included a parade and awards ceremony in front of the school, complete with military VIP guests, as well as city and state officials.
A new and younger company commander was leading that day. But that's OK.
Thomas is pretty happy as a second lieutenant in the Marine Corps. He was graduated from Virginia Military Institute last year with a degree in mechanical engineering.
Not bad for a kid who drifted into an JROTC class 10 years ago, short on discipline, interest in school and male role models.
``I wasn't too interested in improving myself at all,'' Thomas recalled.
Maj. Carl S. Kusky and Sgt. Maj. Kelly Tate, who has since retired, changed all that, Thomas said.
``They kind of straightened me out,'' he said. ``I saw a lot of things in them that I wanted to have in my own life.''
Now he does.
Thomas was like many students who have wandered into the high school program over the last quarter of a century.
Many wander right back out when they find out there's work involved.
Others catch on. Good kids with bad hair cuts or bad grades shape up. Sometimes, so do not-so-good kids ``sent'' by parents or school administrators who hope the JROTC can do what no one else has been able to do.
The idea of the latter isn't one Kusky buys into. They tell him ``this kid needs some discipline.'' Kusky stresses he faces the same problem any educator will face.
``The schools can be the extension of the home,'' he said. ``But if a kid does not have that discipline and isn't used to that at home, unless he's particularly motivated to it, we're not going to be able to impose that on him.''
And yet there are the success stories.
A company commander a few years ago didn't show up with instilled discipline. But he bought into the program and he learned fast.
``He joined the Marine Corps immediately after graduation and within 18 months he was a corporal. . . which is unheard of in this day and age,'' Kusky said.
And, of course, there's the cherished poster-sized photo of Kusky pinning the second lieutenant bars on Thomas the day he was commissioned at VMI. Thomas had asked his high school mentor to perform the honors.
``He's the reason I went into the Marine Corps,'' Thomas said.
There are other such photos along the long corridor of the school's JROTC area. Happy faces around camp fires, on rifle ranges and on field trips to military bases. Proud faces saluting or marching with flags.
Kusky ticks off some alumni who've made it - two at VMI now, including one who just won a full scholarship from the Marine Corps.
And he pulls out a pile of newspaper clips with names of former students circled in the military news, graduates now serving the country all over the world.
A Marine in Okinawa, an Air Force airman in Tokyo and a Navy man off the coast of Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Kusky also saves the letters he receives from time to time from former cadets.
In one, the pride and determination of a former cadet mixes with the young man's homesickness as he writes of his first two weeks training at Parris Island, S.C.
The 1994 graduate admits at first he wanted to turn around and go back home. He told of training hikes in the cold rain and 35-per-mile winds as he trekked through knee-high water.
``The drill instructor at first made me think that I never was in Marine Corps ROTC,'' the former cadet wrote, ``but this last week (he) noticed that I was an excellent driller and made me third squad leader.''
In the same letter, the new Marine thanked his two former instructors - Kusky and Capt. Ronald G. Mace - ``for believing in me when I didn't believe in myself.''
Kusky became the Senior Marine Instructor at Churchland when he retired from the Marine Corps in 1981. He took over for Col. Max Chapman, who retired after serving in the position since the unit was started in 1969.
Mace became a Marine Instructor there in 1989 after First Sergeant Kelly ``Billy'' G. Tate, who had been with the program 19 years, retired.
``Basically, Capt. Mace takes all the brand new kids,'' said Kusky. ``He teaches the basics of drill and uniforms and the history of the Marine Corps and grooming.
``Then I get them the second year and I go more into the leadership styles and leadership projects and we teach map and compass and marksmanship - things of that level.''
The program, like all JROTC programs, is not a combat training or recruiting program, but an academic course which provides military leaders to teach high school students leadership abilities - strong character, self discipline, responsibility and citizenship.
``The problem with the schools today is there is no character development,'' Kusky said. ``That's what this program is all about and to me that's what religion is all about.''
At one time, Kusky had studied to be a preacher. In some ways he figures that's part of what he's doing.
``I don't go to church and I'm sort of bothered by people who wear religion on their coat sleeve,'' he said. ``When a guy has to tell me he's a Christian, I think there's a problem.''
Kusky has a simpler view.
``My life is my prayer and my prayer is my life,'' he said.
Kusky doesn't believe he influences every child who comes under his wing.
But he doesn't let that get him down. He focuses on the students he's watched blossom. And he holds onto the hope that somewhere, maybe even years down the road, some light will go on for some child who gave him no clue he was even listening.
He remembers one parent surprised him once by joking that there was a shrine to Kusky in their home because his teenager thought the major walked on water.
Kusky never would have guessed.
Cadets who really get involved become members of the drill team and color guard or the rifle team and spend time outside of class honing their skills.
Those cadets are the ones who are called on for parades and ceremonies throughout the area. They're also the ones who rise through the ranks and become platoon leaders and company commanders.
There are monthly traveling competitions during the school year for the rifle teams and drill competitions in the fall and spring.
Kusky doesn't try to inflate the number of students who do well in the program. For many the course remains just an elective, one class in their day.
``I think the ones who really get involved are about 10 to 20 percent - the ones that are die-hard into it,'' he said.
Kusky remembers when Pete Hansen first came to him about joining the program. He had long hair and a scraggly beard. Kusky told him to get himself cleaned up and come back and they'd talk.
``Now he's my company commander. He walked away with all kinds of badges and ribbons and medals today,'' he said Wednesday.
Wendy Pritchard, a junior varsity cheerleader and a first-year cadet, signed up because she thought it would be challenging.
It didn't hurt that her boyfriend and many of their friends were already in the program.
But she surprised herself at just how well she's done. She's a cadet staff sergeant now.
``It comes to me easier than I thought it would,'' she said. ``And I didn't know I'd like it as much as I do.''
Others find it hard even to follow the rule of wearing their uniforms once a week. Some who do, don't wear them properly.
On Wednesday Kusky had a girl talk back to him when he told her to take her bracelet off while she was wearing her uniform.
``You put your uniform on, you abide by the grooming standards throughout the day,'' Kusky explained.
That means military hair styles and the absence of accessories. The girl refused to remove the bracelet and told Kusky to just take the points.
``That's pretty hard to get used to,'' Kusky said.
But, he added, ``you learn to be very, very patient and you learn to deal with it. You talk to the parent and hopefully the parent will support you.
``You just realize that this kid's not workable, at least at this time,'' he said. ``So you try to find a way to get her attention. You take the points. She doesn't get promoted. She doesn't get the good deals.''
One of the problems, he said, is that many students don't realize that ``education in the end has to be self-imposed.
``I can be the best teacher in the world, but if you dare me to teach you, you've lost that one already,'' he said.
Kusky grew up in Youngstown, Ohio, and spent his first year of college studying to be a teacher at Youngstown State University. His second year, he went to Bethany College to become a preacher.
Then in 1959 he joined the Marine Corps and ended up doing both, he said.
``In the Marine Corps, that's what you do,'' he said. ``You're always learning and always teaching.''
Along with Marines, he taught Boy Scouts and helped out with community projects like Special Olympics.
And he learned too. He made sergeant in less than four years and was commissioned in less than six. Working through the enlisted ranks, he became a major in the early 1970s.
He spent time in Korea and Okinawa. He served in Vietnam in 1966 and 1967. He came home, but many of people that he was close to did not.
``I am a reluctant warrior - and I'll go again if they call me - but, I tell kids war is a very stupid game,'' he said. ``It's totally insane, totally random.
``There is no rhyme or reason why one person comes back and one person is killed. You cannot explain anything that happens. It's chaos even in the best of circumstances.''
It's one of life's lessons, but just one, learned along with the drilling and the air rifle target practice and the field trips to military bases.
Each year Kusky tells new cadets the same thing.
``We're going to teach them a game and. . . as we teach them the game, we'll begin to let them play the game. Then we will mark them on their ability to play the game.
``I tell them some of you will learn to play the game very quickly and play very well. Some of you will learn to play, but just sort of watch it. Some of you will just never learn the game,'' he said.
``I think life's like this.'' Cadets received awards during celebration
The following cadets received awards at the 25th Anniversary Celebration and Awards Ceremony:
Cadet Maj. Peter Hansen - A junior, he received the Outstanding Cadet Award and the Officer Leadership Award.
He also was named Best Drill Cadet and received The Retired Officers Association's ROTC Medal.
Marine Maj. Carl S. Kusky said Hansen has given countless hours to preparing drill teams and color guards.
At a recent American Legion rifle match in Charlottesville, Hansen won first place for standing position.
A trained Emergency Medical Technician, the cadet leader got up from the match after someone reported a participant with chest pains. He spent about an hour and a half helping the individual and then returned to the competition.
The unit won third place as a team.
Cadet Gunnery Sgt. Arthur Dunston - A junior, he received the Non-Commissioned Officer Leadership Award. He was also named Best Drill Platoon Leader.
Cadet 2nd Lt. Jeremy Middleton - A junior, he received the American Legion Scholastic Award.
Cadet 2nd Lt. Charlotte Brooks - A junior, she received the American Legion Military Award.
Cadet Sgt. Precious Fletcher - A sophomore, she received the Sons of the American Revolution Award.
Cadet Staff Sgt. Yolando Cooke - A sophomore, she received the Daughters of the American Revolution Award.
Cadet Staff Sgt. Wendy Pritchard - A sophomore, she received the Military Order of the World Wars Award.
She also received the Iron Cadet Award. Kusky said the award is given based ``purely on grit. . . going out and doing more pushups and situps and running faster than anyone else did.''
Cadet Sgt. Calvin Artis - A freshman, he received one of three Veterans of Foreign Wars awards.
Cadet Sgt. Kenneth Willis - A freshman, received a Veterans of Foreign Wars Award.
Cadet Sgt. Donald Truax - A freshman, received a Veterans of Foreign Wars Award.
At the American Legion rifle match in Charlottesville, Truax won third place overall, second place for prone position, and third place for kneeling position.
Cadet Lance Cpl. Michael Bell - A freshman, received the AMVET (American Veterans Organization) medal.
Cadet Lance Cpl. Crystal White - A freshman, received the Women Marines ribbon.
Cadet Cpl. Nicholas Gadshian - A sophomore, received the National Sojourners Award and the Most Improved Cadet Award for senior level cadets.
Cadet Sgt. Shavonia Powe - A sophomore, received the Most Improved Cadet Award for first-year cadets.
Cadet Lance Cpl. Calvin White - An eighth-grader received the Best Drill Squad Leader Award. ILLUSTRATION: [Cover]
MARCHING ON
[Color Photo]
Staff photo by RICHARD L. DUNSTON
Jason Burton, 16, carries the guidon of the Marine Corps JROTC of
Churchland High School in Portsmouth's Memorial Day Parade.
Maj. Carl S. Kusky, right, swears in his former student, Matt
Thomas, at VMI the day Thomas was commissioned a second lieutenant
in the Marine Corps. Also in the photo, which hangs in the corridor
of the JROTC unit, are Thomas' mother, Margaret Riddick, and his
grandfather, Edward McNutt, at left.
Staff photos by MARK MITCHELL
Retired Marine Col. Max Chapman, who founded Churchland's JROTC, was
a guest at the anniversary celebration.
A Marine cadet in dress uniform stands at ``parade rest'' during the
ceremony at Churchland High on Wednesday. Students who really get
involved in the JROTC are called on for parades and ceremonies
throughout the area.
Patches such as these identify members of the JROTC at Churchland
High.
Staff photo by MARK MITCHELL
Churchland cadets salute during the formal ceremony marking the 25th
anniversary of the school's JROTC unit.
Peter Hansen
Arthur Dunston
Charlotte Brooks
Wendy Pritchard
ABOUT THE JROTC
The Army established the first JROTC programs in 1919, but by the
1960s participation was dwindling.
In 1964 a Congressional ROTC Revitalization Act established the
JROTC for all of the branches of the Armed Forces.
Churchland High School's JROTC unit, one of the 10 oldest Marine
Corps units in the country, was started in 1969.
by CNB