Evans commands the Western Region College SROTC and the JROTC programs in the States of Washington, Oregon, California, Nevada, Montana, Idaho, Hawaii and Alaska as well as American Samoa, Guam, the CNMI, South Korea and Japan.
Lt. Col. Bob Gay, director of Army Instruction CNMI PSS JROTC, met with Colonel Evans on his home turf at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington in October 2010. Gay invited Evans to visit the CNMI JROTC Program and asked him to make sure he could visit Tinian and Rota High Schools as well.
“We did not know if he could make it due to his busy schedule but he did and we are grateful,” Gay said.
Evans and Leirdahl met with the Commissioner of Education Rita Sablan and the Board of Education Chair MaryLou S. Ada and the Board members on Feb 9. Evans provided an overview brief of his responsibilities, his support of the SROTC and JROTC Programs and then answered questions from the BOE members and the commissioner. He later received Unit JROTC briefings from Kagman, Marianas and Saipan Southern High School cadet battalion commanders and staff.
On Feb. 10, the colonel and the command sergeant major visited Tinian High School where he received a THS cadet staff briefing and witnessed Armed Fancy Drill Exhibition performance from 13 cadet members of the THS Drill Team. Former chair of the CNMI Board of Education Lucia L. Blanco-Maratita also observed the staff briefing and drill performances. Blanco-Maratita shared her experiences as a SROTC Cadet in college.
The colonel also observed two Tinian Middle School Drill presentations by members of the Middle School Leadership Corps. Later, he visited WWII bomb pits, The Japanese Headquarters Command, and Suicide Cliff. While at the bomb pits the group ran into a WWII veterans group escorted by Hugh Ambrose, author of the HBO mini-series “The Pacific.” Also in that distinguished group were several WWII veterans that included the president of the WWII Museum, ex-California Gov. Pete Wilson, a 94-year-old Marine and several other veterans.
“This was a great experience for all of us especially our Cadet Tour Escorts,” Gay said.
On Feb. 11 Evans and Leirdahl spent the day in Rota where they watched the Dr. Inos Middle School Leadership Corps perform platoon drill. They thanked the cadets and let them know how impressed they were with their discipline, marching and leadership skills. At Rota High School the cadets presented their staff briefing followed by several song and cultural dance performances. BOE Vice Chair Tanya King observed the cadet briefings and performances. Evans and Leirdahl spoke to the assembled cadets for about 30 minutes. SGM Atalig thanked Evans and Leirdahl for their visit and told the assembled group that this was the first time in his 14 years as an JROTC instructor that a brigade commander had visited Rota High School JROTC.
The group then visited the historical and cultural sites on Rota. Prior to leaving Evans and Leirdahl enjoyed some camaraderie and local foods with Sergeant Major Atalig, Senior Army Instructor Rota High School JROTC, and Master Sergeant Salas, Army Instructor at RHS JROTC and BOE Vice Chair King.
Evans remarked to the BOE that the CNMI JROTC Program is a “model” program and that the initiatives in establishing the Middle School Leadership Corps by Blanco-Maratita and the Commissioner Sablan was a great investment for the Middle School student cadets.
Evans and Leirdahl thanked all of the JROTC cadre, the BOE members, Commissioner Sablan and dignitaries they met for the hospitality and commitment to JROTC and student development.
