Romeoville HS USMC Junior ROTC Earns Second Place at National Drill Championship

Cadets Informed Just Before Departure for Competition, USMC Would Not Disestablish the Program

Romeoville HS 12^th Grade Student and MCJROTC Cadet Captain Neon Ibanez accepted the 2^nd place trophy earned by the Unit at the 2026 MCJROTC National Drill Championship.

The cadets of the Romeoville High School United States Marines Corps Junior Reserve Officers Training program had quite a long and wild journey over a four-day period Wed. April 8- Sat. April 11.

The course of events for that four-day span were set in motion earlier this year when the RHS USMCJROTC program was informed by the Marine Corps that the unit would be disestablished at the end of the 2026-27 school years due to low participation.

On the heels of that disappointing news, the RHS program learned in March they were one of only nine MCJROTC programs nationwide selected to compete in the MCJROTC National Drill Championship to be held on Sat. April 11 at Colquitt County HS in Norman Park GA.

The RHS MCJROTC program qualified for the National Drill Championship after an extensive qualification process from August 2025 to February, 2026 during which the program competed in seven qualifying competitions.  The National Drill Championship is the premier and most exclusive Marine Corps JROTC competition drill event of the year. This championship brings together the finest Marine Corps JROTC programs from across the nation. 

This is the first time in the over half-century history of the RHS MCJROTC they were selected to compete at the National Drill Championship.

In the aftermath of those two events, the leadership of Valley View Community Unit School District 365U, Romeoville HS Administration, a group of highly motivated parents, and other supporters conducted a communications effort directed to the USMC asking that the Corps reconsider the disestablishment decision.

On the evening of Wed. April 8, the RHS MCJROTC invited parents and supporters to attend a demonstration of the drills they would perform at the National Drill Championship. At the end of the demonstration, Senior Marine Instructor MGySgt Jonathan Couturier surprised those in attendance by announcing the efforts to save the program had been successful. USMC Col. Robert Oltman gave preliminary approval for the RHS USMCJROTC program to continue for at least the next three years as long as the number of cadets in the program is at 50 and all the other requirements of the National Defense Cadet Corps are met following a meeting with VVSD Board of Education President Steve Quigley and incoming VVSD Superintendent Dr. Teresa Polson.

Nine hours after the announcement that the program was saved, the RHS cadets boarded a bus at 3 am on Thu. April 9 for the 16-hour, 926-mile journey to the site of the 2026 MCJROTC National Drill Championship at Colquitt County HS in Norman Park GA.

Friday, April 10, was a practice day for the RHS MCJROTC cadets, followed by the National Drill Championship on Sat. April 11.  The RHS unit earned the following placings in the specific competition events:

 

            National Regulation Placing: 2^nd

            National Color Guard: 4^th

            National Exhibition Placing: 4^th

 

In addition, Romeoville HS 12^th grade student C/1^st Sgt Melanie Arellano earned recognition as the Top Unit Commander in the Nation.

After all the competition scores were totaled, the Romeoville HS MCJROTC had earned second place overall in the MCJROTC National Drill Championship. The only school to place ahead of RHS was Brenham TX HS who defended the championship they had earned in 2025.

“This was an absolutely outstanding experience for our RHS Cadets,” said MGySgt Jonathan Coutourier. “Our cadets have put in many years of effort into this endeavor of making to Nationals.  I’m so proud of our performances this entire school year, and to place second overall in the nation and have the Top Unit Leader is a testament to how these cadets are trained and what can be achieved here at Romeoville.  I want everyone to know, this team represented Romeoville and VVSD with class and distinction.  We beat multiple previous national champions, and I cannot thank all our supporters enough.”