Caption:ASCC President Dr. Adele Satele-Galea'i and LTC Rodney Laszlo sign a Memorandum of Understanding which will facilitate the continuation of the ROTC program at the College. Budget cuts in Washington temporarily placed the program in jeapoardy, but ASCC now has a full-time ROTC instructor, subsidised through the ROTC program at UH Manoa. (Courtesy Photo)

The signing of the MOU earlier this semester brings to a close a period of uncertainty over the continuation of the ROTC program at ASCC. Budget cuts from Washington last year meant that the 9th Regional Readiness Command (9th RRC) of the Army Reserves, who had agreed to provide ROTC instructors to ASCC, no longer had the funds to compensate them. Upon learning of the budget cuts and their effect upon ROTC at the College, supporters of the program such as Lt. Col. Mapu Jamias, who started the first ASCC ROTC classes in 2000, local Civilian Aide to the Secretary of the Army Fuga Tolani Teleso, Congressman Faleomavaega Eni and others took the time to lobby the Army in the interest of finding a solution.

Despite the loss of funds, the College’s lead ROTC instructor at the time of the budget cuts, Capt. Serafina Sauia, continued to teach part-time at ASCC on a voluntary basis. Maj. Keith Dotts, Capt. Sean Sherwood, and Capt. Greg Dunbar also contributed their time to keep the program going. Simultaneously, all four of these part-time instructors at the College had full time assignments with the local Army Reserves. LTC Rodney F. Laszlo, Professor of Military Science in the UH Manoa ROTC program, commended the four volunteers. “I appreciated the support of all the Reserve instructors. They had full time jobs of their own, yet they volunteered to keep the ROTC program going at ASCC without compensation because they believed in it.”   

As a result of the MOU, SFC Thompson joined the ASCC faculty at the beginning of the spring 2007 semester. The son of Dr. George Ernest Tauimanu and Hana Thompson, the ROTC instructor grew up in Matu'u with his four brothers and three sisters. Upon graduating from Matafao Elementary School in 1978, Thompson left for Hawaii to continue his education, and graduated from Honolulu’s Farrington High School in 1982. “I joined the Army after high school in order to receive college funds,” he recalls.  “However, after serving several years as an Infantry soldier, I thoroughly enjoyed it and decided to make the Army a career.  I retired in 2005 after 22 years of service.”   

When asked his advice to young men and women thinking of taking ROTC or planning a military career, Thompson emphasized, “Get the most out of your educational opportunities! Both military and civilian sector have much more competitive educational requirements now than they did 10-20 years ago. For those who have the potential for higher education, but not the resources, Army ROTC has several scholarship programs that students can apply for.  They can contact me to discuss the options available.  Again, I can’t think of a more highly sought commodity in the military as well as the civilian sector than education.”  

            During the College’s first Graduate Banquet last week, SFC Thompson presented awards for Outstanding Achievement in ROTC to spring 2007 graduates Pita Gurr, Faith Hisatake, and Hope Hisatake. Capt. Sauia accompanied Thompson to the College’s regular graduation ceremony two days later to give a short speech in recognition of the three award winners. Interviewed prior to the ceremony, Sauia said she will relocate to Hawaii this summer to take up a post teaching ROTC at Brigham Young University.  

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