The gold star. In the Junior Officers Reserve Training Corps, it's a designation that's earned, not given. It represents 'Honor Unit with Distinction", demonstrating how your school's program performs at the highest tempo and level of quality. And in all things, typifies the cornerstones of all JROTC programs: leadership and excellence.

And down at Southern High School, the cadets have secured the battalion's first HUD in six years. "Our mission here is to motivate young people to be better citizens, and I take that very seriously," explained Cadet Lieutenant Colonel Ursula Siegler, who is a senior and battalion commander.

And like most things, the value isn't in being awarded the gold star itself, but the steps it took to get there. Cadet Major Cheyenne Ahn, the school's second-in-charge as executive officer, said, "But now as we navigate through successes and different mistakes we make, I learned to work closely with the battalion commander and constantly communicate with the staff so that they're also aware of how the battalion is going to run."

165 cadets make up the Knight Battalion. This isn't just a class, it's a leadership lab. "We wanted to do better for ourselves and show the other schools on the island that we can go against their doubts prove ourselves and deem ourselves worthy," Cadet Captain Elton Lobaton shared.

The requirements are demanding. You need to be rock solid in academic, physical fitness and civic disciplines. While they may not be active duty Army or the Guam Guard, down here in Santa Rita, these cadet officers do everything by the numbers and as a team.

These upperclassmen lead from the front. And they're passing down the honor and responsibility to next year's officers to continue their work.

And the students also thanked their instructor staff for getting them ready, and motivating them to finish what they started as a unit. Cadet Captain Gianni Santos said, "They really help us through all the struggles. It's not just about JROTC here - it's a family.

"They've done a really good job with teaching us and just helping us throughout the way and it's just very helpful to have them by our side."