Largest Bossier Sheriff Young Marines Class Graduates

By Lt. Bill Davis

Posted: Feb 3, 2012 11:16 AM
Updated: Feb 3, 2012 2:29 PM

Bossier Sheriff Young Marines graduated its largest class of recruits in a packed ceremony Tuesday night at the Bossier Sheriff's Substation on Viking Drive.
Fifty-seven recruits of Class 23 walked across the stage to become Young Marines after completing 13 weekends of training, which included physical fitness, confidence building skills, team motivation, academics and more. Class sizes in the Bossier Sheriff Young Marines have steadily grown over its 10-year existence, with Class 23 actually starting out with an astounding 81 recruits.
The guest speaker was Michael Nerren, Assistant District Attorney, Juvenile Division, of the 26th Judicial District Court, who presented a personal challenge to the recruits to not let any obstacles stand in the way of their success.
Four awards were presented by the Young Marines staff. Daisy Rossel received the Most Improved Award for making the biggest turnaround in bearing and behavior. The Academic Award was given to Marina Pasche, who attained a final average of 96.25% after four written examinations. The Physical Fitness Award went to Derek Flagg, who ran one mile in 6:28, executed 70 crunches in one minute and completed 100 regulation pushups to instructor cadence. Finally, the Honor Graduate Award recipient was Bradley Davis, honored for his exceptional performance academically (94.25%), physically (top 5%), and his exemplary conduct during training, at home and school (Elm Grove Elementary School).
Five recruits were promoted to the rank of private first class because of their exceptional conduct, attitude and performance during training: Joshua Carter, Bradley Davis, Chasidy Kuhn, Jasper Patton and April Wilson.
Retired Marine Lt. Col. Mike Thornton also presented the Floyd L. Baxter Marine Corps League Leadership Award to Joshua Carter.
The Young Marines program is a national program founded in 1958 and is the official youth program of the United States Marine Corps. The Bossier Sheriff's Department was the first law enforcement agency in North Louisiana to implement the program, which began its first class of recruits on Dec. 7, 2002. Since then, the lives of more than 900 young men and women have been impacted by the Bossier Sheriff Young Marines program.
"This is a program that teaches young people self-discipline, which helps foster the growth for self-confidence, teamwork and leadership," said Lt. Norman Craig, commanding officer of the Bossier Sheriff Young Marines. "We teach young men and women that they need to make good choices in life and that there are consequences for every choice they make," Craig noted. "Every young person can benefit from that."
Graduates of Class 23 are: Sharzetta Allen, Preston Beach, Chandler Beach, Everett Book, Joshua Carter, Jeremy Caudill, Trayveon Clarkson, Jesse Cloud, Joseph Cockrell, Demichael Crosby, Sheldon Cruse, Hunter Darby, Bradley Davis, Aaron Enevoldson, Hannah Federico, Derek Flagg, Joseph Garcia, Michael Harnden, Tyler Herman, Kaleb Janeczko, Kerian Janeczko, Richer Johnson, Aaron Jones, Jared Jordan, Andrew Keene, Jerius Kirkendoll, Chasidy Kuhn, Zachary LaCaze, Orlando Mancilla, Kaden Matlock, Jeffrey Meschell, Paul Moore, LeJerico Moss, Darien Nelson, Anastacia Oborn, Alexandria Oborn, Marina Pasche, Jasper Patton, Hunter Pilcher, LaVodderick Robinson, Letorias Robinson, Daisy Rossel, Patrick Shavers, Justin Sprangler, Lindsey Spikes III, Jason Spradley, Jacob Stewart, Cameron Sykes, Jade Taylor, Jamarreious Taylor, Jaquarreius Taylor, Kelvin Thomas, Kristal Tomlin, Tagaris Washington, Zavier West, April Wilson and Warren Wilson.
The Young Marines program is open to all Bossier Parish school-aged youth, ages 8-18, and is sponsored and administered by the Bossier Sheriff's Department. Volunteer instructors from the United States Marine Corps assigned to Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 23rd Marines here in Bossier City are also an integral part in the training. Applications are now being accepted for the next class which begins Feb. 18. For more information on how to enroll your youth, contact Lt. Craig at 318-965-3500.

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