Dustin Upfold, a Nānākuli High and Intermediate School Senior with the rank of Battalion Commander (BC) moves with a purpose. As a rising leader in the JORTC program he’s proving that commitment, character, and perseverance shape a future far beyond high school. While most students hurry throughout the halls, Upfold strives to be a leader for those around him.
Upfold grew up in difficult circumstances, oftentimes having to be independent at a young age.
“I actually just grew up by myself, mainly,” said Upfold. “ I skipped fourth, fifth, and sixth grade. I went to Kapolei Elementary, then Waianae Intermediate, and then I came here (NHIS).”
Upfold didn’t choose JROTC, he was thrown into it. After he was encouraged to stay, he started doing the activities, and eventually, he found his love for it.
“The higher-ups in ROTC the cadets they told me to stay and see how I like it. Actually, the first thing that they had me do was join Air Riflery, and so I was like It’s actually pretty fun,” said Upfold.
JROTC impacted Upfold in many ways – when he first started out, he said he was quiet and introverted.
“This program it teaches you all kinds of different skills like courage, loyalty, integrity, all this kine stuff, personal courage, being able to present in front of people, after that it’s just you just build on yourself,” said Upfold.
As he got more involved and continued his passion and commitment to JROTC, joining activities, he eventually got to his rank of BC.
“I started doing all of the activities, everything that they had. And so after that, History, now I’m Battalion Commander,” Upfold said. “My job is to make sure everyone is okay, everyone is doing their job, and after that, you know, if I see some people struggling or something like that, I always go up to them, help them out, or if they have questions.”
Another one of Upfoldʻs passions is Air Riflery. Even though he didn’t have experience at first, he kept on working on his craft and found a love for the sport.
“It’s not that you suck, you’re just inexperienced. It’s that if you keep practicing, if you keep applying the fundamentals, you’re going to get better overall over time. So you just got to give it time, give it experience,” said Upfold.
As for his future, Dustin wants to attend college and eventually join the military.
“To go to college, West Point, University, probably or some ROTC college so I can be commissioned as an Officer in the U.S. Army,” Upfold expressed.
Upfold was accepted to Norwich University in Vermont; he is still awaiting other responses from other colleges.
“If I could give my 12-year-old self advice, I’d tell him to stay with the program, and that it’s going to get better, it’s going to get better, I know it sucks in the beginning, it sucks for everybody.”
