Danny Viboch (12) was astonished when he found out that he was one of the 96 students chosen nationwide to join the Semper Fidelis All-American Program, an honor sponsored by the U.S. Marines that recognizes students for academic excellence and involvement in the community and extracurricular activities.

The requirements for students to apply include being a member of a varsity sport, possessing a leadership quality and submitting essays about their involvement in these activities.

Viboch has been in ROTC since his freshman year, after being introduced to it in middle school. After doing some research about this program, he decided to join and found his niche.

“What I like about ROTC is how its prime objective isn’t to just recruit for the military, but [rather, it’s] about bringing in a normal person and teaching them real life values like critical thinking and discipline and producing a better citizen,” Viboch said. “My parents already raised me to have discipline and carry myself with pride but ROTC really just highlighted all those good qualities while giving me a family to work with.”

He is the Assistant Operations Officer (AOPS) and leads half of the unit. In this position, he is responsible for how the company performs in all aspects, including the cadet knowledge they are expected to learn, physical fitness and community service.

“Viboch is very very dependable, and he’s able to receive simple tasking on what we need to do, and then he figures out how to execute it,” Captain Thomas Adams said.

According to Viboch, taking on his leadership position in ROTC is not stressful, but rather, it is a role that he takes pride in.

“Having that responsibility is great knowing I can make people’s lives easier,” Viboch said. “Being a part of ROTC and helping others just makes me proud.”

Having had this experience, Viboch was eager to apply for the All-American Program.

Selected students, or “All-Americans,” are invited to travel to Washington, D.C. for an all-expenses paid camp at Battles Won Academy, the first camp of its kind that began this summer.

After he was chosen for the program, Viboch traveled to D.C. for the five-day trip last summer.

Along with getting to meet other students from around the country, Viboch took part in team-building activities and daily workouts. He trained with the Marines at the Quantico Marine Base, completed a fitness olympics competition at Under Armour’s headquarters, participated in physical training with a female wrestling star and also listened to a panel of speakers, including  generals and sports stars, who discussed the challenges they overcame to reach the point they are at now.

Earlier this month, Viboch was presented with an award for being a part of this program. According to Viboch, this experience also focused on building leadership skills and served to solidify what he has learned in his four years in ROTC.

“I think I grew as a mature adult in discipline and in success,” he said. “[The experience also] just reminded me to keep doing the right thing and follow the path I set myself on.”