“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” —Nelson Mandela
Chief William J. Fann
Proud to serve the Cadets and Community of Union High School!
Parents and Students,
My name is CW4(R) William (Justin) Fann and I am happy to join Union High School my first year of teaching JROTC. I served over 20 years in the United States Army, retiring as an All Source Intelligence Warrant Officer. I held significant tactical intelligence, special operations, and training positions throughout my career and look forward to the opportunity to share my experiences with students, preparing them to become successful citizens in an ever-changing world!
I want our students to thrive - My goal is to facilitate an educational environment based on building confidence, promoting critical thinking skills, a life-long learner attitude, and empathy. Students will leave the UHS JROTC program with a sense of accomplishment and an appreciation of the values of citizenship!
About Me:
I was born and raised in Sampson County, North Carolina. I’m married (Charlene) and have three children, Briston (17), Selah (8), and Savannah (8). I joined the Army in 2003 after graduating from Midway High School. In 2009, I was selected to become a Warrant Officer and served as an All-Source Intelligence Technician for the rest of my career. In 2014, I graduated from American Military University, Charles Town, West Virginia with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Intelligence Studies with a concentration in Intelligence Analysis. In 2016, I graduated from The National Defense University, College of International Security Affairs with a Master of Arts in Strategic Security Studies. My military education includes Airborne School, Digital Intelligence Systems Master Gunner Course, Joint Intelligence Support to Irregular Warfare, Joint HUMINT (Human Intelligence) Analysis and Targeting Course, Unit Commanders and Staff Unmanned Aerial Systems Course, Advanced Analytics, the All Source Intelligence Technician Officer Basic Course, the Military Intelligence Warrant Officer Advanced Course, Warrant Officer Intermediate Level Education.
My assignments and deployments include most recently serving in the 82nd Airborne Division (Fort Liberty, NC) to include deployments ISO OPERATION ALLIES REFUGE (Afghanistan) and OPERATION ATLANTIC RESOLVE (Poland) prior to retirement. Other assignments are as follows:
- Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) (Fort Liberty, NC / Northeast Africa)
- Joint Readiness Training Center (JRTC) (Fort Johnson, LA)
- 3rd Special Forces Group (Airborne) (Fort Liberty, NC / Afghanistan)
- 525th Battlefield Surveillance Brigade (Fort Liberty, NC / Kosovo)
- 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment (Vilseck, Germany / Afghanistan)
- 101st Combat Aviation Brigade (Fort Campbell, KY / Afghanistan)
- 22nd Signal Brigade (Darmstadt, Germany / Iraq)
Curriculum:
Course: Leadership Education and Training (LET) 3
Supervising Leader builds upon the mastery of LET 1 and 2 skills and abilities, providing Cadets with new and more challenging opportunities as a leader by overseeing planning, project implementation, and team personnel. Cadets at this level can acquire battalion staff positions and responsibilities and help integrate improvements in the local JROTC program and community. There are 20 active-learning lessons within seven chapters. The chapters are:
Chapter 1: Leadership looks at the command and staff roles and their relationship to leadership in the battalion and with battalion projects. Cadets evaluate their personal management skills and help prepare and lead meetings and continuous improvement plans as supervisors.
Chapter 2: Personal Growth and Behaviors focuses on personal planning and management, looking at opportunities after high school and making plans for college, military, or work place. Career action planning occurs in this learning module and Cadets develop a career portfolio to showcase their JROTC program and academic achievements.
Chapter 3: Team Building provides Cadets an opportunity to earn duties and responsibilities of a platoon leader or sergeant and execute platoon drill.
Chapter 4: Decision Making provides Cadets leadership development opportunity to use strategies for neutralizing prejudice in relationships and negotiate an agreement.
Chapter 5: Health and Fitness takes a hard look at the effectives of substance use and abuse on health. While examining the influences that impact teen culture today, Cadets take a leadership stance on their response to substances such as tobacco, alcohol and drug use. In this course, Cadets explore response strategies for substance abuse situations.
Chapter 6: Service Learning projects often lie in the hands of upper class men and women to lead service learning initiatives for the JROTC program. In this learning module, Cadet will create a service learning plan, helping to organize teams and their roles in the project schedule. Chapter 7: Citizenship and Government will look deeper at the citizen’s role in society as contribution to a strong community.
Course: Leadership Education and Training (LET) 4
Managing Leader provides Cadets multiple opportunities to manage and lead in the battalion, in the school, and their respective communities The LET 4 Cadet is ready to assume responsibilities and manage him or herself and others whom they work with or oversee as a Cadet manager. There are 12 active-learning lessons within five chapters. The chapters are:
Chapter 1: Leadership looks closely the leadership role in continuous improvement, recognizing team attitudes that contribute achieving personal and battalion goals. LET 4 Cadets are mentors and leaders to younger Cadets and work with Instructors and other Cadets on lesson development and delivery. Leaders encourage feedback from their subordinates and teammates.
Chapter 2: Personal Growth and Behaviors encourages the LET 4 Cadet to look beyond high school into adulthood. Cadets are challenged to identify personal management and accountability strategies and develop a 10-year plan for professional and personal success.
Chapter 3: Team Building provides LET 4 Cadets an opportunity to apply motivation strategies to teams and use effective communication models to provide feedback to others for encouragement and improvement. Drill leadership opportunities include executing company and battalion drills.
Chapter 4: Service Learning provides LET 4 Cadets an opportunity to manage a service learning project, using several project management tools.
Chapter 5: Citizenship and Government will examine how competing principles and values challenge the fundamental principles of society. Cadets develop solutions for future challenges to citizen rights