| 2013 | | Donisha BrewerProfessor Stuart
English 102 |

[Junior rotc] | |

Growing up I was never the person to be interested in joining the military. I actually frowned upon the idea. In my junior year of high school I was enrolled in the JROTC program. I didn’t last two week in the program before I had my mother come and withdraw me from the program and enroll me in P.E. At the time I didn’t know what ROTC and the benefits the program had to offer.
As I have gotten older I have found out that there are many benefits for the students who are in the JROTC program. There is more than one branch of the JROTC. It has just as many branches as the United States Military. If I had had some prior knowledge on JROTC when I was in high school I may have giving it a chance.
Junior ROTC is a part of a federal program that is sponsored by the United States Armed Forces. Junior ROTC is located within High Schools across America. Many students who enroll in the JROTC are more likely to enlist in part of the United States Military.
The Reserve Officers Training Corps also known as ROTC began in 1916 on the campus of Yale University. Hundreds of thousands of cadets have trained there since then. Approximately 70,000 ROTC cadets train at over 300 campuses (Wissing 39). The latest branch was opened in 2011 when the secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus joined with Yale President Richard Levin to re-establish the ROTC on its campus. It had been 40 years since the last ROTC class graduated from Yale. Yale was the first to form the Navy Air Corps in 1917 and in 1926 was one of the first six to establish the NROTC (Wissing 39).
The United States Army Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps (JROTC) came into being with the passage of the National Defense Act of 1916. Under the Act, high schools were authorized the loan of federal military equipment and the assignment of active duty military personnel as instructors. In 1964, the Vitalization Act opened JROTC up to the other services and replaced most of the active duty instructors with retirees who worked for and were cost shared by the schools. (JROTC)
The JROTC is continuing to build and suceed. From only having 6 units in 1916, JROTC has expanded to 1645 schools in every state, and in every American school over seas. In 1973 the authorization for female participant was given. (Mayers 36-52) The enrollment for the program has grown to almost 300,000 cadets and 4,000 professional instructors in the classrooms. These instructors are active duty Army, navy, airforce retirees. They serve as mentors to the junior cadets developing young respectable citizens.
There are quit a few requirement to join a JROTC unit. First you have to be enrolled full time in the high school you are looking to become a cadet. Being enrolled in high school you may sign up for the JROTC program as a freshman. If you are not yet in high school and are interesting in being in a JROTC program, there are military schools for that. Some milirtary schools start enrolling children as young as 7 years old all the way until the senior year of high school.
Wearing the uniform is most likely the biggest requirement. The cadets are required to wear there uniform once a week on assigned days (military schools have to wear there uniform four days a week). If a cadet misses the assigned day then the cadet must wear the uniform on the assgned make up day. If the cadet does not wear his/her uniform without an excuse ther will be disciplinary actions taken.
The academic standard is an important part of the JROTC. The cadets have to maintain a minium of a 2.8 GPA. The overall grades are based on attendance, academics, leadership skills, and perfessionalism. The standards if you are in a military are mostly the same with the exception of having to maintain a GPA of 3.0, not much of a difference then being in a regular high school.
The JROTC has as many branches as the actual US army. You have the Army JROTC, the Navy JROTC, the Airforce JROTC, and the Marine Corps JROTC. These branches are located at different military schools across America and over sea at American schools. The Army ROTC is located in most high schools, but the Navy, Airforce, and the Marine Corps JROTC are only located at military schools. The Navy and the Marines jointly operate their programs. The instructors who are retired are hired by the school districts. These instructors also run the extra curriculum activities that invove the drill team and marksmanship.
The Army JROTC operates in about 1,500 high school and have more then 250,000 studentd enrolled in the program. The Army JROTC has a curriculum that covers a wide range of topics from english to leadership. (Hoff) The Program has changed greatly over the years. It was once looked upon primarily as a source of enlisted recruits and officer candidates; it became a citizenship program devoted to the moral, physical and educational gain of the youth. Although the program kept its military structure and the resultant ability to infuse in its student cadets a sense of discipline and order, it quit most of its early military content.
The study of ethics, citizenship, communications, leadership, life skills and other subjects designed to prepare young men and woman to take their place in adult society, evolved as the core of the program. More recently, an improved student centered curriculum focusing on character building and civic responsibility is being presented in every JROTC classroom. (Mayers 198-220)
The Marine Corps and Navy JROTC run their program together. The instructors for these to programs are retired Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard service men and women. The NJROTC and MCJROTC have and accredited curriculum based program. It focuses on citizenship and leadership development. The requirements for the two programs are to be in grades 9th through 12th, be accepted/enrolled in a school that host NJROTC and MCJROTC programs, and be in good physical health. The student then must be picked by an instructor to be accepted with the approval of the principle.
The Air Force JROTC program enrolls approximately 102,000 cadets, employs more than 1,900 instructors and operates units in 48 states. The program is grounded in the Air Force core values of integrity first, service before self, and excellence in all they do. The curriculum emphasizes the Air Force heritage and traditions, the development of flight, applied flight sciences, military aerospace policies, and space exploration. The AFJROTC curriculum must consist of a minimum of 120 contact hours. The age range for the AFJROTC is 13-18years old. This program is not offered in High Schools in the United States, it is only offered at military academies.
The benefits of joining this program are countless and include character-building and leadership, as well as military skills. Students in high school have an opportunity to join Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps to prepare them for a job as officers in the Marines, Air Force, Navy or Army. The JROTC program is supervised by the army to instill military principles in the young recruits. Unlike most high school programs, the program provides opportunities to all students regardless of their academic levels, and caters for needy students as well. In fact, most schools encourage their students to join the program as it offers a form of support and structure. The program welcomes students from different nationalities. Although students are educated about these military jobs, they are not imposed on them. Nevertheless, students are encouraged to join the program as it provide college credit and scholarship opportunities. If a student is interested in scholarships s/he has to apply. The requirements vary by the type that you are applying for. Some scholarships are based on the student’s performance and grades. Some High schools give you scholarships for participating in the JROTC. The more rank you get while in the program the better the scholarship will be.
If you get a Scholarship and the college you do want to attend does not offer ROTC the scholarship will not pay for that school. Being in ROTC in college has more benefits then going while in high school. If you receive a scholarship and enroll in the ROTC program at a College you will get monthly sapiens of up to $500. It also includes room and board and your books. If a student does decide to enlist in the United States Military after college that will already have some type of rank. They will have some strips already on their uniforms to indicate they were a part of the JROTC.
After sitting and reading different articles and books on the JROTC I have had a different thought on the program. Before reading on the program and understanding it I was against it for many reasons. One of the reasons was I thought that it was only a way to get people to join the Armed Forces. It is not that way at all.
Most people who join the JROTC are finished with the program once they are out of high school. Those that succeed in the program go on to college and continue with the program. The JROTC offer many resources to the cadets. They have different scholarships that they can apply for. The Cadets have many rules they have to follow or they will be disciplined. These rules are to help them be better citizens and leaders. If I would have known what I know now about the JROTC I would have stayed in the program in high school. I would have had the discipline I needed growing up. I also would not be struggling to pay for college out of my pocket.

Works Cited
Hoff, David J. "JROTC to Roll Out Standard Based Curriculum." Education week (2002). 25 Febuary 2013.
"JROTC." 2013. 21 febuary 2013. <www.usarmyjrotc.com/jrotc/dt/2_History/history.html>.
Mayers, Sgt. Paul. The History of ROTC. NEW YORK, 2000.
Wissing, Doug. "The Return Of ROTC." 2013. 39.